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Standards in Steam: The 50-Class -Used- (UB-11994)

$75.00 AUD

Product No.: UB-11994
Title: Standards in Steam: The 50-Class
Author(s): R.G. Preston
Illustrator(s): N/A
Publisher: Eveleigh Press
ISBN: 0646091360
Condition: Used
Binding: Softcover
Dust Jacket: None
Edition: 1st Edition
Publication Year: 1992

Features: 246 Pages with Black/White Photos & Line Drawings.

The D50 class was a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives built for the New South Wales Government Railways of Australia. The first was delivered in May 1896 by Beyer, Peacock and Company with further orders over the next 20 years seeing the class number 280. Their second and third coupled wheel tyres were flangeless to reduce curve friction. During the First World War, an additional 10 locomotives of this class were under construction at the North British Locomotive Company, but these were not delivered to Australia, being taken over by the British War Office for the Royal Engineers Railway Operating Division.

After the war, they were offered back to the New South Wales Government Railways at higher than new prices and in a badly worn condition. They were declined and were subsequently acquired by a Belgian railway and, following rebuilding, assigned to work coal trains along the Meuse Valley. The Commonwealth Railways also chose this design to be their first goods locomotive class, building eight K-class, for the Trans-Australian Railway. The last 75 were built with superheaters and after being judged a success many of the class were retrofitted.

Many of the class received turret type tenders in later years which provided better visibility when operating in reverse. In the 1930s 72 were withdrawn and after being used during the load testing of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 with most scrapped, although 14 were rebuilt with superheaters and returned to service. By mid-1964 there were only 113 left in service with the class by now normally restricted to working coal trains in the Hunter Valley and shunting duties in the larger marshalling yards throughout the system.