The C34 class was a class of steam locomotives built by

Eveleigh Railway Workshops The Eveleigh Railway Workshops is a heritage-listed former New South Wales Government Railways yards and railway workshops and now venue hire, public housing and technology park located at Great Southern and Western railway, Redfern, City of ...

for the

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differen ...

of Australia.

Design and construction

These five locomotives were an unsuccessful attempt at producing a larger, more powerful and faster version of the P6 class (C32 class) locomotives. Built by the

, they entered service between December 1909 and April 1910.

In service

They were rostered to haul express trains between Sydney and

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

, replacing their smaller cousins. Around 1912, three of the class were transferred to Junee Locomotive Depot to work the section of the

Main South line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

from there to

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

where they turned in a reasonable performance over this easy section. The other two were sent to

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...

for working the ''Brisbane Mail'' from

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...

Wallangarra Wallangarra is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia on the border with New South Wales. In the , the locality of Wallangarra had a population of 468 people. It is the third-most southerly town in Queens ...

, however this move proved unsuccessful and they too were sent to Junee. Some mechanical improvements were made in 1919 and they continued working south of Junee until the new 36 class locomotives began to work these trains from Sydney through to Albury from 1928. They were then transferred to

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distr ...

to work on the

North Coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to : Antigua and Barbuda * Major Division of North Coast, a census division in Saint John Parish Australia *New South Wales North Coast, a region Canada *The British Columbia Coast, primarily the communiti ...

line. Their rough riding characteristics made them unsuitable on the almost continuously curved route and they returned to Junee in 1935, where they were assigned to assisting expresses to

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

and working the ''South West Mail'' from Junee to

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

Withdrawal

They were withdrawn from October 1950 as their boilers became due for replacement. The last withdrawn was 3402 in August 1957, although it was not scrapped until 1962 after some unsuccessful attempts to preserve it. Some consider the loss of the 34 class and the 58 class to be the catalyst for the formation of the former

New South Wales Rail Transport Museum The NSW Rail Museum is the main railway museum in New South Wales, Australia. A division of Transport Heritage NSW, it was previously known as the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM), Rail Heritage Centre and Trainworks. Transport He ...

References

{{NSWLocos Scrapped locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1909 34 4-6-0 locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Australia