The C38 class (occasionally known as the 38 class and nicknamed "Pacifics" by some railwaymen) was a class of steam locomotive built for 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 differen ...

in Australia. Constructed between January 1943 and November 1949, the 30 locomotives in the class were designed to haul express passenger services throughout

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. They were the only New South Wales locomotives to use the popular Pacific

4-6-2 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 locomo ...

wheel arrangement and were the last steam locomotives in the state to be built for passenger train operation, all subsequent deliveries being specifically for freight haulage.

Design

The 38 class were first conceived in the 1930s when the NSWGR established there was a need for a locomotive to eliminate the complications of

double heading In railroad terminology, double heading indicates the use of two locomotives at the front of a train, each operated individually by its own crew. The practice of triple-heading involves the use of three locomotives. The practice of multi-headi ...

on a number of fast intrastate passenger trains. The design was influenced by the fashion for streamlining at the time, including elements of the class J locomotives of the Norfolk and Western Railway and of some of the streamlined versions of the PRR K4 locomotives in the United States. The design team was headed by Harold Young, the Principal Design Engineer (later Chief Mechanical Engineer) of the NSWGR. The conditions of trackwork with frequent sharp curvature to be traversed at high speed would require six-coupled driving wheels in a 'Pacific' 4-6-2 configuration. Maintenance requirements suggested a two-cylinder simple steam locomotive. The design was carried out by the NSWGR Locomotive Section of the Design Office and incorporated the latest developments in locomotive design from Australia and overseas. The incorporation of as many Australian manufactured components as possible was a requirement at the design stage. Similarly to the earlier D57 class (which had some input from Young), the massively proportioned locomotive incorporated a cast steel chassis. The design also sported cast Boxpok coupled wheels for better rotational balance, and a Delta

trailing truck On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle ( wheelset) located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels is usually located in a trailing truck. On some large locomotives, ...

History

In May 1939, an order for five 38 class locomotives was placed with

Clyde Engineering Clyde Engineering was an Australian manufacturer of locomotives, rolling stock, and other industrial products. It was founded in September 1898 by a syndicate of Sydney businessmen buying the Granville factory of timber merchants Huds ...

. They suffered many delays during construction, mostly due to resource shortages caused by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the Great Depression. The first five locomotives, built by

, had a semi-streamlined boiler casing. However with this design, the firemen could not maintain steam in the 245

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boiler – the highest boiler pressure of any engine in Australia. In early trials on the Southern line, 3801, the class leader, was allocated two firemen. The fault was located when it was found that the shape of the

blast pipe The blastpipe is part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the fire. History The primacy of discovery of ...

prevented steam from the cylinders from passing optimally into the petticoat pipe below the chimney, through which it was ejected to the atmosphere. In turn, this reduced the suction of hot gases through the boiler tubes, making it more demanding to fire. Soon the blast pipe was adjusted, and the C38 class became noted for the clean "bark" of its exhaust. As the last of the five initial locomotives were leaving the shop in 1945, a decision was made to purchase more. This order of 25 locomotives were built at the

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 ...

(13, even-numbered) and

Cardiff Locomotive Workshops The Cardiff Locomotive Workshops (now known as the Cardiff Maintenance Centre) is a rail yard and rolling stock facility located between Cockle Creek and Cardiff stations near Newcastle, on the Main North railway line in New South Wales, Austr ...

(12, odd-numbered); all were non-streamlined for quicker maintenance. The locomotives built by Clyde Engineering were delivered in wartime grey. After the war, all were repainted green, as the 25 unstreamlined locomotives had been from new. In the 1950s, all except 3813 were painted black. 3801 and 3830 had their green livery restored due to pressure from heritage groups in the 1960s. Among the services they initially hauled were the ''

Central West Express The ''Central West Express'' is an Australian passenger train operating on the Main Western line in New South Wales from Sydney to Dubbo. History The ''Central West Express'' commenced operating in June 1941 operating on alternate days from Sy ...

