Victorian Railways K class

Victorian Railways K class

VR photo of K 103 as built, 1922

Type and origin Power type steam Builder VR Newport Workshops

Specifications Configuration 2-8-0 Gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Driver dia. 55 in (1,397 mm) Length 60 feet 3 1⁄2 inches (18.38 m) Axle load 13 long tons 10 cwt (30,200 lb or 13.7 t) Adhesive weight 53 long tons 2 cwt (118,900 lb or 54 t) Loco weight 62 long tons 7 cwt (139,700 lb or 63.4 t) Tender weight 42 long tons 5 cwt (94,600 lb or 42.9 t) Total weight 104 long tons 12 cwt (234,300 lb or 106.3 t) Tender cap 5 long tons 0 cwt (11,200 lb or 5.1 t) coal, 4,200 imp gal (19,000 L; 5,000 US gal) water Firebox:  • Firegrate area 25 3⁄4 sq ft (2.39 m2) Boiler pressure 175 psi (12.1 bar; 1,210 kPa) Heating surface 1,680 sq ft (156 m2) Cylinders 2 Cylinder size 20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm)

Performance figures Tractive effort 28,650 lbf (127,400 N) at 85% boiler pressure

Career Number in class 53

The K class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1922 to 1979. Although its design was entirely conventional and its specifications unremarkable, the K class was in practice a remarkably versatile and dependable locomotive. It went on to outlast every other class of steam locomotive in regular service on the VR, and no fewer than 21 examples of the 53 originally built have survived into preservation.

The K class was the first design from the VR Locomotive Design Section under the stewardship of Alfred E Smith as Chief Mechanical Engineer.

The Locomotive Design Section had introduced successful mainline and branchline passenger locomotives with the A2 class and Dd class 4-6-0s, and had recently improved mainline goods services with the C class 2-8-0. They now turned their attention to a requirement for a more powerful branchline goods locomotive, and in 1922 produced a lighter 2-8-0 "Consolidation" locomotive with a 13 ¹⁄₂ long tons (13.7 t; 15.1 short tons) axle load and 50 ft (15.24 m) wheelbase, able to run on even the lightest lines on the VR 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) system.

The K class is credited with working virtually every line in the VR system and hauling almost every kind of train.

A total of ten were built from 1922-23. They were put to work on goods services on steeply graded branch lines where their superior tractive effort (45% higher than that of the Dd class) and high factor of adhesion were put to good use.

The design was modified in 1925 into the N class 2-8-2, in response to a new Victorian Railways policy that all new locomotives be capable of conversion from 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) to 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in the event of the Victorian Railways network being standardised. (The K, with its firebox mounted between the frames, was unsuitable for standard gauge conversion.)