WAGR U class
WAGR U class | |
---|---|
U655 at the Rail Transport Museum, Bassendean. | |
Type and origin | |
Power type | Steam |
Specifications | |
Configuration | 4-6-2 |
Gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
Career | |
Operator(s) | Western Australian Government Railways |
The WAGR U class was a class of 4-6-2 tender engine steam locomotives used by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between 1946 and the late 1960s.
History
In 1942, the North British Locomotive Company built 55 locomotives almost identical to the 220 class of the Sudan Railways. The new locomotives were intended to be available for use on various 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge railways operated by the Sudan, Nigeria, Gold Coast, Belgian Congo, French Ocean Congo and Rhodesian Railways, depending upon the course of the World War II battles in North Africa. Unlike the 220 class, which burned coal, the new locomotives were equipped as oil burners, although they had provision for rapid conversion to coal burning, if necessary.[1]
Of the 55 new locomotives, 35 were sent overseas in 1942 and 1943. The remaining 20 were stored unassembled at the Melbourne Military Railway, near Derby, England. In 1946, six of these went to the Nyasaland Railways for use on the Trans-Zambesi Railway, and the other 14 were sent to Western Australia, where they became the WAGR U class.[1]
Class list
The numbers and periods in service of each member of the U class were as follows:[2]
|
See also
- History of rail transport in Western Australia
- List of Western Australian locomotive classes
References
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gunzburg 1984, p. 128.
- ↑ Gunzburg 1984, p. 129.
Bibliography
- Gunzburg, Adrian (1968). WAGR Locomotives 1940–1968. Perth: Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division). pp. 16–19, 47. OCLC 219836193.
- Gunzburg, Adrian (1984). A History of WAGR Steam Locomotives. Perth: Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division). ISBN 0959969039.
- Tourret, R (1995). Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War. Abingdon: Tourret Publishing. ISBN 0-905878-06-X, Chapter 30.
External links
Media related to WAGR U class at Wikimedia Commons
|