The Silverton Tramway W class was a class of

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s operated by the Silverton Tramway Company.

History

In January 1949, the Silverton Tramway Company ordered two

locomotives from Beyer, Peacock & Co,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, to the same design as the Western Australian Government Railways W class. A further two were ordered in November 1950. All four arrived at

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

in October 1951 and, after final assembly, moved to

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. I ...

in a convoy, with two in steam. Until 1953, all were hired to the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...

on a rotating basis, operating services out of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, until the South Australian Railways 400 class locomotives were delivered. The Silverton W class differed from the WAGR examples in having a skyline cowling running the length of the boiler and smokebox, Westinghouse air brakes, and an additional blow-down valve in the middle of the bottom of the boiler barrel. When the 48s class diesels arrived in 1961, the W class locomotives were retired, after only 10 years in service. They remained in store until disposed of in 1970, with three now preserved. The

Pichi Richi Railway The Pichi Richi Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia between Quorn and Port Augusta. For much of its length the line lies in the picturesque Pichi Richi Pass, where the line was complete ...

has a locomotive operating as W22, although it is actually W916 masquerading as W22, including some parts from the latter.W22
Australian Steam

Class list

References

{{NSWLocos, state=collapsed Beyer, Peacock locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1951 Silverton Tramway Steam locomotives of New South Wales 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia 4-8-2 locomotives Passenger locomotives