South Australian Railways Y class

The South Australian Railways Y class was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.

History

The Y class was the largest class of steam locomotive operated by the South Australian Railways (SAR) with 129 built between 1885 and 1898. Beyer, Peacock & Co, Manchester built 50, James Martin & Co of Gawler 77 and the Islington Railway Workshops two. They operated across the SAR's narrow gauge network. Between 1904 and 1924, 48 were fitted with new Belpaire boilers and reclassified as the Yx class. ^[1][2]

They were part of what became almost an Australian 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) standard, as locomotives of similar design served in large numbers as the Silverton Tramway Y class, Tasmanian Government Railways C class and Western Australian Government Railways G class, and also in Queensland and on the Emu Bay Railway and North Australia Railway^[3]

Some were sold for further service to railway construction companies while others saw further service on the timber railway lines of Western Australia. During World War II, 18 were sold to the Commonwealth Railways for use on the North Australia Railway as the Nfb class. Seven of these were sold in 1948 to the Tasmanian Government Railways, but only four entered service as F1-F4.^[2][4]

Preserved units

• Y71 at the Western Australian Rail Transport Museum^[5]
• Yx86 at the Western Australian Rail Transport Museum^[6]
• Y97 at the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide^[3][7]
• Y109 at the Manjimup Timber Museum, Western Australia^[8]
• Y135 in Katherine^[9]
• Yx141 by the Pichi Richi Railway and is under restoration at Quorn^[10]
• Yx176 at the Yarloop Steam Workshops, Western Australia^[11]

References

External links

Media related to South Australian Railways Y class locomotives at Wikimedia Commons