Victorian Railways H class (1877)

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Victorian Railways H class
Victorian Old H class locomotive.jpg
Unidentified H class 4-4-0 at Ballarat, date unknown
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerWilliam Meikle
Builder Phoenix Foundry
Serial number40-47
Build date1877-1878
Total produced8
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 4-4-0
Gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Victorian broad gauge
Leading dia. 3 ft 1+12 in (952 mm)
Driver dia.5 ft 0 in (1,520 mm)
Wheelbase 34 ft 1 in (10.39 m)
Length42 ft 0 in (12.80 m) [1]
Height13 feet 0 inches (3.96 m) [1]
Axle load 10  long tons  7 cwt (23,200 lb or 10.5 t)
Loco weight32  long tons  7 cwt (72,500 lb or 32.9 t)
Tender weight16  long tons  3 cwt (36,200 lb or 16.4 t)
Total weight48  long tons  10 cwt (108,600 lb or 49.3 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity60  long cwt (6,700 lb or 3,000 kg)
Water cap.1,223 imp gal (5,560 L; 1,469 US gal)
Boiler pressureNos. 146, 148, 152 (1904): 120  psi (827  kPa)
Nos. 154, 156 (1904): 125  psi (862  kPa)
Nos. 150, 158, 160 (1904): 130  psi (896  kPa) [1]
Heating surface:
  Firebox72.89 sq ft (6.772 m2)
  Tubes794.85 sq ft (73.844 m2)
  Total surface867.74 sq ft (81 m2)
Cylinders 2
Cylinder size 15 in × 22 in (381 mm × 559 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort 8,250  lbf (36.7  kN) at 100 psi
Career
Operators Victorian Railways
Trawalla and Waterloo Tramway
NumbersH146-H160 (even only)
First runSeptember 1877
Last run19 February 1916
(38.5 years)
Disposition1 tender preserved at Newport Railway Museum, all engine units scrapped.

The Victorian Railways H class was a class of 4-4-0 light line passenger locomotives operated by the Victorian Railways between 1877 and 1916.

Contents

History

During the late 1870s, William Meikle had designed a pair of 4-4-0 locomotives and had them built at Williamstown Workshops. These locomotives would be built using spare parts of engines from the Geelong & Melbourne Railway Company and were numbered 38 and 40 (later G class). Meikle would develop upon this design and placed an order of 8 from the Phoenix Foundry of Ballarat in 1877. While these were originally unclassed, they were later classed 'H' in 1886. [2]

Production

Upon completion, the locomotives were similar to the 1874 K class and G class in both power and weight, but with driving wheels of 5 feet diameter instead of 4 feet. One strange feature was the inexplicably small grate area. Four-wheeled tenders with a 7-foot wheelbase were fitted. [2]

Regular service

H150 was noted as being in motor service in 1908. [2]

Design improvements

Accidents

Withdrawal

All the locomotives were removed from the Victorian Railways register between 1905 and 1916. The boiler of H156 went to the Bendigo sheds in 1912.

H130 was sold to Trawalla and Waterloo Tramway for £600 on 31 May 1909 [2] and was later sold to Smith and Timms, in 1912. It was last seen in 1922 at the Mile End rail yards in South Australia. [3]

A tender from one of the H class locomotives is preserved at the Newport Railway Museum, attached to Crane No. 2. The tender had last been used on Crane No. 3 (ex-Z526) until its withdrawal in 1978.

Fleet summary

Key:In ServicePreservedStored or WithdrawnScrapped
LocomotiveBuilder No.Entered serviceWithdrawnScrappedStatusNotes
H14640September 187719 August 1905Scrapped [2]
H14841October 187726 August 1905Scrapped [2]
H15042December 187731 May 1909ScrappedSold to Trawalla and Waterloo Tramway - 31 May 1909. Sold to Smith and Timms, SA - 1912. Last seen at Mile End, SA - 1922 [2] [3]
H15243January 187828 July 1906ScrappedBoiler to Bendigo shed [2]
H15444May 187818 March 1905Scrapped [2]
H15645May 187815 July 1911Scrapped [2]
H15846May 187819 February 1916Scrapped [2]
H16047June 187830 March 1907Scrapped [2]

References

Specific

  1. 1 2 3 Victorian Railways Rolling Stock Branch: Diagrams & Particulars of Locomotives, Cars, Vans & Trucks (1904 ed.). Vic: Victorian Railways. 1904. p. 4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Cave, Buckland & Beardsell 2002
  3. 1 2 Inglis, Graeme (Autumn 1973). "The Trawalla - Waterloo Tramway". Light Railways (43): 29–31.