New South Wales D50 class locomotive

New South Wales D50 class
Class D50 Locomotive
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Beyer, Peacock & Co. (151) Dübs & Co. (5) Neilson & Co. (10) North British Locomotive Co. (84) Clyde (30) Build date 1896–1916 Total produced 280
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0  • UIC 1'Dn Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 4 ft 3 in (1.295 m) Adhesive weight 126,000 lb (57 t) Loco weight 139,000 lb (63 t) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 30 sq ft (2.8 m2) Boiler pressure 160 psi (1.10 MPa) Heating surface 2,210 sq ft (205 m2) Superheater None Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 21 in × 26 in (533 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort 30,576 lbf (136.0 kN) Factor of adh. 4.10
Career Operators New South Wales Government Railways Class T524, D50 from 1924 Number in class 280 Disposition 4 preserved, 276 scrapped

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 8 locomotives were subsequently acquired by the Nord-Belge railway in Belgium and, following rebuilding, assigned to work coal trains along the Meuse Valley. The 2 other locomotives were accuired by S.A. Force, Eclairage et Docks de Gand in Ghent, Belgium. 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In the 1930s 72 were withdrawn and after being used during the load testing of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 with most of these locomotives being latter scrapped, although 14 were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. Several of these heavy shunters were fitted with automotic couplings on the front buffer beam from 1960 onwards.