The Queensland Railways B15 class locomotive is an old class of

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

engines operated by the Queensland Railways.

History

In 1889 the first B15 class locomotives built by Nasmyth, Wilson & Co entered service. Further orders from

Evans, Anderson, Phelan & Co Evans, Anderson, Phelan & Co was an Australian engineering and railway rolling stock manufacturer, located at Kangaroo Point, Queensland. It manufactured steam locomotives for the Queensland Railways until 1927. The works were not located near ...

, Yorkshire Engine Company and Walkers Limited saw the class total of 92 engines by 1899. Per Queensland Railway's

classification system Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

they were designated the B15 class engine, B representing they had three

driving axles On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled tog ...

, and diameter

cylinders A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infini ...

. A further six engines were acquired In 1919 when the Queensland Railways took over the Chillagoe Railway & Mining Co. Problems with broken rails saw three sets of

driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...

s acquired from the South Australian Railways and fitted to 336 at North Ipswich Railway Workshops in November 1900. Judged a success, most others were fitted over the next 30 years. They spent most of their life operating out of

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Preservation

Two examples are preserved. *290 at the

Workshops Rail Museum The Workshops Rail Museum is a railway museum in Ipswich, Queensland, located within the former North Ipswich Railway Workshops. The museum Opening in September 2002 as part of the Queensland Museum Network, The Workshops Rail Museum tells the ...

*299 at Maryborough station

References

{{QueenslandLocos Railway locomotives introduced in 1889 B15 Walkers Limited locomotives YEC locomotives 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia 4-6-0 locomotives