The South Australian Railways P class was a class of 2-4-0T

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s operated by the

South Australian Railways 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 Aust ...

History

The first six were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co for the

(SAR) in 1884. Their design was based on an earlier design built by Beyer Peacock for the

Isle of Wight Railway The Isle of Wight Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom; it operated of railway line between Ryde and Ventnor. It opened the first section of line from Ryde to Sandown in 1864, later extending to Ventnor in 1866. ...

. 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 ...

F351 class locomotive was also based on this design. The class was successful and a further 14 locomotives were built by

James Martin & Co James Martin & Co was an Australian engineering company which progressed from making agricultural equipment to making railway locomotives. History James Martin & Co. was founded in Gawler, South Australia in around 1848 by James Martin as a ...

. Initially the locomotives served hauling suburban trains in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

until replaced by the F class in the early 1900s. In 1899, the SAR took over operations on the Glenelg Railway Company's two lines. The P and K classes replaced the small tank engines on this line, running until 1929 when the lines were closed. The P class served out the remainder of its career on shunting duties and hauling freight trains between Adelaide and Port Adelaide. P117 has been preserved by the

National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide 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 a ...

References

External links

{{South Australian Railways locos, state=expanded Beyer, Peacock locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1884 P 2-4-0T locomotives Broad gauge locomotives in Australia