VICTORIAN RAILWAYS 'S' CLASS 4-6-2

Designed by Chief Mechanical Engineer Alfred Smith.
Built at Newport Railway Workshops 1928-1930.
Streamlined and modified 1937. Converted to oil fuel 1951.

CYLINDERS (3) 20.5 ins x 28 ins.(521mm x 711mm)
COUPLED WHEEL DIAMETER 73 ins.(1,854mm)
TOTAL HEATING SURFACE 3,752 square feet. (349m²)
(including superheater)
GRATE AREA 50 square feet. (4.6m²)
BOILER PRESSURE 200 PSI. (1,379kpa)
TRACTIVE EFFORT 41,679 lbs. (18,905.6kg)
TOTAL WEIGHT 223.85 tons. (227.4 tonnes)
LENGTH OVERALL 85 feet 6 ins.(26,060mm)

Only four of these outstanding three cylinder express passenger locomotives were built. Confined to the heavy rail Melbourne-Geelong-Ballarat and North Eastern corridors because of their 23.75 ton axle loadings, they took over the haulage of most fast passenger services on these routes. There is evidence to suggest they also handled the occasional fast-freight working.

In 1937 they were given the task of hauling Australia's world-class express passenger train, the all new, all steel, air-conditioned 'Spirit of Progress'. They performed splendidly covering the 192 miles daily from Melbourne to Albury non-stop with the 525 ton train in three hours 40 minutes at an average speed of 52.3 mph.

In 1952 they were replaced on the 'Spirit' by the new 'B' class diesel electrics and were relegated to fast-freight workings until becoming redundant as their boilers gave out and more diesel power became available.

By 1954 all four had been retired and unfortunately were scrapped and cut up before any attempt could be made to retain one for preservation.

One can only now imagine the sheer thrill of standing trackside in 1938 as one of these beautiful machines roared past with its eleven coach blue and gold train at 70 mph.