The Queensland Railways BB18¼ class locomotive was a class of

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomo ...

steam locomotives operated by the

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

ways.

History

The first 35 BB18¼ class locomotives were built by the

Vulcan Foundry The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside). History The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossin ...

in Newton-le-Willows, England in 1950/51. Per

way'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 BB18¼ class, BB representing they had three driving axles, and the 18¼ the

cylinder 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 infin ...

diameter in inches. A further 20 built by

Walkers Limited Walkers Limited was an Australian engineering company, based in Maryborough, Queensland. It built ships and railway locomotives. The Walkers factory still produces railway locomotives and rolling stock as part of Downer Rail. History In ...

, Maryborough between 1955 and 1958. No. 1089 was the last steam engine placed into service on a mainline Australian railway. Their route availability was always the same as for the BB18¼ and C19. The extremities of that availability when they were introduced were (from Brisbane) Roma, Wallan-garra, Merinda (near Bowen), plus branches Bundamba to 3 miles 8 chains (on loop to Redbank), Gowrie to Wyreema loop, Warwick to Thane (South-Western Line), Ipswich to Workshops Gate, South Brisbane to Lota, Kuraby and Corinda, Shorncliffe, Dayboro, Pinkenba, Kilcoy, Brooloo, Byellee (near Gladstone) to Monto and Selene, Bajool to Pt Alma, Rockhampton to Emerald, Dawson and Callide Valley Branches, Townsville to Charters Towers and Babinda, and Merinda to Collinsville. The route availability was extended by track and bridge strengthening- Merinda to Stuart (near Townsville, and Babinda to Cairns (1952), Emerald to Capella and Mackay to Outer Harbour (1956), Emerald to Bogantungan and Charters Towers to Torrens Creek (1957), and Torrens Creek to Hughenden (1958). They were attached to Mayne (Brisbane), Ipswich, Toowoomba, Maryborough, Rockhampton, Mackay and Townsville depots over the years (see J W Knowles, Queensland Railways Steam Locomotives 1900 - 1960, self published, 2002, Appendix 6, p315, Line Standards). They did the same work throughout their lives as the earlier B18 1/4, even at the beginning being seen on goods, mixed, suburban and long distance passenger trains. The only difference was that at the beginning, when they were brand new, and in best condition, they were preferred for the long distance passenger work.

Description

The BB18¼ class locomotive is a type of

steam locomotive operated by the

ways. They were an improved version of the B18¼ class. Some modifications to the original design were suggested by Vulcan Foundry and subsequently adopted. A number of features, including the mounting of Westinghouse pump on the fireman’s side, stainless steel rather than brass boiler bands, SCOA-P coupled wheels (rather than having traditional solid spokes the SCOA-P spoke is hollow, with a 'U' shaped cross section and are considerably lighter than a conventional spoked wheel) pressed steel sand box and a larger tender giving an increased coal and water capacity. Engines constructed by Walkers Limited used electricity for the light on the rear of the tender, for side lamps and to illuminate the motion. All were fitted with

roller bearings In mechanical engineering, a rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing rolling elements (such as balls or rollers) between two concentric, grooved rings called races. The relative m ...

and chime whistles. The Vulcan built engines were painted hawthorn green when introduced, the Walkers built examples in a brighter green.

Preservation

Six have been preserved: *1037 by the

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

Heritage Railway *1072 by the

Zig Zag Railway The Zig Zag Railway is an Australian heritage railway, situated near Lithgow, New South Wales. It was opened by the not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-op as an unpaid volunteer-staffed heritage railway in October 1975, using the alignment of th ...

Lithgow, New South Wales Lithgow is a town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the administrative center of the City of Lithgow local government area. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of Wil ...

*1077 at the Waltzing Matilda Centre, Winton as no 1015. *1079 by

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 ...

Information Sheet: BB18¼ Class: No. 1079 and No. 1089
Workshops Rail Museum *1086 by the Mackay Heritage Railway *1089 by Queensland Rail at the Workshops Rail Museum
Australian Steam

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queensland BB18 class locomotive Railway locomotives introduced in 1950 BB18 Vulcan Foundry locomotives Walkers Limited locomotives 4-6-2 locomotives