The government railways of New South Wales, Australia, use a large variety of passenger rolling stock. The first railway in Sydney was opened in 1855 between Sydney and Granville, now a suburb of Sydney but then a major agricultural centre. The railway formed the basis of the New South Wales Government Railways. Passenger and freight services were operated from the beginning. By 1880, there was a half hourly service to Homebush.

Former suburban passenger rolling stock

Suburban steam locomotives M36 Class

In the late 1860s, four more of the 1 class were manufactured by Mort's Dock & Engineering Company Sydney in 1870–71. Another four locomotives of the M.36 class were manufactured at Eveleigh Railway Workshops in 1876–77 using re-built tenders from Locomotive No.1–4. Two of the class later had cab shelters fitted to the tenders for suburban running.

Z18 Class

An order was placed in February 1882, with the Vulcan Foundry for six 2-4-0T locomotives to the specification of the then Acting Locomotive Engineer, Mr Scott. During Mr Scott’s subsequent absence in England on official business, Thomas Middleton, Locomotive Engineer, had the specifications altered to 0-6-0T wheel arrangement with 4'0" diameter driving wheels, together with other variations to the original order. Middleton claimed that the revised design would enable the locomotives to run at in suburban service. Commissioner Goodchap approved the changes and despite the protests on Scott’s return, the variations were made.

The six locomotives were delivered in 1884 and designated the 285 class. They became the (R) 285 class in 1889 and the Z18 class in 1924.

Their driving wheels proved too small for the speed required and they were reduced to shunting duties in Sydney Yard, with just the occasional venture into the suburbs.

In 1907, the locomotives were fitted with new domed boilers, replacing the domeless versions originally fitted. This increased their weight by 3 tons which improved their adhesion factor. Power reversing gear was fitted in 1922, making them the first class in New South Wales to be so fitted. It was a hydraulic type and was excellent when shunting at Sydney station, however this was only short lived and Johnson bar lever reversing gear was fitted shortly after.

In 1927, following the release of other locomotives with the electrification of the Sydney suburban network, the class was transferred to locomotive depot work, some being fitted with cranes and renumbered into the (X)10 series. Later, with the cranes removed, they were restored to their Z18 numbers and worked at Port Kembla shunting. 1076 was an exception which continued to be known by that number. No. 1802 (originally R286) was sold to the Public Works Department in 1927 and became their No. 75. It continued in service until it was cut up for scrap metal in 1964.McCarthy 1983 Gazetteer of Industrial Steam Locomotives, Illawarra District 1801 and 1806 were sold to the Wallarah Coal Company in 1957 and worked on the isolated Catherine Hill Bay Coal Railway until the line ceased operation in December 1963."The Wallarah Colliery Railway, Catherine Hill Bay" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 424 February 1973 pages 37/38

F351 Class

Originally ordered in 1879, but the order was stopped.Forsyth, J.H. (1974) "Steam Locomotive Data" A follow-up order in 1882 was made, the specification originally for 2-4-0 tank locomotives with 5'0" diameter driving wheels made by the acting locomotive engineer Mr Scott. As noted above, the order was altered during Scott's absence, resulting in the R285/Z18 class.

In August 1884, Mr Scott informed the commissioner that more locomotives were required with the opening of the Illawarra extension. Mr Middelton wanted more of the R285 class, but Mr Scott recommended his original proposed design from 1881. After much hesitation by the government, Beyer, Peacock & Company were asked to design and build the locomotives. These became the F351 class and went into service on the Sydney suburban network in 1885–86, being numbered 351 to 362. In 1887, six more locomotives of this design (numbered 363 to 3680) were delivered by Henry Vale of Sydney. No. 366 featured in the Redfern collision of 1894. The design was extremely similar to a number of 2-4-0 tank locomotives supplied to the Isle of Wight Central Railway from 1864. A similar locomotive was delivered to the South Australian Railways in 1884 as their P-class.Grunbach, A (1989) "A Compendium of New South Wales Steam Locomotives" p. 85–86

Their running life came to an end in 1901 as a result of the findings on the Sydenham derailment involving No. 363 and the whole class was taken out of passenger work. The F351 class were known to oscillate and rock at high speeds and were officially limited to 30 mph. A factor in the Sydenham derailment was the driver exceeding the official speed limit. The locomotive was believed to be doing 51 mph when the accident occurred. The entire class was subsequently withdrawn from passenger work and allocated to various shunting, yard and depot duties. A number of the class were modified with a heavy cast iron front buffer beam in an attempt to stabilise the front of the locomotive after 1901. Between 1906 and 1929, ten of the class were sold to various private railway operators.

All members of the class had been withdrawn from passenger work by 1914. Eleven were still on the books at this stage and were renumbered Lo.19–Lo.26 (Lo. Indicated that they were no longer in revenue-earning service). In 1924 they were renumbered in the X10 class, bearing numbers 1031–1033, 1035–1037 and 1039–1043. From 1914, members of the class still in NSWGR service were rebuilt with the same domed boilers that replaced the dome-less type originally supplied on the R285 class. A number of other modifications were made to the class such as replacing the leaf spring on the front axle with twin coil springs. For reasons unknown 1033 at some stage had the original parallel buffers on the rear replaced with longer bottle-shaped Turton buffers. In 1966, 1036 with withdrawn and scrapped, but during an overhaul the boiler was given to 1076, previously numbered R288 then 1804.

