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Victorian Railways E class

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For the electric locomotives, see Victorian Railways E class (electric).

Victorian Railways E class
Static Victorian Railways 0-6-2 E class tank engine at Maldon, Victoria.
Type and origin
Power typesteam
BuilderVR Newport Workshops
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte2-4-2 (71) & 0-6-2 (5), later 24x 2-4-2 converted to 0-6-2.
Gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)

The pattern suburban E class tank loco was built by Kitson & Co of Leeds, England, in 1888 and was a typical British tank engine of the 2-4-2 wheel arrangement. The original loco, named "Tasmania" by the builder, was displayed in the Centennial International Exhibition in the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings in 1888.[1]

There were seventy-one engines in the class, numbered 426 (pattern engine), 346 to 394 (even numbers, Phoenix Foundry), 12, 34, 36, 428 to 460 (even numbers, Phoenix Foundry) and 472 to 520 (even numbers, David Munro).[1]

Five additional engines were delivered from Phoenix as EE class 462, 464, 466, 468 and 470, with a new wheel arrangement of 0-6-2T explicitly for shunting use. Following their evaluation, engines 482 and 496 in 1898, followed by 490 and 478 in 1906-1907, were converted to the same format although the latter two used 170psi boilers and 18-inch cylinders in lieu of the earlier 140psi boilers and 17-inch cylinders.[1]

The pattern engine was withdrawn in 1915, and two further units in 1917.

As Melbourne's suburban electrification project progressed the 2-4-2 tank engines were quickly rendered obsolete. In the period 1919-1923, 20 engines were converted to match the nine existing shunters' 0-6-2T configuration (all bar 494 upgraded to 18-inch cylinders), while a further 25 were withdrawn. Of the latter group, twenty were sold to the South Australian Railways to become their second M class.[1] An additional 18 engines were withdrawn in 1924, leaving only a single 2-4-2T type in service.

In the 1923 locomotive renumbering scheme the EE class engines were reclassified in the 350-379 group. By 1929 this had expanded to 390 and the group was reclassified E.[1]

The original E class 2-4-2T type engines were intended to take numbers 236-245 without a class letter, but as above only one engine survived long enough to have the new number applied; thus 506 became 236.[1]

