The WAGR B class was a class of

4-6-0T A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

s operated by the

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 ...

(WAGR) between 1884 and 1959.

History

The first two were ordered from

Kitson & Co Kitson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Early history The company was started in 1835 by James Kitson at the Airedale Foundry, off Pearson Street, Hunslet, with Charles Todd as a part ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in 1884 to work the steeply graded Eastern Railway from

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

to Chidlow. A further three were built by Dübs & Co,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1885/86 and a further six by Kitson & Co in 1898. The last batch were built with larger water tanks, with the earlier five having larger tanks retrofitted. In 1903, they were displaced by the K class and relegated to shunting duties.

Class list

The numbers and periods in service of each member of the B class were as follows: Gunzburg 1984, p. 28.

Namesake

The B class designation was reused in the 1960s when the B class diesel locomotives entered service.

References

Notes

Cited works

External links

{{WAGR Locomotives Dübs locomotives Kitson locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1884 B WAGR class 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia 4-6-0T locomotives Mixed traffic locomotives