The Tasmanian Government Railways M class is a class of

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomoti ...

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

Tasmanian Government Railways The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian Nat ...

History

On 12 March 1952, the

(TGR) took delivery of ten M class branch line locomotives from Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns,

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. The locomotives were similar to the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

YB class. The ten locomotives arrived in March 1952. They were allocated for operation on the North-Eastern and Western lines, as well as for services based in Hobart. However, as the TGR had already commenced dieselisation with the X class, some lines intended for M class operation had already been converted. Consequently, in 1957, four were fitted with smaller driving wheels recovered from withdrawn

Australian Standard Garratt The Australian Standard Garratt (ASG) was a Garratt articulated steam locomotive designed and built in Australia during World War II for use on the narrow-gauge railway systems owned by the Australian states of Queensland, South Australia, Tas ...

s to enable them to operate heavier trains over the steeply graded North-Eastern line. As they fell due for overhaul, they were withdrawn from 1960, with the last removed from traffic in 1975.

Preservation

All members of the class have been preserved; four have seen further use on heritage trains.

Namesake

The M class designation was previously used by the M class, the last of which was withdrawn in 1931.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, TGR M class locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1952 Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns locomotives Steam locomotives of Tasmania 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia 4-6-2 locomotives 2′C1′ h2 locomotives