South Australian Railways R class

The South Australian Railways R class, later upgraded to Rx Class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.

South Australian Railways R & Rx class
Rx149 with a load of wine casks at McLaren Vale
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderDübs & Co (6)
James Martin & Co (24)
Islington Railway Workshops (14)
North British Locomotive Company (15)
Walkers Limited (25)
Build date1886-1916
Total produced84
RebuilderIslington Railway Workshops
Rebuild date1899-1913 as Rx
Number rebuilt30 to Rx
Specifications
Configuration:
  Whyte4-6-0 (2′C 3) (2′C 2′2′)
Gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Driver dia.4 ft 6 in (1.372 m)
Length49 ft 11 in (15.215 m)
Height4.064 Metres
Axle load9 tons 17 cwt (R)
11 tons 8 cwt (Rx)
Adhesive weight28.50 tons
Loco weight40 long tons (40,642 kg) (R)
Tender weight22 long tons (22,353 kg) (R)
Total weight65 long tons (66,043 kg) (R), 88 long tons (89,412 kg)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity4 tons 18 cwt (R), 7 tons 16 cwt (Rx), 6 tons 17 cwt (Rx 6 wheel tender)
Water cap2,040 gallons (R) 3,750 gallons (Rx), 3,200 gallons (Rx 6 wheel tender)
Firebox:
  Firegrate area
17.6 sq. ft. (R)
20.37 sq. ft. (Rx)
Boiler pressure145 psi (1,000 kPa) (R)
175 psi (1,207 kPa) (Rx)
Heating surface:
  Tubes
1,196 square feet (R)
1,208 square feet (Rx)
  Firebox98.3 sq. ft. (R)
105 sq. ft. (Rx)
Superheater:
  Heating area178 sq. ft. (Rx) (not fitted to some locos)
Cylinders2
Cylinder size18 in × 24 in (457 mm × 610 mm)
Valve gearStephenson
Performance figures
Tractive effort17,700 lbf (78.73 kN) (R) 21,420 lbf (95.28 kN)
Career
OperatorsSouth Australian Railways
ClassR/Rx
Numbers5, 9, 10, 15, 20*, 25*, 48, 55, 56, 91*-96*, 102*-107*, 138*-153*, 155, 158, 160, 190-203, 206-235 (* originally built as R class)
First run10.2.1886
Last run5.9.1969
Withdrawn1927-1969
PreservedRx 5, Rx 55, Rx 93, Rx, 160, Rx 191, Rx 201, Rx 207, Rx 217, Rx 224 & Rx 231
Scrapped1928-1974
Disposition10 preserved, 74 scrapped

History

In 1886, Dübs and Company of Glasgow delivered the first six R class. A further 24 had been built by James Martin & Co by November 1895. From 1899, all were rebuilt with higher powered Belpaire boilers and reclassified as the Rx class. A further 54 locomotives were built as Rx class by the Islington Railway Workshops, North British Locomotive Company and Walkers Limited with all in service by May 1916.[1]

R class were the predominant locomotive used on broad gauge main line services in South Australia from their introduction. After the introduction of the large Webb engines they were relegated to secondary lines and services such as shunting and hauling goods trains. A large group of Rx class locomotives, mainly early builds, were withdrawn from service in 1934, however the remainder continued to serve into the mid 1960s.[1]

Survivors

Several Rx class locomotives and one R class survive to this day in various states of preservation.

gollark: Also, splitting up <#426054105577029654> seems silly as it is not very high-traffic anyway.
gollark: If you have an SDR, you can just scan through a lot of them and look.
gollark: It says programming in the description, even.
gollark: <#426054105577029654> is *kind of* that.
gollark: For receiving only, though.

References

  1. Oberg, Leon (1984). Locomotives of Australia 1850s-1980s. Frenchs Forest: Reed Books. p. 54. ISBN 0 7301 0005 7.
  2. Rx5 Australian Steam
  3. Rx55 Australian Steam
  4. Rx93 National Railway Museum
  5. Rx93 Australian Steam
  6. Rx160 Australian Steam
  7. Rx191 Australian Steam
  8. Rx201 Australian Steam
  9. Rx207 Australian Steam
  10. Rx217 Australian Steam
  11. Rx224 Australian Steam
  12. Rx231 Australian Steam

Media related to South Australian Railways R class at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.