MRWA P class

Midland Railway of Western Australia
P class

One of the P class locomotives with a goods train near Midland Junction.
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Builder James Martin & Co,
Gawler, South Australia
Serial number 134–135
Specifications
Configuration 4-4-0
UIC classification 2'B
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Driver diameter 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm)
Length 46 ft (14.02 m) (incl tender)
Locomotive weight 51.05 long tons (51.87 t; 57.18 short tons) (incl tender)
Boiler pressure 140 psi (970 kPa)
Firegrate area 13.87 sq ft (1.289 m2)
Cylinder size 15 in × 20 in (381 mm × 508 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort 9,333 lbf (41.52 kN)
Career
Number in class 2
Number(s) P62, P63/P12
First run 1896

The MRWA P class was a class of steam locomotives built in 1896 by James Martin & Co in Gawler, South Australia. The class's wheel arrangement was 4-4-0.

After initially serving on the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR), the two members of the class were sold in 1912 to the Midland Railway of Western Australia (MRWA), on which they served the rest of their careers.

Specifications

The P class was basically a 4-4-0 version of the WAGR's 4-6-0 G class, and was identical to the South Australian Railways Z class, save for its bogie tender in place of the SAR six wheel tender.[1]

Service history

Both members of the P class were purchased by the WAGR from James Martin & Co, and were numbered P62 and P63. After entering into service with the WAGR, they served briefly on main line passenger traffic, until superseded by more powerful locomotives.[1]

In 1912, the MRWA had a pressing need for new locomotives. While awaiting delivery of its five new C class locomotives on order from Kitson & Co., the company also purchased both P class units, presumably as a stop-gap until the C class had arrived.[1]

Following the entry of all C class locomotives into MRWA service, the P class was described officially as 'excess to requirements'. However, it appears that the MRWA was unable to dispose of them permanently to other railway operators.[1]

P63, renumbered as P12, continued to serve intermittently as a shunter at Midland Junction until the early 1920s. By then, its maintenance costs had become too high, and it was written off in 1929, together with P62, which had been gradually cannibalized to keep P12 running.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gunzburg, Adrian (1989). The Midland Railway Company Locomotives of Western Australia. Melbourne: Light Railway Research Society of Australia. p. 22. ISBN 0909340277.
  2. ↑ Gunzburg (1989), pp 22, 49.

External links

Media related to MRWA P class at Wikimedia Commons