Three of the class were still in service with the NSWGR from 1940. 1033 at Eveleigh Railway Workshops, 1036 at Junee Locomotive Depot (withdrawn and scrapped in 1966) and 1042 at Cardiff Railway Workshops.1042 was given an overhaul as late as 1970 at the age of 83 years and continued working until February 1973,Oberg, L. (2007) "Locomotives of Australia"p. 73 only three months shy of 86 years in service and having completed 401,359 km (249,446 miles) of logged running. 1036 (F359) had accumulated the most mileage in service with 707,564 km (437,889 miles) at withdrawal.Forsyth, J.H. (1974) "Steam Locomotive Data"

Z11 Class

The Z11 class (formerly the M40 class) was a class of steam locomotives built for the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia.New South Wales Railways 1855-1955. Published by Department of Railways

Built by Beyer, Peacock & Company of Manchester, they entered suburban traffic in Sydney in 1891.

They were primarily intended for use on the steeply-graded Strathfield-Hornsby and Milson's Point-Hornsby sections, hence their hefty weight which served to hinder them later in their careers. Because of this, they were never noted for spectacular performance.

Between 1906 and 1910, they were rebuilt with Belpaire boilers. They were soon superseded by the S636 class 4-6-4Ts and were promptly used on Newcastle suburban services for a period. In 1924, all were renumbered as part of the Z11 Class.

No. 50 was sold to Australian Iron & Steel Ltd., No. 51 to the South Maitland Railway, No. 1104 to the Nepean Sand & Gravel Company and No. 1111 to the Southern Portland Cement Company of Berrima. The remainder were sold for scrap between 1925 and 1927.

None are preserved.

Z13 Class

Due to a shortage of suburban engines in the Sydney area and the availability of surplus C79 class tender engines, it was decided to experimentally convert one of the tender locomotives to a tank type engine in 1896. The conversion proved successful and twenty had been converted at Eveleigh Railway Workshops by 1902. In 1924, the class was renumbered becoming the Z13 class.

Following the delivery of C30 class locomotives from 1903, they were transferred to Newcastle suburban traffic and when replaced there, were allocated minor roles such as working the Carlingford, Morpeth and Warren branches. Two were sold to East Greta Mining & Railway Company, one to Ashtonfields Colliery, Thornton and a fourth scrapped.

In later years, their main duties were working of the Ballina branch, the Picton-Mittagong Loop line, the Yass Town branch and school trains on the upper North Coast.

C30 Class

The first batch of 35 locomotives were built Beyer, Peacock & Company entering service in 1903/04. Between 1905 and 1917 Beyer, Peacock built a further 60 engines while the New South Wales Government Railways built 50 at their Eveleigh Railway Workshops.

The electrification of the inner suburban lines resulted in a surplus of the class too valuable to scrap. Accordingly, between August 1928 and July 1933, 77 of these locomotives were converted to C30T tender 4-6-0 type locomotives by Clyde Engineering and Eveleigh Railway Workshops to replace older locomotives on country branch lines.

The remaining tank locomotives were mostly employed on Sydney suburban services to Cowan, Penrith and Campbelltown as well as branches to Carlingford, Richmond and Camden."Byways of Steam: Cowan to Hornsby" Roundhouse January 1985 page 14 They were also used on suburban services in Newcastle and Wollongong.

A few drifted to the country areas, working on sections where no turntable was readily available, such as Casino to Border Loop on the North Coast line, Leeton and Merriwa and shunting at yards such as Bathurst. The daily passenger trains on the extremely steep Unanderra to Moss Vale line were operated by 30 class locomotives until February 1967.

Following the electrification of the country platforms at Sydney Central station, the 30 class replaced the 26 class locomotives used to shunt carriages in the yard, they being not so dangerous to water under the traction wiring.

The first was withdrawn in February 1957, by July 1965 the fleet was down to 33 and by mid-1971 down to three. The last, 3085, was withdrawn on 22 February 1973.″Steam Locomotive Data, John Forsyth, NSWPTC 1970, 1974Railway Digest March 1973 It was the second last steam locomotive in service on the NSWGR.

Single-deck cars 1877 American Suburban carriages

Main article: New South Wales American Suburban carriage stock

The American Suburban Carriage were built between 1877 and 1912 by a number of manufacturers with timber frames and truss sided body work. Due to the truss bodywork, it was difficult to cut doors in the sides of the body so doors at either end of the cars were provided with covered platforms to allow access to the carriages. They became the most numerous group of carriages built for any Australian railway system with a total of 659 carriages built. A further 196 carriages, known as Lucy Suburban Carriages were constructed between 1913 and 1916 but had steel under frames and separate bodywork. While they retained the general layout and appearance of the American Suburban Carriage, they were generally not referred to as such and 193 were later completely rebuilt for use in Electric train stock in the 1920s.