South Maitland Railways 10 Class

South Maitland Railways 10 class
10 at East Greta Junction in November 2010
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Beyer, Peacock and Company, Manchester Build date 1911-25 Total produced 14
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC 2-8-2T Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 2 ft 9 in (0.838 m) Driver dia. 4 ft 3 in (1.295 m) Trailing dia. 2 ft 9 in (0.838 m) Wheelbase Coupled: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m) Overall: 31 ft 4 in (9.55 m) Length 41 ft 11 in (12.78 m) over buffers Width 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) Height 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m) Axle load 15 long tons 12 cwt (34,900 lb or 15.9 t) Adhesive weight 61 long tons 15 cwt (138,300 lb or 62.7 t) Loco weight 83 long tons 10 cwt (187,000 lb or 84.8 t) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 4 long tons 0 cwt (9,000 lb or 4.1 t) Water cap 2,400 imp gal (11,000 l; 2,900 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 150 sq ft (14 m2) Boiler pressure 180 lbf/in2 (1.24 MPa) Heating surface 1,838 sq ft (170.8 m2)  • Tubes 1,685 sq ft (156.5 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort 31,210 lbf (138.83 kN)
Career Operators South Maitland Railway Class South Maitland Railways 10 class Number in class 14 Numbers 10, 17–20, 22–28, 30–31 First run 1911 Current owner Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum Hunter Valley Training Company Richmond Vale Railway Museum Disposition 14 preserved

The South Maitland Railways 10 Class locomotives is a class of 14 2-8-2T steam locomotives built for the East Greta Coal Company (later South Maitland Railway) by Beyer, Peacock and Company in Manchester, England, between 1911 and 1925. Members of this class of locomotive were the last steam locomotives in commercial use in Australia.

The East Greta Coal Company had constructed its railway empire based on a motley group of secondhand and borrowed steam locomotives, which by 1910, was fast becoming insufficient to move the great loads coming from the Greta Seam which ran right through the South Maitland coalfield. Standardised motive power was sought, and a melding of the New South Wales Government Railways' P(6) 4-6-0 and T(524) 2-8-0 designs brought about the 10 class.

The locomotives were generally known as the '10' class, as the class leader was numbered as that company's 2nd No. 10. The fourteen locomotives were numbered where they could be accommodated within the East Greta Coal Company numbering system. This proved haphazard, the numbers allocated being 2nd No. 10 (later 10), 17-20, 22-28 and 30-31.

The locomotives were delivered in knocked down form, and erected onsite at the East Greta Junction Workshops (colloquially known as the 'Red Shed'). They were primarily used to haul coal trains.

This remained consistent until the 1950s, when a sharp downturn in demand for coal led to certain members of the class being set aside as boiler work was required. With an upturn in the late 1960s, and the purchase by Coal & Allied (C&A) in 1967 of Hebburn Limited which gave C&A 100% ownership of South Maitland Railways. As C&A also owned the former J&A Brown Richmond Vale Railway a study was undertaken on the costs involved in having new boilers built by outside suppliers for both the 10 class and the J&A Brown ROD locomotives. It was determined to be of greater benefit to allow the remaining RODs to work out their economic lives, and to start a system of repairing the 10 Class as soon as possible for the revived traffic.