The WAGR C Class was a class of

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 built by

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomotiv ...

for 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 ...

in 1880 to the same design as the NZR F class.

History

The C class were ordered from

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

to operate services on the first railway line in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, which was the Eastern Railway from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

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 ...

. However they were not ready when the line opened on 1 March 1881, with number 1 released from final assembly at Fremantle Railway Workshops the following day with number 2 entering service in May 1881. When delivered, they did not have bunkers with the wood that fired them having to be stowed in the cabs, so bunkers were retrofitted in May 1881 and August 1881. When engine class designations were introduced in 1885, they became the C class, numbered C1 and C2.Katie
Australian Steam As the Perth railway network grew it became clear that the C class had insufficient fuel capacity. Both were rebuilt as 0-6-0STT saddle-tank tender engines with a small four-wheeled tender and new cylinders. This conversion necessitated the removal of the back cab wall. The original coal bunkers and cab front were retained although the bunkers were not used for coal storage. The conversion of C1 was necessitated both through this insufficient capacity and also due to its having been involved in an accident in a crash on the Eastern Railway near

Boya Boya may refer to: *Boya, Western Australia *Boya, Nepal *Boya people, an ethnic group in Sudan *Boyar caste, Boyar caste of India *Mireia Boya Busquet (born 1979), Spanish scientist and politician *Pierre Boya (born 1984), Cameroonian footballer * ...

on 8 December 1885. It was recovered and transported back to the Fremantle Railway Workshops but did not re-enter service until 1887, when it emerged with its new tender. It had also been fitted with

vacuum brake The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum bra ...

s.C Class steam locomotive
Rail Heritage WA Upon completion, they were reallocated to

Spencers Brook Spencer's may refer to: * Spencer's (department store), a defunct department store chain in British Columbia, Canada * Spencer's Gifts, a North American retail chain * Spencer Plaza in Chennai, India * Spencer's Retail Spencer's Retail is an In ...

to operate services to Northam,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

. Both were sold around the turn of the century for further service in the timber industry.

Class list

Preservation

C1 has been preserved at the

Western Australian Rail Transport Museum The Railway Museum, also known as the Rail Transport Museum, is situated in Bassendean, Western Australia. It is run by the Western Australian division of the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS), which is called Rail Heritage WA. In th ...

Namesakes

The C class designation was reused for the C class locomotives from 1902 and again in the 1960s when the C class diesel locomotives entered service.

References

External links