'', ''

Newcastle Flyer The Newcastle Flyer was an Australian passenger express train that operated from November 1929 until April 1988 connecting New South Wales' two largest cities, Sydney and Newcastle. Early history On 1 May 1889 the first trains began running bet ...

'', ''Melbourne Limited Express'', ''

Riverina Express The Riverina Express was a passenger train operated by the New South Wales Government Railways between Sydney, Griffith and Albury from September 1949 until November 1993. History The ''Riverina Express'' was introduced in September 1949 and ...

'' and ''

South Coast Daylight Express The South Coast Daylight Express was a limited stops passenger train operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors between Sydney and Bomaderry from 1933 until January 1991. History After departing Sydney Central it tra ...

'' as well as the overnight mail trains. Because of their

axle load An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearin ...

, they were confined to operating between Sydney and the following extremities of operation:

Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

(Coniston),

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

, Dubbo and

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

, although they worked the North Coast passenger trains to Brisbane until track problems surfaced. Following the arrival of the 42, 43 and 44 class diesel locomotives in the 1950s, these began to take over some express services, but the 38 class continued to haul many passenger and freight trains. Even after the electrification of the Main Western line to Lithgow in 1957 and the Main North line to

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...

in January 1960, using 46 class electric locomotives, the 38s still operated the ''Central West Express'' between Lithgow 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 * ...

into the 1960s and the ''Newcastle Flyer'' between Gosford and Newcastle until December 1970. The 38 class briefly returned to the former ''Melbourne Limited Express'' route in April 1962, when 3830 and 3813 hauled the inaugural standard gauge ''

Spirit of Progress The ''Spirit of Progress'' was the premier express passenger train on the Victorian Railways in Australia, running from Melbourne to the New South Wales border at Albury, and later through to Sydney. Route From its introduction in November 19 ...

'' from

to Sydney. The first 38 class locomotive was withdrawn in 1961 with the last withdrawn in December 1970. In August 1970, 3801 hauled the '' Western Endeavour'' to

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 i ...

following the conversion to standard gauge of the Sydney–Perth rail corridor with 3813 assisting as far as

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South A ...

. In April 1988, 3801 again operated to Perth during the Australian Bicentenary. Locomotive 3801 featured in an evocative 1974 short film, ''

A Steam Train Passes ''A Steam Train Passes'' is a 1974 Australian short film set in the 1940s, featuring the construction and operation of locomotive 3801. Plot The opening sequence is a 1943 black-and-white Cinesound newsreel ''Monarch of the Rails'' showing th ...

'', which won many awards and is generally regarded as Australia's finest railway film. File:C38 class locomotive.jpg, 3803 File:The Riverina Express, 1946 (4175557960).jpg, 3807 on The Riverina Express in 1946 File:NSWGR C38 Class Locomotive 3808.jpg, 3808 File:Flyer at Fassifern.jpg, 3809

Roster

Preservation

4 of the 38 class locomotives survive-3801, 3813, 3820 and 3830. 3813 is in pieces at Dorrigo after an overhaul in 1972 by the former NSW Rail Transport Museum was forced to be stopped by the then commissioner of the

Public Transport Commission The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsi ...

Philip Shirley Philip Shirley (1913–1998) was a businessman, who held senior positions with the British Transport Commission, British Rail Board and Cunard in the United Kingdom and the Public Transport Commission in Australia. Life and career Philip Shirley ...

who ordered that the locomotive's parts be transferred to the scrapyard. The NSWRTM managed a reprive and the parts were sent to be stored in many locations. Components such as the wheels, cab and smokebox were stored in S trucks at

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for instance, Armboth Fell and Raven Crag both ...

, the frame and tender at Clyde and the boiler at Castle Hill until they were donated to 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 ...

. Over time all were donated to the Dorrigo museum and put in storage there

References

External links

{{Authority control Clyde Engineering locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1943 38 4-6-2 locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Australia