The WAGR S class was a class of

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known as ...

steam locomotives built by the Midland Railway Workshops between 1943 and 1947 and 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).

Details of Design

The S class locomotives were built with a

wheel arrangement, a configuration commonly used in Australia for heavy goods locomotives, smaller driving wheels giving increased tractive effort at the cost of reduced speed.

History

Background

In the 1920s and 1930s the West Australian rail system was thoroughly run down. The vast majority of locomotives were well past their useful service life and many were badly in need of repairs. The P and Pr classes had helped alleviate pressure on aging passenger locomotives when introduced in 1924 and 1938 respectively, but more powerful machines were needed with an order for 10 authorised.

Operational history

The first three were built in 1943, with the remaining seven deferred while Midland Railway Workshops completed its order for 10 Australian Standard Garratts for the Commonwealth Land Transport Board. A further two were completed in 1945, with the remaining five deferred again until 1947 while the Dm and Dd classes were built. Gunzburg 1984, p. 117. The class was initially intended for service on both passenger and goods services on the

Eastern Goldfields Railway The Eastern Goldfields Railway was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. History The Eastern Railway opened in stages from Perth to Nort ...

between

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 ...

and Kalgoorlie, though following

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 ...

it worked primarily on the South Western Railway. After suffering from a range of early problems (which led to controversy involving the designer

Frederick Mills Frederick Mills may refer to: *Sir Frederick Mills, 1st Baronet (1865–1953), English iron and steel manufacturer and politician *Frederick Mills (engineer) (1898–1949), Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Western Australian Government Railways *Fr ...

), the class became highly popular and was very successful. The locomotives were given running-board nameplates and were named after Western Australian mountains, following the tradition established five years earlier with the Pr class, which were named after Western Australian rivers. The locomotives were fitted with steam brakes, the tenders 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 br ...

s. All were fitted with semi-streamlining cowling over the entire length of their tops although this was later removed. The tenders were rebuilt reducing their coal capacity from nine to seven tonnes while increasing their water capacity from 15,900 to 22,700 litres. Most were condemned in 1971, with S549 operating the last WAGR steam hauled freight service on 24 December 1971.

Preservation

Three have been preserved: *S542 ''Bakewell'' is plinthed at East Perth Terminal, once the site of the East Perth Locomotive Depot *S547 ''Lindsay'' is preserved on the Bellarine Railway in Victoria *S549 ''Greenmount'' is preserved by

Rail Heritage WA Rail Heritage WA is the local trading name of the Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division) Inc. History The Western Australian branch of the Australian Railway Historical Society was formed in February 1959. In the 19 ...

, restored to working order in 1995

Class list

The numbers, names and periods in service of each member of the S class were as follows: Gunzburg 1984, p. 119.

Namesakes

The S class designation was previously used for the S class locomotives that were withdrawn in 1916. It was reused from 1998 when the Westrail S class diesel locomotives entered service.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

{{WAGR Locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1943 S WAGR class 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia 4-8-2 locomotives Passenger locomotives