The Tasmanian Government Railways M class is 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

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 ...

History

On 12 March 1952, the

(TGR) took delivery of ten M class branch line locomotives from

Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd (RSH) was a locomotive builder with works in North East England. History The company was formed in September 1937 when Robert Stephenson and Company, which was based in Darlington, took over the locomotive ...

, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The locomotives were similar to the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

YB class. They were allocated to operate on the North-Eastern and Western lines and at Hobart. However with the TGR having already commenced dieselisation with the X class, some of the lines intended for M class operation had already been converted. Hence in 1957, four were fitted with smaller driving wheels recovered from withdrawn

Australian Standard Garratt The Australian Standard Garratt (ASG) was a Garratt steam locomotive designed in Australia during World War II, and used on narrow gauge railway systems in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. History With the outbreak ...

s enabling them to operate heavier trains over the steeply graded North-Eastern line.M & MA Class
Rail Tasmania As they fell due for overhaul, they were withdrawn from 1960, with the last removed from traffic in 1975.

Preservation

All members of the class have been preserved to an extent, with four locomotives seeing further use on heritage trains.

Namesake

The M class designation was previously used by the M class, the last of which was withdrawn in 1931.

References

{{Reflist Railway locomotives introduced in 1952 Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns locomotives Steam locomotives of Tasmania 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia 4-6-2 locomotives