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 Y97 on the turntable at Jamestown during a railway enthusiast trip in October 1967 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The South Australian Railways Y class was a class of narrow gauge steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
The Y class were numerically the largest class of steam locomotive operated by the South Australian Railways (SAR). With a Mogul (2-6-0) wheel arrangement widely used in Australia at the time, 129 were built between 1885 and 1898. Beyer, Peacock & Co, Manchester built 50, James Martin & Co of Gawler 77, and the SAR's Islington Railway Workshops 2. They operated across the SAR's narrow gauge network. Between 1904 and 1924, 48 were fitted with new Belpaire boilers and reclassified as the Yx class. [1] [2]
They were part of what became almost an Australian 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) standard, as locomotives of similar design served in large numbers as the Silverton Tramway Y class, Tasmanian Government Railways C class and Western Australian Government Railways G class, and also in Queensland and on the Emu Bay Railway and North Australia Railway. [3]
Some were sold for further service to railway construction companies while others saw further service on the timber railway lines of Western Australia. During World War II, 18 were sold to the Commonwealth Railways for use on the North Australia Railway as the Nfb class. Seven of these were sold in 1948 to the Tasmanian Government Railways, but only four entered service (as F1–F4). [2] [4]
As of 2022 [update] , there were 10 preserved Y and Yx class locomotives (of which Yx141 was operational), as follows:
| Number | System | Owner or custodian | Location (as of 2022 [update] ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Y1 | Silverton Tramway Company | Sulphide Street Railway and Historical Museum | Broken Hill, NSW [5] [6] |
| Y12 | Silverton Tramway Company | National Railway Museum | Port Adelaide, SA [7] |
| Y71 | SAR then West Australian Jarrah Forest Co. | South-West Rail & Heritage Centre | Boyanup, WA [8] [ failed verification ] |
| Y82 | SAR | District Council of Peterborough | Peterborough, SA [9] |
| Yx86 | SAR then Victorian Construction Co. then Bunnings Bros | The Railway Museum | Bassendean, WA [10] |
| Y97 | SAR | National Railway Museum | Port Adelaide, SA [3] |
| Y109 | SAR then a Western Australian timber company | Manjimup Heritage Park | Manjimup, WA [11] [12] |
| Yx135 / NFB88 | SAR then Commonwealth Railways (on North Australia Railway as NFB88) | Old Katherine Railway Station (National Trust) | Katherine, NT [13] |
| Yx141 | SAR | Pichi Richi Railway | Quorn, SA [14] |
| Yx176 | SAR then Bunning Bros | Yarloop Workshops | Yarloop, WA [15] |
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were connected by a single gear wheel, but from 1825 the wheels were usually connected with coupling rods to form a single driven set.
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, and machine tools to service them, throughout the world.
The North East Dundas Tramway was a 2 ft narrow gauge tramway, that ran between Zeehan and Deep Lead on the West Coast of Tasmania. Opening in 1896 and closing in 1932, it was part of the Tasmanian Government Railways network. The world's first Garratt locomotives, the K class, were used on the line.
The Tasmanian Government Railways K class was a class of 0-4-0+0-4-0 Garratt articulated steam locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways from 1909 – the first Garratt locomotives built.
The Australian Standard Garratt (ASG) was a Garratt steam locomotive designed in Australia during World War II, and used on 3 ft 6 in narrow gauge railway systems in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.
South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian National, and its Adelaide urban lines were transferred to the State Transport Authority.
The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian National Railways Commission in 1978.
Southern & Silverton Rail was an Australian rail operator founded in 1886 as the Silverton Tramway Company. The company operated the 1067 mm Silverton Tramway, conveying silver-lead-zinc concentrates 58 kilometres from Broken Hill to the South Australian border. In 1970, its main line was bypassed by the newly standardised, government-funded line from Broken Hill to Port Pirie. It then diversified to operating hook-and-pull services and in the mid-1990s rebranded to Silverton Rail. In 2006, it was purchased by South Spur Rail Services and rebranded again as Southern & Silverton Rail, before both entities were sold to Coote Industrial. In June 2010 it was sold to Qube Logistics and absorbed into that brand.
Australia's National Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in Australia. More than 100 major exhibits, mainly from the South Australian Railways (SAR) and Commonwealth Railways and their successor, Australian National, are on display at its 3.5 hectares site in Port Adelaide, South Australia. The museum opened at Lipson Street in 1988 after 18 years at the SAR's former main locomotive depot at Mile End.
The Silverton Tramway was a 58-kilometre-long 1,067 mm railway line running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970, it served the mines in Broken Hill, and formed the link between the 1,435 mmstandard gauge New South Wales Government Railways and the narrow gauge South Australian Railways lines. It was owned and operated by the Silverton Tramway Company (STC).
The South Australian Railways X class was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways on its narrow-gauge lines.
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 Silverton Tramway 48s class are a class of diesel locomotives built by AE Goodwin, Auburn for the Silverton Tramway in 1960–1961. The State Rail Authority 48 class and South Australian Railways 830 class are of a very similar design.
The South Australian Railways T class was a class of 4-8-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways. Several were sold to the Tasmanian Government Railways; some others operated on the Commonwealth Railways.
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.
The Silverton Tramway Y class was a class of 2-6-0 and 2-6-2T steam locomotives operated by the Silverton Tramway Company of Australia.
The Silverton Tramway A class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the Silverton Tramway Company.
The Silverton Tramway W class was a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Silverton Tramway Company.
The Tasmanian Government Railways C class is a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways.
The South Australian Railways O Class (2nd) locomotive was a 4-4-0WT built by Robert Stephenson and Company in 1868 for the Launceston and Western Railway Company. It entered service with the South Australian Railways in 1912 and was cut up in 1930.
Media related to South Australian Railways Y class locomotives at Wikimedia Commons