The Commonwealth Railways NM class locomotive was a class of 4-8-0 locomotives of the

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975. Op ...

, Australia. The class operated on narrow gauge lines in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

History

Between June 1925 and December 1927, the

took delivery of 22 locomotives built to the same design as the

Queensland Railways Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

C17 class for use on the Central Australian Railway, but with larger tenders and vacuum rather than air brakes. All were built by Thompson & Co,

Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...

.Narrow Gauge NM
Chris's Commonwealth Railways Pages The final locomotive was despatched to the North Australia Railway, returning south in September 1941. Eighteen were converted to burn oil during the 1949 coal strike, being converted back to coal burning after the strike ended. All were withdrawn between 1954 and 1956 as the NSU diesel locomotives entered service. Two have been preserved, NM25 in operational condition at the Pichi Richi Railway and NM34 at the

National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide Australia's National Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in Australia. More than 100 major exhibits, mainly from the South Australian Railways (SAR) and Commonwealth Railways and their successor, Australian National Railways Commissio ...

.NM-class 4-8-0 Steam Locomotive No 34
National Railway Museum

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

{{AusLocos, state=collapsed NM class Railway locomotives introduced in 1925 4-8-0 locomotives 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia Freight locomotives