| Silverton Tramway W class | |
| Powertype: | Steam |
| Designer: | Frederick Mills Beyer, Peacock & Co |
| Builder: | Beyer, Peacock & Co |
| Serialnumber: | 7418-7419, 7553-7554 |
| Builddate: | 1951 |
| Totalproduction: | 4 |
| Whytetype: | 4-8-2 |
| Driverdiameter: | 4feet |
| Length: | 61feet |
| Fueltype: | Coal |
| Watercap: | 3000impgal |
| Boilerpressure: | 2002NaN2 |
| Firearea: | 27square feet |
| Cylindersize: | 16x |
| Valvegear: | Walschaerts |
| Tractiveeffort: | 217602NaN2 |
| Factorofadhesion: | 4.43 |
| Locobrakes: | Westinghouse air |
| Operator: | Silverton Tramway Company |
| Fleetnumbers: | W22–W25 |
| Lastrundate: | 1961 |
| Preservedunits: | W22, W24, W25 |
| Disposition: | 3 preserved, 1 scrapped |
The Silverton Tramway W class was a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Silverton Tramway Company.
In January 1949, the Silverton Tramway Company ordered two 4-8-2 locomotives from Beyer, Peacock & Co, Manchester, to the same design as the Western Australian Government Railways W class. A further two were ordered in November 1950.[1] [2]
All four arrived at Port Pirie in October 1951 and, after final assembly, moved to Broken Hill in a convoy, with two in steam. Until 1953, all were hired to the South Australian Railways on a rotating basis, operating services out of Peterborough, until the South Australian Railways 400 class locomotives were delivered.[2] [3]
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.[1] [2] [3]
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 has a locomotive operating as W22, although it is actually W916 masquerading as W22, including some parts from the latter.[2] [4]
|