The South Australian Railways V class was a class of

0-4-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles. This type was only u ...

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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s operated by the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation 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 Australian Natio ...

History

In November 1876 the

took delivery of four 0-4-4 locomotives from Beyer, Peacock & Co,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

for use on the lightly laid Kingston-Naracoorte railway line. After final assembly was completed in South Australia, all entered service between January and May 1877. They were built to the same design as the

Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

V1 class."Mechanical Horses: The V Class of the SAR" ''

Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin ''Australian Railway History'' is a monthly magazine covering railway history in Australia, published by the New South Wales Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society on behalf of its state and territory Divisions. History and pro ...

'' issue 755 September 2000 pages 332-337 They were not a success being too light and having insufficient water capacity for the 84 kilometre journey, requiring a water gin to be attached. In 1879, two W class locomotives were transferred with V9 becoming the shunter at Kingston wharf and the other three stored. In 1882, V12 was returned to service at

Port Germein Port Germein is a small sea-side town in the Australian state of South Australia located about north of the state capital of Adelaide and about north of the city of Port Pirie on the eastern side of South Australia's Spencer Gulf overlooking G ...

before moving to

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. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an ex ...

, while in the same year V10 was transferred to Port Wakefield, the latter was joined by V11 in 1885. In 1888, V9 moved to

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

. From November 1891 until May 1893, V11 was loaned to

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

to operate on its lightly laid

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

network. All four were rebuilt between 1891 and 1896. Between September and December 1893, a further four were delivered from

James Martin & Co James Martin & Co was an Australian engineering company which progressed from making agricultural equipment to making railway locomotives. History James Martin & Co. was founded in Gawler, South Australia about 1848 by James Martin as a blac ...

. They operated at various locations including

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the traditional owners, the Barngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, ...

, Terowie and

Wallaroo Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies, that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'' wi ...

. Some were loaned interstate during the construction of the

Yallourn Power Station The Yallourn Power Station, now owned by EnergyAustralia is located in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia, beside the Latrobe River. Yallourn Power Station was a complex of six brown coalfired thermal power stations built progressivel ...

. Most were withdrawn in the 1930s and 1940s with V9 plinthed at Pioneer Park, Naracoorte.

Class list

References

Literature

* Frank Stamford
''And the tail-waggers did all right … The Kingston–Naracoorte Railway in the 1870s – Part 2.''
In: ''Light Railways - Australia’s Magazine of Industrial & Narrow Gauge Railways,'' No 254, April 2017. Pages 16-25.

External links

{{South Australian Railways locos, state=expanded Beyer, Peacock locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1876 V 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia 0-4-4T locomotives