The New South Wales Z19 class was a class of

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...

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

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differe ...

of Australia.

History

By 1877, the main lines in New South Wales were nearing Tamworth,

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. The additional distances required an increase in motive power, especially as at that time, locomotives were changed after quite short journeys. They were only in service when manned by their regular crew. Between 1877 and 1881, the initial order of 50 of these

wheel arrangement locomotives were delivered from

Beyer, Peacock & Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...

. Between 1880 and 1891, Beyer, Peacock delivered a further nine, and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

manufacturer Henry Vale, 18. The load which these locomotives could haul over the

Blue Mountains line The Blue Mountains Line (BMT) is an inter urban commuter rail service operated by NSW TrainLink serving the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The line travels west from Sydney to the major town of Katoomba and on to Mount Vi ...

was 128 tonnes at 11–13 km/h. William Thow, the then Locomotive Engineer of the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...

, was commissioned by the

in 1888 to enquire into the locomotives and rolling stock. He recommended modifications to this class as he considered them to be the best designed and proportioned of the locomotives then in service. This included Belpaire boilers and new cabs. Following the reclassification of locomotives in 1891, three additional similar locomotives were added to the class. With the arrival of the T class saw the class relegated to secondary roles and coal services in

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 ...

. Between April 1902 and February 1910, fourteen were converted to 20 class 2-6-4 tank engines at

Eveleigh Railway Workshops The Eveleigh Railway Workshops is a heritage-listed former New South Wales Government Railways yards and railway workshops and now venue hire, public housing and technology park located at Great Southern and Western railway, Redfern, City of Sy ...

. By 1933 many had been withdrawn, with only 36 remaining in service. Some were sold for further use, including 1918 to

Australian Iron & Steel Australian Iron & Steel was an Australian iron and steel manufacturer. History Public company (1928-1935) Australian Iron & Steel (AI&S) was established in 1928 to take over the business of Hoskins Iron & Steel. That company had already comme ...

. Having a short wheelbase and no leading bogie, the locomotives had a tendency to derail and they were ultimately restricted to a maximum speed of 40 km/h and relegated to shunting and branch line traffic. Driven slowly, they could negotiate the most appalling curves and badly maintained or unballasted tracks. They were therefore ideal in goods yards, such as

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. Origin ...

and Port Waratah with the last two withdrawn from the latter in August 1972. Branch lines such as those to Dorrigo,

Batlow Batlow is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, 775 m above sea level. Batlow is well known for its apples. About 50 growers in the district supply 1.6 million cas ...

and

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fair ...

where grades of up to 1 in 25 (4 %) and curves as sharp as

radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

could be encountered were ideal for this class and these were the only locomotives permitted on these lines until dieselisation.

Preservation

Four have been preserved: *1904 by the

Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum The Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum in Dorrigo, New South Wales, Australia is a large, privately owned collection of railway vehicles and equipment from the railways of New South Wales, covering both Government and private railways. The collecti ...

, Dorrigo *1905 by the

NSW Rail Museum The NSW Rail Museum is the main railway museum in New South Wales, Australia. A division of Transport Heritage NSW, it was previously known as the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM), Rail Heritage Centre and Trainworks. Transport He ...

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Allerdale, Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for inst ...

*1919 by the Lachlan Vintage Village,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

, sold to Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum November 1986, transferred to Glenreagh Mountain Railway,

Glenreagh Glenreagh is a small town in the Clarence Valley in the Northern Rivers region of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Glenreagh had a population of 900 people. It is on the North Coast railway line, completed to Gl ...

in 2001Steam Locomotive 1919
Glenreagh Mountain Railway *1923 by the Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum, Dorrigo

References

External links

{{NSWLocos Beyer, Peacock locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1877 Standard gauge locomotives of Australia 19 0-6-0 locomotives