New South Wales E17 class locomotive

New South Wales E17 class

No. 20 with early goods train at Bundanoon. 1870.

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Robert Stephenson and Company Builder Robert Stephenson and Company (11) Mort's Dock (6 assembled) Henry Vale (6) Build date 1865 Total produced 23

Specifications Configuration 0-6-0 UIC class 2'Bn Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 4 ft 0 in (1.219 m) Superheater None Cylinders Two Cylinder size 18 in × 24 in (457 mm × 610 mm)

Performance figures Tractive effort 15,600 lbf (69.4 kN)

Career Operators New South Wales Government Railways Class E17 Numbers 17-22,40-47,52,103 11N-13N,18N,19N,21N,22N Disposition 1 preserved, remainder scrapped

Class E17 Locomotive No.46

The E.17 class was a class of patent long boiler steam locomotive built by the Robert Stephenson and Company for the New South Wales Government Railways of Australia.

History

The first locomotives were built by Robert Stephenson and Company and placed in service in 1865-7 on the Southern and Western lines for goods workings. The locomotives were based on Stephenson's patent long boiler engines of 1843 for the York and North Midland Railway. Local companies assembled or built other class members that differed in details.^[1]

Accidents

On the night of 30 January 1878 head-on collision between two E.17 Class goods trains resulted in the drivers and firemen of both trains, together with a guard riding in the cab of the up train, being killed.^[2] The primitive system of working the trains was found to be a contributing factor. Both locomotives were written off and replaced by new locomotives supplied by Robert Stephenson and Company.

Demise and preservation

Several locomotives were sold to private railways or transferred to the Public Works Department for railway construction, with all being scrapped by 1929 except Nos 42 and 18. The sole survivor No. 18 was withdrawn from railway service in 1897 and sold to Corrimal Coal & Coke Company. No. 18 survived till the 1963 in this service until preservation.^[3]

Preserved E17 Class Locomotives
No.	Description	Manufacturer	Year	Current Organisation	Location	Status	Ref
18	0-6-0 mixed traffic	Robert Stephenson and Company	1865	NSW Rail Transport Museum	Thirlmere	static exhibit

Gallery

• 
  Class E17 locomotive No. 18 housed in a goods shed at Petersham before being removed to Rail Museum at Enfield
• 
  Class E17 locomotive No.18 at a level crossing at Corrimal (NSW)
• 
  NSWGR E.17 Class Locomotive No.22
• 
  NSWGR E.17 Class Locomotive No.103
• 
  NSWGR E.17 Class Locomotive No.41.
• 
  NSWGR E.17 Class Locomotive No.18
• 
  NSWGR E.17 Class Locomotive at Corrimal (NSW)

See also

• NSWGR steam locomotive classification

References

1. Oberg, Leon (1984). Locomotives of Australia 1850's -1980's. Frenchs Forest: Reed Books. pp. 168–170. ISBN 0 730100 05 7.
2. "RAILWAY COLLISION AT EMU PLAINS.". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 21 February 1878. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
3. Preston, Ron G (1984). Tender into Tank. Sydney: New South Wales Rail Transport Museum. pp. 11–57. ISBN 0 909862 18 4.