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Victorian Railways J class (1954)

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This article is about the 1954 J class steam locomotive. For the 1859 J class steam locomotive, see Victorian Railways J class (1859).
Victorian Railways J class
J515 on the Victorian Goldfields Railway
in January 2007
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderVulcan Foundry
Serial number6046–6095, 6146–6155
Build date1954
Total produced60
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte2-8-0
Gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Driver dia.55 in (1,397 mm)
Length60 ft 5+1⁄2 in (18.43 m)
Axle load14.5 long tons (14.7 t; 16.2 short tons)
Adhesive weight57.35 long tons (58.27 t; 64.23 short tons)
Loco weight66.95 long tons (68.02 t; 74.98 short tons)
Tender weight45.8 long tons (46.5 t; 51.3 short tons)
Total weight112.75 long tons (114.56 t; 126.28 short tons)
Fuel typeCoal (30)
Oil (30)
Fuel capacity5 long tons (5.1 t; 5.6 short tons) coal, 4,200 imp gal (19,000 L) water (coal burners); 1,500 imp gal (6,800 L) oil, 4,100 imp gal (19,000 L) water (oil burners)
Firebox:​
 • Grate area31 sq ft (2.9 m2)
Boiler pressure175 lbf/in2 (1.21 MPa), later 180 lbf/in2 (1.24 MPa)
Heating surface1,682 sq ft (156.3 m2)
Cylinders2
Cylinder size20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort28,650 lbf (127.4 kN) at 85% boiler pressure, later 29,500 lbf (131 kN)
Career
OperatorsVictorian Railways
NumbersJ500-J559
Disposition11 preserved, 49 scrapped

The Victorian Railways J class was a branch line steam locomotive operated by the Victorian Railways (VR) between 1954 and 1972. A development of the successful Victorian Railways K class 2-8-0, it was the last new class of steam locomotive introduced on the VR. Introduced almost concurrently with the diesel-electric locomotives that ultimately superseded them, the locomotives were only in service for a relatively short time.[1]

History

During the early 1950s, the Victorian Railways (VR) embarked on a massive upgrading of its ageing locomotive fleet as part of Operation Phoenix, an £80 million program to rebuild a network badly run down by years of underinvestment during the Great Depression, and the heavy workload imposed by World War II.[2]

Victoria's branch line railway network, laid with 60 lb/yd (29.8 kg/m) rail and featuring gradients of up to 1 in 30 (3.33%), was still largely served by the D1, D2 and D3 variants of the once 261-strong 1902-era Dd class 4-6-0 which, by the early 1950s, were at the end of their life.[3] The new J class locomotives were supplemented by 53 K class locomotives, some of which had been built as recently as 1946. Although highly successful, K class locomotives were unsuitable for conversion from 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in the event of the Victorian network being standardised, and VR policy was for all new locomotives to be engineered for easy conversion.[4][5] Consequently, the building of further K class was not a feasible option.

With mainline electric and diesel-electric locomotives already on order, the VR design team opted for an updated, gauge-convertible K class, which would turn out to be their final steam locomotive design.[6][7][8]

Design features

Firebox and boiler, in storage
J class 'SCOA-P' pattern driving wheel centres

The key problem with the K class design was the placement of the firebox between the locomotive frame and rear driving wheels, making conversion to a narrower gauge impossible without a radical redesign of the firebox. A previous attempt to develop a gauge-convertible K class, the N class, utilised a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement and positioned the firebox above the frames and behind the driving wheels. However, the extra length of those locomotives (being a total 67 ft or 20.42 m long) made them unsuitable for a number of branch lines where only a 50-or-53-foot (15.24 or 16.15 m) turntable was available. The J class adopted an alternative approach to the problem by employing a high-set boiler (with the boiler centre 9 ft 2+1⁄2 in (2.807 m) above rail level,[9] compared with 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) for the K class[10]) setting the firebox above the frames and driving wheels, and retaining the K class' short wheelbase.

