Victorian Railways M class

The Victorian Railways M class were 4-4-0T (tank) steam locomotives for suburban passenger service, a pattern engine being supplied in 1879 by Beyer, Peacock & Co to the Victorian Railways in Australia. Twenty-one further locomotives of this model were built by the Phoenix Foundry of Ballarat, in three batches, from 1884 to 1886. These were numbered 40 (pattern engine), 210-240 (even numbers only), and 312-320 (evens only). They were classed M in 1886. Their relatively small coal bunker capacity proved inadequate for the rapidly expanding suburban network of the 1880s, therefore between 1901 and 1905 they were rebuilt at the Newport Workshops as 4-4-2T locomotives, with an enlarged bunker of 3.05 tonnes (3.00 long tons; 3.36 short tons) capacity on extended frames supported by a trailling radial axle. At the same time, the opportunity was taken to replace the troublesome leading Bissell truck with one of the design being used successfully on the contemporary 'New' A and D class locomotives, as well as increasing the cylinder diameter from 17 to 18 inches. When rebuilt, these locomotives were regarded as equivalent to the Victorian Railways' ubiquitous E class 2-4-2T suburban engines for rostering purposes, and were known as the ME class, although the original 'M' class plates carried on the locomotives were not altered. These engines proved most successful in service, and withdrawals did not commence until 1913, following the introduction of the larger DDE (later D4) class suburban tank engines from 1908. The last ME locomotives were scrapped in 1922, having been rendered surplus by the conversion of suburban lines to electric traction from 1919 onwards; none have been preserved.[1][2]

For the diesel-hydraulic powered railway shunting locomotives, see Victorian Railways M class (diesel-hydraulic).

No 40 departing North Melbourne station for Sunshine.

References
  1. Harrigan, Leo J. (1962), Victorian Railways to '62, Victorian Railways Public Relations and Betterment Board
  2. Cave, Norman; Buckland, John; Beardsell, David (2002), Steam locomotives of the Victorian Railways - Volume 1: The first fifty years, Australian Railway Historical Society, Victorian Division, ISBN 978 1 8766773 8 1
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