| Queensland Railways D17 class | |
|---|---|
| D17 builder's photograph by Walkers Limited, Maryborough | |
| Power type | Steam |
| Builder | Walkers Limited (10), Ipswich Workshops (20) |
| Build date | 1924–1942 |
| Total produced | 30 |
| Configuration | 4-6-4T |
| UIC classification | 2′C2′ h2t |
| Gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
| Driver diameter | 51 in (1.295 m) |
| Boiler pressure | 160 or 170 lbf/in² (1.10 or 1.17 MPa) |
| Cylinders | Two |
| Cylinder size | 17 × 22 in (432 × 559 mm) |
| Valve gear | Walschaerts |
| Tractive effort | 16,940 or 18,000 lbf (75.35 or 80.07 kN) |
| Career | Queensland Railways |
| Withdrawn | 1961–1968 |
The D17 class steam locomotive was a 4-6-4T locomotive of the Queensland Railways (QR).
The locomotives operated on 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge. The significance of the first "D" is in line with the QR loco classing system where the letter referred to the number of coupled wheels. The “D”, is used to identify the locomotive as a Tank Engine, followed by numerals indicating the cylinder diameter of seventeen inches, the number “6” was used to denote the number of coupled wheels before the “D”. As time went by the only tank locomotives in operation only had “6” coupled and the “D” was adopted to donate tank locomotives in Queensland Rail.
These superheated engines were built to assist the 6D16 class with increasing suburban traffic. They were the only Queensland Railways class to be fitted as a whole, from new, with two sand-domes. They were restricted to the Brisbane suburban area with boundaries of Ipswich, Ferny Grove, Pinkenba, Shorncliffe, Petrie, Kingston and Lota. This area was later extended beyond Ipswich to Grandchester. Initially, all were attached to Mayne depot but later several were transferred to Wooloongabba.
Cylinder and steam chest castings are identical to C17 Class. The ‘6’ was dropped from the classification in 1937. The engines were often unofficially referred to as ‘black tanks’ after the introduction of the DD17 class. Engines constructed in 1937 had boilers with a pressure of 170 pounds-force per square inch (1.17 MPa). Earlier engines were altered to that pressure as they passed through workshops. A wooden crate was fixed to the centre of the bunker to slightly increase the coal capacity from the original 3 tons.
Engines of this class were some of the last to receive electric headlights due to them being restricted to running in the Brisbane suburban area. Fitting of electric headlights commenced in 1951.
Some of the class were built at Ipswich workshops and some by Walkers Limited, Engineers, Maryborough, Queensland.
|
|||||||||||||||||