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The South Australian Railways R class engine, later upgraded to Rx Class engine is a class of 4-6-0 steam engines operated by the South Australian Railways.
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The South Australian Railways R class engine, later upgraded to Rx Class engine is a class of 4-6-0 steam engines operated by the South Australian Railways.
In 1886, Dübs and Company of Glasgow delivered the first six R class of engine. A further 24 engines had been built by James Martin & Co by November 1895. From 1899, all engines were rebuilt with higher powered Belpaire boilers and reclassified as Rx class engines. A further 54 locomotives were built as Rx class by the Islington Railway Workshops, North British Locomotive Company and Walkers Limited with all engines in service by May 1916. [1]
The R class engines were the predominant locomotive used on broad gauge main line services in South Australia from their introduction. After the introduction of the large Webb engines they were relegated to secondary lines and services such as shunting and hauling goods trains and passenger trains. A large group of Rx class locomotives, mainly early builds, were withdrawn from service in 1934, however the remainder continued to serve into the mid 1960s. [1]
Several Rx class locomotives, including one original R class engine (Rx93), survive to this day in various states of preservation.
The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company, Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company, creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe and the British Empire.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. In most of North America it became known as a Porter.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement with no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. While the first locomotives of this wheel arrangement were tender engines, the configuration was later often used for tank engines, which is noted by adding letter suffixes to the configuration, such as 0-4-2T for a conventional side-tank locomotive, 0-4-2ST for a saddle-tank locomotive, 0-4-2WT for a well-tank locomotive and 0-4-2RT for a rack-equipped tank locomotive.
The K class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways in Australia from 1922 to 1979. Although its design was entirely conventional and its specifications unremarkable, the K class was in practice a remarkably versatile and dependable locomotive. It went on to outlast every other class of steam locomotive in regular service on the VR, and no fewer than 21 examples of the 53 originally built have survived into preservation.
The N class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on the Victorian Railways (VR) from 1925 to 1966. A development of the successful K class 2-8-0, it was the first VR locomotive class designed for possible conversion from 5 ft 3 in to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge.
The Victorian Railways J class was a branch line steam locomotive operated by the Victorian Railways (VR) between 1954 and 1972. A development of the successful Victorian Railways K class 2-8-0, it was the last new class of steam locomotive introduced on the VR. Introduced almost concurrently with the diesel-electric locomotives that ultimately superseded them, the locomotives were only in service for a relatively short time.
The DD class (later reclassified into D1, D2 and D3 subclasses) was a passenger and mixed traffic steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1902 to 1974. Originally introduced on mainline express passenger services, they were quickly superseded by the much larger A2 class and were relegated to secondary and branch line passenger and goods service, where they gave excellent service for the next fifty years. The DD design was adapted into a 4-6-2T tank locomotive for suburban passenger use, the DDE (later D4) class. They were the most numerous locomotive class on the VR, with a total of 261 DD and 58 locomotives built.
The South Australian Railways 520 class is a class of 4-8-4 steam locomotives operated by the former South Australian Railways.
The X200 class were a class of rail tractors introduced in 1963 and operated by the New South Wales Government Railways of Australia. They were a development of the smaller and less numerous X100 class. The X200 class remained in service until 1990 when they were either withdrawn or sold off to private companies, and some remain operational today.
The New South Wales Z12 class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives operated by the New South Wales Government Railways of Australia.
The New South Wales D50 class was a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives operated by the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia.
The WAGR W class is a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between 1951 and 1972.
The Queensland Railways C17 class locomotive was a class of 4-8-0 steam locomotives operated by the Queensland Railways.
The Western Australian Government Railways operated many unique steam, diesel and electric locomotive classes. Often suffering from lack of available funds the WAGR locomotive fleet often consisted of locomotives far older than their expected operational life. Only one electric locomotive was operated by the government during the WAGR years.
The 830 class are a class of diesel locomotives built by AE Goodwin, Auburn for the South Australian Railways between 1959 and 1966. The New South Wales 48 class and Silverton Rail 48s class are of a very similar design.
The Victorian Railways Y class was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives.
The WAGR G class is a class of steam locomotives operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) from 1889. The class's wheel arrangement varied; the first 24 were 2-6-0s and the last 24 4-6-0s.
1210 is a preserved former New South Wales Government Railways Z12 class steam locomotive. Built in 1878 by Beyer, Peacock & Company, England, it is preserved at the Canberra Railway Museum.
The South Australian Railways F class is a class of 4-6-2T steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
Media related to South Australian Railways R class at Wikimedia Commons