The J class also featured a number of other design advances over the K class. It had a larger grate, enabling grate sections to be compatible with those of the N class and permitting an increase in firebox volume sufficient to allow two arch tubes to be installed.[11] Another innovation was the use of a regulator valve incorporating a centrifugal steam separator (to draw away any water and thus provide the driest steam), rather than the simpler (though extremely reliable) D regulator valve used in the K class.[11] The J class also featured substantially redesigned cylinder porting to improve steam flow and efficiency.[12] The innovative SCOA-P type driving wheel centre developed for the Victorian Railways R class was adapted for the 55 in (1,397 mm) diameter J class drivers.

The high-set boiler, together with the German-style smoke deflectors, gave the J class a distinctly European appearance.[5]

Production

A total of fifty J class locomotives were initially ordered from the Vulcan Foundry in Lancashire, England. However, the VR reassessed its motive power requirements and opted to sell 10 of its brand-new, second-generation N class locomotives to the South Australian Railways, and increased the J class order to 60.[13][14] At the time of order, the per-unit cost of the locomotives was £36,000 ($72,000) each.[15]

With fluctuating oil prices and an unreliable supply of coal in the early 1950s, the VR appeared to take something of a bet either way, ordering thirty of the class as coal burners and thirty as oil burners.[5]

By the time the contract for the J class had been awarded, the VR had already begun to receive deliveries of the B class mainline diesel-electric locomotives, and it unsuccessfully attempted to cancel the J class contract in favour of an order for branch line diesel locomotives.[11]

Service

The J class was introduced for both passenger and goods traffic on Victoria's branch line network, with a maximum permissible speed of 45 mph (72 km/h), later raised to 50 mph (80 km/h). Dynamometer car tests showed the locomotive developed 930 hp (694 kW) at the drawbar at around 20–25 mph (32–40 km/h), which suited the relatively low speed limits of much of the Victorian branch line network.[11]

Coal-fired J class locomotives were the regular engine on the 09:00 Melbourne to Yarram passenger service, with other duties being from Lilydale to Warburton and local services from Spencer Street to Werribee. The oil-fired J was also pressed into service hauling the final leg of The Gippslander express from Sale to Bairnsdale. In their later years, J class locomotives also ran the Horsham to Dimboola leg of the morning service from Melbourne, one of the last regular steam-hauled passenger train services in Victoria.[11]

Although J class locomotives produced the same nominal tractive effort as the K or N class, they had a slightly higher adhesive weight (and so a better factor of adhesion) and were permitted to haul heavier loads on gradients.[16] They could be found in goods service on branch lines across the state, but were also found on mainlines, running roadside goods services.[11]

Within a year of the introduction of the J class, the T class diesel electric locomotive was also introduced. Although the VR did not publicly indicate the T was intended to replace the J class,[17] the T class proved to be such a successful design that further orders of that locomotive class were made during the late 1950s and 1960s, and T class units gradually displaced the J class from many of the latter's normal duties.

Design Improvements

Together with the K and N classes, the J class had its boiler pressure raised in the early 1960s from 175 to 180 psi (1,207 to 1,241 kPa),[11] which raised their nominal tractive effort to 29,500 lbf (131 kN).

Following recommendations from the 1957 Australian and New Zealand Railway Conference, locomotive J546 was selected for the installation of a Laidlaw-Drew oil firing system in place of the convention weir-type burner. However, the locomotive was found to steam poorly under load using the Laidlaw-Drew system and was converted back to weir burner operation. No further locomotives were converted.[11]

Demise

By the late 1960s, the J class was largely relegated to shunting at various country yards, with many losing their cowcatchers and gaining shunter's steps on sides of the tender. The introduction of the Y class diesel electrics saw the J class even superseded in that role and, in November 1967, J523 became the first J class to be scrapped.[18] Scrappings continued until June 1978, with J538 the last to go.[18] J550 holds the distinction of being the very last steam locomotive in normal revenue service on the Victorian Railways, being rostered on the 6 a.m. Bendigo pilot on 25 May 1972.[14]

Preservation

J541 near Castlemaine station in 2009
J549 at Maldon railway station in September 2016
J556 at the Newport Railway Museum in 2006

The J class lasted as a complete class later than any other VR steam locomotive class. By the time that J class scrapping commenced, interest in railway preservation was sufficient for eleven examples to be preserved.[19]

Operational

  • J549: Owned and operated by the Victorian Goldfields Railway, the locomotive was out of service between March 2004 and October 2013, undergoing a major overhaul. It underwent load trials along the Maldon branch line on 21 October 2013, and its first public outing was on 26 October 2013. The official re-launch of the engine was held on 27 January 2014.[20]

