The WAGR Q class was a six-member class of

4-6-2T 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 locomotiv ...

tank engine

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 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 1896 and 1925.

History

In April 1896, the WAGR placed an order with R&W Hawthorn Leslie & Co for four

locomotives. Meanwhile, the builder had two very similar locomotives that had been built in 1895 for the Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique, Mozambique as part of a cancelled order. A deal was done in May 1896 for the WAGR to purchase them and they entered service in August 1896. The other four entered service in 1896/97. The 1895 built locomotives had different shaped cab windows and side tanks. They were employed as shunters at

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 ...

and Midland. In 1905, Q140 was rebuilt with a new boiler and converted to

4-6-4T Under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as the ...

configuration with water and coal capacity increased to make it suitable to operate 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 ...

, Q141-Q143 followed in 1909. They were reclassified as the Qa class. They operated branch line services on the Mundaring,

Mundaring Weir Mundaring Weir is a dam (and historically the adjoining locality) located from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. The dam and reservoir form the boundary between the suburbs of Reservoir and Sawyers Valley. The dam impounds the Hele ...

, Pinjarra-Holyoake and Upper Darling Range lines as well as on the Eastern Railway to Northam and South Western Railway to Bunbury. All were withdrawn in 1924/25.

Class list

The numbers and periods in service of each member of the Q class were as follows:

Namesakes

The Q class designation was reused for the Q class locomotives that were introduced in 1931. It was reused in the 1990s when the Westrail Q class diesel locomotives entered service.

References

Notes

Cited works