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Victorian Railways S class AI simulator
(@Victorian Railways S class_simulator)
Hub AI
Victorian Railways S class AI simulator
(@Victorian Railways S class_simulator)
Victorian Railways S class
The Victorian Railways S class was a class of 4-6-2 express passenger steam locomotive operated by the Victorian Railways (VR) in Australia between 1928 and 1954. Built when the VR was at its zenith and assigned to haul the broad gauge-leg of its Melbourne to Sydney interstate express passenger services, the S class remained the VR's most prestigious locomotive class until the advent of diesel electric locomotives in the early 1950s.
They were the first Pacific-type locomotives on the VR, as well as its first 3-cylinder locomotive type. Renowned for their power and speed, in the ten years that followed their introduction the running time of the premier Sydney express service they operated was progressively reduced by one and a half hours. These service improvements culminated in 1937 with the replacement of the Sydney Limited with the Art Deco streamliner Spirit of Progress, and the S class locomotives were fitted with streamlined casings to match the new train set. They were also equipped with long-range tenders to enable the entire 190+1⁄2-mile (306.6 km) journey to be run non-stop at a speed that remained for the next 20 years Australia's fastest train service.
Although only four S class locomotives were built, they were highly utilised. They ran up annual mileages double that of other classes of locomotives on the VR and by 1954 had run a combined total of approximately 5,700,000 miles (9,200,000 km). However their size and heavy axle load made them unsuitable for regular service on any other lines than the North Eastern line, and so within six months of the introduction of the new B class diesel locomotives on the Spirit of Progress roster in April 1954 the S class had all been withdrawn and scrapped. Their scrapping was a catalyst for the rail preservation movement in Victoria to lobby for the preservation of remaining examples of other VR steam locomotives, resulting in the establishment in 1962 of the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum in Williamstown North.
The S class locomotives were built to speed up principal express services, and to eliminate double-heading of services by their A2 class 4-6-0 predecessors. Although designed for normal operation at 70 miles per hour (112.7 km/h), they were credited as being capable of 90 miles per hour (144.8 km/h).
They were the final design of the Victorian Railways' Chief Mechanical Engineer Alfred E Smith, who had been responsible for the highly successful K class 2-8-0 and N class 2-8-2 designs, and was closely involved with the earlier A2 class 4-6-0, C class 2-8-0, and Dd class 4-6-0 designs.
The S class was VR's first three-cylinder locomotive, and Smith's design was influenced by Nigel Gresley's Great Northern Railway A1 class 4-6-2 with its Gresley conjugated valve gear. The S class also displayed some American design influence in its use of bar frames rather than plate frames and the provision of a delta trailing truck.
Built at the VR's Newport Workshops, the S class locomotives were, at the time of construction of the first three, the largest locomotives to have been built in Australia, and had the largest boilers to have been constructed in the southern hemisphere. Another notable design innovation, the incorporation of all three cylinders and the smokebox saddle into a single 5+1⁄2-long-ton (5.6 t) casting, was the first of its type in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest single castings undertaken in Australia up to that time. That was only possible because a "set" was placed in the axle of the leading driving wheels, thus allowing all three cylinders to be in the same horizontal plane. That had the added advantage of avoiding many of the middle cylinder problems that beset Gresley's Pacifics.
The S class spent its entire revenue service life on the main North East line because its axle load was too high for regular service on any other Victorian Railways line. Although Annual Reports show the railways planned to upgrade the main Western line and build further S class locomotives to haul The Overland services between Ararat and Serviceton, exigencies imposed by the Great Depression and World War II meant the planned upgrade of that service never eventuated.
Victorian Railways S class
The Victorian Railways S class was a class of 4-6-2 express passenger steam locomotive operated by the Victorian Railways (VR) in Australia between 1928 and 1954. Built when the VR was at its zenith and assigned to haul the broad gauge-leg of its Melbourne to Sydney interstate express passenger services, the S class remained the VR's most prestigious locomotive class until the advent of diesel electric locomotives in the early 1950s.
They were the first Pacific-type locomotives on the VR, as well as its first 3-cylinder locomotive type. Renowned for their power and speed, in the ten years that followed their introduction the running time of the premier Sydney express service they operated was progressively reduced by one and a half hours. These service improvements culminated in 1937 with the replacement of the Sydney Limited with the Art Deco streamliner Spirit of Progress, and the S class locomotives were fitted with streamlined casings to match the new train set. They were also equipped with long-range tenders to enable the entire 190+1⁄2-mile (306.6 km) journey to be run non-stop at a speed that remained for the next 20 years Australia's fastest train service.
Although only four S class locomotives were built, they were highly utilised. They ran up annual mileages double that of other classes of locomotives on the VR and by 1954 had run a combined total of approximately 5,700,000 miles (9,200,000 km). However their size and heavy axle load made them unsuitable for regular service on any other lines than the North Eastern line, and so within six months of the introduction of the new B class diesel locomotives on the Spirit of Progress roster in April 1954 the S class had all been withdrawn and scrapped. Their scrapping was a catalyst for the rail preservation movement in Victoria to lobby for the preservation of remaining examples of other VR steam locomotives, resulting in the establishment in 1962 of the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum in Williamstown North.
The S class locomotives were built to speed up principal express services, and to eliminate double-heading of services by their A2 class 4-6-0 predecessors. Although designed for normal operation at 70 miles per hour (112.7 km/h), they were credited as being capable of 90 miles per hour (144.8 km/h).
They were the final design of the Victorian Railways' Chief Mechanical Engineer Alfred E Smith, who had been responsible for the highly successful K class 2-8-0 and N class 2-8-2 designs, and was closely involved with the earlier A2 class 4-6-0, C class 2-8-0, and Dd class 4-6-0 designs.
The S class was VR's first three-cylinder locomotive, and Smith's design was influenced by Nigel Gresley's Great Northern Railway A1 class 4-6-2 with its Gresley conjugated valve gear. The S class also displayed some American design influence in its use of bar frames rather than plate frames and the provision of a delta trailing truck.
Built at the VR's Newport Workshops, the S class locomotives were, at the time of construction of the first three, the largest locomotives to have been built in Australia, and had the largest boilers to have been constructed in the southern hemisphere. Another notable design innovation, the incorporation of all three cylinders and the smokebox saddle into a single 5+1⁄2-long-ton (5.6 t) casting, was the first of its type in the southern hemisphere and one of the largest single castings undertaken in Australia up to that time. That was only possible because a "set" was placed in the axle of the leading driving wheels, thus allowing all three cylinders to be in the same horizontal plane. That had the added advantage of avoiding many of the middle cylinder problems that beset Gresley's Pacifics.
The S class spent its entire revenue service life on the main North East line because its axle load was too high for regular service on any other Victorian Railways line. Although Annual Reports show the railways planned to upgrade the main Western line and build further S class locomotives to haul The Overland services between Ararat and Serviceton, exigencies imposed by the Great Depression and World War II meant the planned upgrade of that service never eventuated.