The WAGR E class was a two-member class of 2-4-4-2T double-

Fairlie locomotive A Fairlie is a type of articulated locomotive, articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended (a double Fairlie) or single ended (a single Fairlie). Fairlies are most famously associated ...

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 1881 and 1892.

History

The E class engines were built by

Avonside Engine Co Avonside is an eastern suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest suburbs of the city, with only Heathcote being older. History The suburb was named after Holy Trinity Avonside, which was built beside the Avon River in 18 ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1879 for the WAGR's

Northampton railway line The Northampton railway line ran from Geraldton through Northampton and on to Ajana in Western Australia. It operated between 1879 and 1957. It was the first government railway constructed in Western Australia. Opening Construction of the Ger ...

, the first government railway in Western Australia, which opened that year. In line with Avonside's practice for assigning build numbers to Fairlie locomotives, each end received a separate serial number. However, after a collapse in the price of lead, the heavy mineral traffic for which they were purchased dried up and they were placed in store. One entered service in 1881, with the second remaining in store until 1885 when a M class had to be withdrawn for overhaul. When engine class designations were introduced in 1885 and became the E class, numbered E20 and E7. In 1888, both were transferred to Fremantle Railway Workshops for use on the Eastern Railway. In 1891, E20 was cut up with the parts from one half with adapted to drive machinery at the Fremantle Railway Workshops, the other half was converted into a 2-4-2T

tank engine 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 locomot ...

as F20 in February 1893 for use at

Fremantle Long Jetty Fremantle Long Jetty was constructed in 1873 to replace the smaller South Jetty which had become too small for the large amounts of vessels entering the colony in Western Australia. The jetty lies in Bather's Bay which has been an occupation ...

. It was sold in February 1899 to Jarrah Timber & Wood Paving,

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...

and withdrawn by March 1905. E7 was withdrawn in 1895 and sold to the Canning Jarrah Timber Company for use on the

Upper Darling Range Railway The Upper Darling Range Railway (also known as the Upper Darling Range Branch) was a branch railway from Midland Junction railway station, Midland Junction, Western Australia, that rose up the southern side of the Helena Valley and on to the D ...

. It was scrapped in 1897.

Namesakes

The E class designation was reused for the E class locomotives that were introduced in 1902. It was reused again in the 1960s when an E class diesel locomotive was acquired.

References

Notes

Cited works

External links