Class table

Builder No. Type On Register E Convert Renumber New EE no. Reclass as E Sold to SAR New M no. Off Register Notes
Kitson 3088 2-4-2T 1889 426 1915 Pattern engine
Phoenix 251 2-4-2T 1889 346 1920 Damaged in accident 1891. Phoenix No.252 was not of this class.
Phoenix 253 2-4-2T 1889 348 1923 1923 380 1929 1959
Phoenix 254 2-4-2T 1889 350 1920 256
Phoenix 255 2-4-2T 1889 352 1920 262
Phoenix 256 2-4-2T 1890 354 1924
Phoenix 257 2-4-2T 1890 356 1917
Phoenix 258 2-4-2T 1890 358 1924
Phoenix 259 2-4-2T 1890 360 1924
Phoenix 260 2-4-2T 1890 362 1922 - 362 1931 1954
Phoenix 261 2-4-2T 1890 364 1922 - 364 Unknown[1] 1955 Collision with engine M 316, 1903
Phoenix 262 2-4-2T 1890 366 1921 267
Phoenix 263 2-4-2T 1890 368 1924 Accident 1890, derailed 1900, collision 1902
Phoenix 264 2-4-2T 1890 370 1922 - 370 1929 1959
Phoenix 265 2-4-2T 1890 372 1920 257 Fitted with Gibson patented link-motion 1893; in Richmond 1908 accident
Phoenix 266 2-4-2T 1890 374 1921 - 374 1930 1961 At Ararat 1915-1916; first engine (with E386) painted red and chocolate livery in 1903.
Phoenix 267 2-4-2T 1890 376 1921 - 376 1930 1955
Phoenix 268 2-4-2T 1890 378 1922 - 378 Unknown[1] 1951
Phoenix 269 2-4-2T 1890 380 1921 268
Phoenix 270 2-4-2T 1890 382 1920
Phoenix 271 2-4-2T 1890 384 1921 269
Phoenix 272 2-4-2T 1890 386 1921 270 First engine (with E374) painted red and chocolate livery in 1903.
Phoenix 273 2-4-2T 1890 388 1924
Phoenix 274 2-4-2T 1890 390 Unknown[1] - 390 Unknown</ref> 1955 Assume upgraded, else it would have been renumbered 237-245 range?
Phoenix 275 2-4-2T 1890 392 1920
Phoenix 276 2-4-2T 1890 394 1924
Phoenix 290 2-4-2T 1892 12 1924
Phoenix 291 2-4-2T 1892 34 1921 1925 350 1929 1953
Phoenix 292 2-4-2T 1892 36 1921 266
Phoenix 293 2-4-2T 1892 428 1922 1925 351 1929 1954
Phoenix 294 2-4-2T 1892 430 1921 271
Phoenix 295 2-4-2T 1892 432 1924
Phoenix 296 2-4-2T 1892 434 1920 258
Phoenix 297 2-4-2T 1892 436 1923 1923 377 Unknown[1] 1962
Phoenix 298 2-4-2T 1893 438 1923 1923 381 1929 1954 Casualty at Jolimont 1901 with E 494
Phoenix 299 2-4-2T 1893 440 1920 263
Phoenix 300 2-4-2T 1893 442 1924 Ran off end of siding, Hawthorn, 1899
Phoenix 301 2-4-2T 1893 444 1924
Phoenix 302 2-4-2T 1893 446 1920 264
Phoenix 303 2-4-2T 1893 448 1924
Phoenix 304 2-4-2T 1893 450 1920
Phoenix 305 2-4-2T 1893 452 1920 259
Phoenix 306 2-4-2T 1893 454 1920 1923 352 1931 1954
Phoenix 307 2-4-2T 1893 456 1921 272
Phoenix 308 2-4-2T 1893 458 1921 273
Phoenix 309 2-4-2T 1893 460 1917
Phoenix 310 0-6-2T 1893 462 As built 1923 353 1929 1954 17in cylinders from new.
Phoenix 311 0-6-2T 1893 464 As built 1923 355 1929 1956 17in cylinders from new.
Phoenix 312 0-6-2T 1893 466 As built 1923 356 1929 1954 17in cylinders from new.
Phoenix 313 0-6-2T 1893 468 As built 1923 357 1929 1960 17in cylinders from new. Ran into North Melbourne Depot turntable pit
Phoenix 314 0-6-2T 1893 470 As built 1923 359 1929 1937 17in cylinders from new.
Munro 01 2-4-2T 1892 472 1924
Munro 02 2-4-2T 1892 474 1924 Ran through South Yarra floods 1907
Munro 03 2-4-2T 1892 476 1924
Munro 04 2-4-2T 1892 478 1907 1923 361 1929 1954 EE upgrade used 18in cylinders. Ran off end of siding at Ringwood and overturned, 1908
Munro 05 2-4-2T 1892 480 1924 Fitted with Gibson patented link-motion 1893
Munro 06 2-4-2T 1892 482 1898 1924 363 Unknown[1] 1955 EE upgrade used 17in cylinders; 18in cylinders fitted in 1929. Collision with engine R 324, 1927
Munro 07 2-4-2T 1892 484 1921 1924 365 1930 1954
Munro 08 2-4-2T 1892 486 1920 1924 366 Unknown[1] 1956
Munro 09 2-4-2T 1892 488 1924 Damaged in Newport Yards 1896
Munro 10 2-4-2T 1892 490 1906 1923 367 Unknown[1] 1956 EE upgrade used 18in cylinders.
Munro 11 2-4-2T 1892 492 1921 274
Munro 12 2-4-2T 1892 494 1919 1923 369 1931 1962 EE upgrade used 17in cylinders. Accident with E 438 at Jolimont 1901 and Richmond 1908
Munro 13 2-4-2T 1892 496 1898 1923 371 1929 1966 EE upgrade used 17in cylinders; 18in cylinders fitted in 1929.
Munro 14 2-4-2T 1893 498 1920 1925 372 1931 1959
Munro 15 2-4-2T 1893 500 1920 Accident at Spencer Street Station 1910
Munro 16 2-4-2T 1893 502 1924
Munro 17 2-4-2T 1893 504 1920 260
Munro 18 2-4-2T 1893 506 Preserved Renumbered 236 (unclassed) in 1923
Munro 19 2-4-2T 1893 508 1920 265
Munro 20 2-4-2T 1893 510 1922 1924 373 1929 1956 Broken connecting rod pierced boiler, 1899
Munro 21 2-4-2T 1893 512 1924
Munro 22 2-4-2T 1894 514 1923 1923 379 1931 1962 Hauled royal train from Port Melbourne, 1901
Munro 23 2-4-2T 1894 516 1920 261
Munro 24 2-4-2T 1894 518 1920 1922 375 Unknown[1] 1955
Munro 25 2-4-2T 1894 520 1921 275

Retirements and preservation

E359 was the first of the 0-6-2T type engines taken off register in November 1937 but the others remained on register until the 1950s, with six lasting into the early 1960s.

The last original engine, No.236, was retained as a shunter at Newport Workshops until its withdrawal in 1953. It was then stored for almost a decade until being allocated to the then-newly-established ARHS Museum in Newport South as one of their first display pieces.

The last two in service, numbers 369 and 371, finished their working lives as yard pilots at Newport Workshops until 1972, when they were retired. E369 was given to the ARHS, while attempts were made in the 1980s to restore E371, initially at Steamrail's tarp shop facility and later at the Spotswood reclamation depot. However, the engine was found to have taken significant damage during its career, including damage to the frame and boiler that would be prohibitively expensive to rectify; in short, it would likely be cheaper to construct a new locomotive from scratch. Given that, E371 was cosmetically reassembled and transferred to the Victorian Goldfields Railway (VGR). It is now a static display outside Maldon station.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cave, N.; Buckland, J.; Beardsell, D. (2002). Steam Locomotives of the Victorian Railways. Vol. Volume 1: The First 50 Years. pp. 150–158. ISBN 1876677384. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
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