The South Australian Railways Y class was a class of narrow gauge steam locomotives 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 Y class were numerically the largest class of steam locomotive operated by the

(SAR). With a ''Mogul'' (

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. ...

) wheel arrangement widely used in Australia at the time, 129 were built between 1885 and 1898. Beyer, Peacock & Co,

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 ...

built 50,

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 ...

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

77, and the SAR's

Islington Railway Workshops The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.Belpaire boilers and reclassified as the Yx class. They were part of what became almost an Australian standard, as locomotives of similar design served in large numbers as the

Silverton Tramway Y class The Silverton Tramway Y class was a class of 2-6-0 and 2-6-2T steam locomotives operated by the Silverton Tramway Company of Australia. History Between 1888 and 1907 the Silverton Tramway Company took delivery of eighteen 2-6-0 and two 2-6-2 ...

, Tasmanian Government Railways C class and Western Australian Government Railways G class, and also in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and on the

Emu Bay Railway The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyel ...

and

North Australia 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 ...

. Some were sold for further service to railway construction companies while others saw further service on the

timber railway lines of Western Australia The network of railway lines in Western Australia associated with the timber and firewood industries is as old as the mainline railway system of the former Western Australian Government Railways system. Timber railways There is a range of termi ...

. During

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 opposing ...

, 18 were sold to 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. O ...

for use on the

as the Nfb class. Seven of these were sold in 1948 to the

Tasmanian Government Railways The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian Na ...

, but only four entered service (as F1–F4).

Preserved locomotives

, there were 10 preserved Y and Yx class locomotives (of which Yx141 was operational), as follows:

References

External links

{{South Australian Railways locos, state=expanded Beyer, Peacock locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1885 Y 2-6-0 locomotives 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia