The Victorian Railways H class was a class of light line passenger locomotives operated by the Victorian Railways between 1877 and 1916.

History

During the late 1870s, William Meikle designed a pair of 4-4-0 locomotives and had them constructed at Williamstown Workshops. The locomotives were built using spare parts of engines from the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company and were numbered 38 and 40 (later G class). Meikle modified the design and placed an order of eight from the Phoenix Foundry of Ballarat in 1877. While they were originally unclassed, they were designated "H" in 1886.

Production The locomotives were similar to the 1874 K class and G class in both power and weight, but with driving wheels in diameter rather than . One strange feature was the inexplicably small grate area. Four-wheeled tenders with a wheelbase were fitted.

Regular service H150 was noted as being in motor service in 1908.

Design improvements

Accidents 26 January 1881 - H160 in accident at Beaufort 26 July 1881 - H160 collided with F98 at Beaufort 1889 - H152 broke driving axle

Withdrawal All the locomotives were removed from the Victorian Railways register between 1905 and 1916. The boiler of H156 went to the Bendigo sheds in 1912.

H150 was sold to the Trawalla and Waterloo Tramway for £600 on 31 May 1909 and was later sold to Smith and Timms, in 1912. It was last seen in 1922 at the Mile End rail yards in South Australia.

A tender of one of the H class locomotives is preserved at the Newport Railway Museum, attached to Crane No. 2. The tender had last been used on Crane No. 3 (ex-Z526) until its withdrawal in 1978.

Fleet summary Key:In ServicePreservedStored or WithdrawnScrapped

Locomotive Builder No. Entered service Withdrawn ScrappedStatus Notes H146 40 Scrapped H148 41 Scrapped H150 42 Scrapped Sold to Trawalla and Waterloo Tramway - 31 May 1909. Sold to Smith and Timms, SA - 1912. Last seen at Mile End, SA - 1922 H152 43 Scrapped Boiler to Bendigo shed H154 44 Scrapped H156 45 Scrapped H158 46 Scrapped H160 47 Scrapped

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