Under Restoration

Static

Model Railways

HO scale

Steam Era Models has produced a brass and white metal kit for the J Class steam locomotive, as items L9C and L9O for Coal and Oil-burning models respectively.[25][26]

Trainbuilder has released a ready-to-run brass model of the class, featuring numbers J500, 502, 508, 510, 518, 520, 523 as Coal Burners, and 531, 535, 538, 541, 544, 552, 555 and 558 as Oil Burners.[27][28]

Ixion Models have released a ready-to-run plastic model, featuring numbers J500, J506, J507, J515, J519, J525 as Coal Burners, and J535, J541, J544, J549, J554, J556 as Oil Burners.[29][30]

References

  1. ^ Cave, Norman; Buckland, John; Beardsell, David (2002). Steam Locomotives of the Victorian Railways: the First Fifty Years. Melbourne: Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). p. 23. ISBN 1876677384.
  2. ^ "ARHS Railway Museum: History 1950 – 2000". Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2006.
  3. ^ "Victorian Goldfields Railway Steam Locomotives". Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  4. ^ Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 175 May 1952 page 60
  5. ^ a b c Pearce; et al. (1980). North Williamstown Railway Museum (Third ed.). Melbourne: ARHS. p. 14. ISBN 0-85849-018-8.
  6. ^ Victorian Railways J Class Locomotives Locomotive, Railway Carriage & Wagon Review issue 741 May 1954 pages 83/84
  7. ^ Victorian Railways J Class Locomotives Railway Gazette 20 August 1954 pages 211/212
  8. ^ Standard Gauge Conversion of N (SG) and J Class Locos Australian Railway History issue 1002 April 2021 pages 17-22
  9. ^ "DIAGRAM J CLASS STEAM LOCOMOTIVE (VPRS 12903/P1 Box 470/01)". Public Record Office Victoria. Retrieved 31 December 2006.
  10. ^ "DRAWING OF K CLASS STEAM LOCOMOTIVE (VPRS 12903/P1 Box 85/03)". Public Record Office Victoria. Retrieved 31 December 2006.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h David Barnett (November 2008). "J Class in Profile". Victorian Goldfields Railway Members Newsletter. Victorian Goldfields Railway: 3–6.
  12. ^ "The New J Class". The Victorian Railways Newsletter: 4–5. May 1954. Retrieved 31 December 2006.
  13. ^ New Light Line Consolidations on Order for Victorian Rlys Railway Transportation April 1952 page 32
  14. ^ a b "J class steam locomotives". victorianrailways.net. Retrieved 31 December 2006.
  15. ^ "REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS UPON DERAILMENTS ON THE VICTORIAN RAILWAY SYSTEM" (PDF). Parliament of Victoria. 8 December 1964. p. 27. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  16. ^ Carlisle, R M & Abbott, R L (1985). Hudson Power. ARHS. p. 36. ISBN 0-85849-028-5.
  17. ^ "And now the T's". The Victorian Railways Newsletter: 3. October 1955. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
  18. ^ a b Dee; et al. (1981). Power Parade. Melbourne: VicRail Public Relations Division. p. 35. ISBN 0-7241-3323-2.
  19. ^ "VICSIG – Locomotives – J Class Steam". Retrieved 31 December 2006.
  20. ^ "VGR Thread".
  21. ^ "Victorian Goldfields Railway - 2015". www.vgr.com.au. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Giving More Steam to Victoria's Railways" (Press release). Minister for Transport. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  23. ^ "SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE COLAC-OTWAY SHIRE COUNCIL" (PDF). 31 August 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  24. ^ Kulich, William P.J. (27 March 2013). "Warragul's steam train move 'a dream come true'". Baw Baw Citizen. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  25. ^ "STEAM ERA MODELS – Locomotives". www.steameramodels.com.
  26. ^ "STEAM ERA MODELS – Kits". www.steameramodels.com.
  27. ^ "Trainbuilder". Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  28. ^ "Trainbuilder" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  29. ^ "Home". Ixion Model Railways.
  30. ^ "Search: 10 results found for "ixion models"". Metro Hobbies.

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