The South Australian Railways W and Wx class was a class of

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

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 Austr ...

. Some were used by the

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975. Op ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and by contractors.

History

The W class was the second class of locomotive built to the

(''Mogul'') wheel arrangement to be supplied to the

(SAR) – the first being the U class, of which there were only eight. The class eventually totalled 35 in number and saw service on every SAR narrow gauge line. The locomotives were first introduced in 1878 during a period of rapid expansion of the railway system. The class were ordered as light goods locomotives for use on the expanding South Australian Railways gauge lines, necessarily limited in size and weight by the lightweight 40 lb/yd rails used at the time. The locomotives were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Early W class units were used during construction of the Central Australia Railway between

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

and Quorn in 1878 before entering revenue service with SAR. During their operational career, the locomotives were used within South Australia on the isolated

Eyre Peninsula Railway The Eyre Peninsula Railway is a gauge railway on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. Radiating out from the ports at Port Lincoln and Thevenard, it is isolated from the rest of the South Australian railway network. Peaking at 777 kilometr ...

, in the south east on now closed lines in the

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Naracoorte and Mount Gambier areas as well as the line north from Port Augusta. Many were sold or leased to contractors and they were also used by the Railways Construction Branch. Several of the locomotives were sold to C&E Millar and used for construction of the

Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway The North Australia Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah. Initially its name was the ''Palmerst ...

in the

and would continue to work the isolated line for the remainder of their operational lives.

Wx and NF classes

From 1903, the SAR began to rebuild W class locomotives with upgraded boilers increased to pressure, which improved the tractive effort to . 18 of the class were rebuilt and designated Wx class. In 1911, administrative responsibility for the Northern Territory, including the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway, was passed from South Australia to the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. Five unmodified W class locomotives were transferred to

at the Parap railway workshops and designated NF class. The condition of these locomotives was such that W35 and W41 were stripped down and the parts from both used to make NF7 an operational locomotive. Commonwealth Railways purchased an additional two locomotives of the class in 1915 from private interests involved with building the

Withdrawal from service

By 1929, unmodified W class units had been withdrawn from service by South Australian Railways and the majority sold for scrap. TW22 had been sold to

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

in 1893 and was not withdrawn until 1958. W38, in private hands with Baxter and Saddler from 1896, was condemned in 1955. Several Wx class units were also withdrawn in 1929, but a small number endured until 1959 when the SAR's South-eastern Division narrow-gauge lines were converted to . The six units converted by Commonwealth Railways to NF class were withdrawn between 1928 and 1945; three worked on the North Australia Railway operating the line during World War II. NF6 was destroyed during the first Japanese air raid on Darwin in 1942 while shunting munitions on the Stokes Hill jetty. The locomotive was blown into the harbour and although both driver and fireman survived, the fate of NF6 remains unknown as it has never been located.

Preservation

Two have been preserved: *NF5 (W53) has been restored to operational condition at

Pine Creek, Northern Territory Pine Creek is a small town in the Katherine, Northern Territory, Katherine region of the Northern Territory, Australia. As at the 2016 Australia Census, 2016 Census there were 328 residents of Pine Creek, which is the fourth largest town betw ...

. One of the earliest examples of the class, W53 was built in 1877 and was used on the construction of the Port Augusta–Quorn section of what became the Central Australia Railway; it was one of two W class purchased by Commonwealth Railways in 1915 and redesignated NF5 for use on the North Australia Railway. NF5 was withdrawn from service following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was preserved and displayed in several locations around Darwin, before its eventual relocation to Pine Creek, where it was restored to operating condition as a Centenary of Federation project by the Pine Creek Community Government Council. *Wx18 is stored at the Pichi Richi Railway, Quorn. It entered service in July 1879, was upgraded to Wx class in 1911, and in 1959 hauled the last narrow gauge goods train on the Kingston–Naracoorte line, where it had spent its operational life. It was displayed in Naracoorte until moved to Pichi Richi in July 1985. It is currently dismantled awaiting restoration.

References

External links

{{South Australian Railways locos, state=expanded Beyer, Peacock locomotives NF Railway locomotives introduced in 1877 W 2-6-0 locomotives 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia Mixed traffic locomotives