Tasmanian Government Railways G class explained

Tasmanian Government Railways G class
Powertype:Steam
Builder:Sharp, Stewart and Company
Builddate:1896-1900
Totalproduction:3
Whytetype:0-4-2T
Driverdiameter:2feet
Fueltype:Coal
Boilerpressure:1402NaN2-1452NaN2
Cylindersize:12x
Tractiveeffort:86012NaN2
Operator:Tasmanian Government Railways
Fleetnumbers:G1-G2
Withdrawndate:1962
Disposition:all scrapped

The Tasmanian Government Railways G class was a class of steam locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways.

History

In 1896, the Tasmanian Government Railways purchased two steam locomotives from Sharp, Stewart and Company, Glasgow to operate the North East Dundas Tramway. Shortly after entering service, G1 was destroyed on 17 May 1897 after the boiler exploded. The crew were killed and the boiler flung 30 metres into the air landing 230 metres away. A replacement arrived in 1900, assuming G1's identity. After the railway closed, both were sold to the Isis Sugar Mill in Cordalba, Queensland and converted to tender locomotives'.[1] [2] [3]

G1 ended up in a Childers service station, but has since disappeared, while G2 was sold for use at a planned Sydney theme park, but illegally cut up at St Marys in 1991.[1] [2]

Builder's
number
BuiltTGR
no
Isis
no
Isis
name
41981896G1
44321898G210Tassie B
46191900G19Tassie A

Namesake

The G class designation was reused for the Australian Standard Garratt locomotives in the 1940s.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Turner, Jim. Australian Steam Locomotives 1896-1958. 1997. Kangaroo Press. Kenthurst. 086417778X. 13.
  2. Book: Oberg, Leon. Locomotives of Australia 1850s-2010. 2010. Rosenberg Publishing. Dural. 9781921719011. 103–104.
  3. "Steam Locomotives of the Tasmanian Government Railways and its Constituents" Australian Railway History issue 917 March 2014 page 18