Railways and Tramways of Australia

Unusual engine

 

Tasmanian engine J1 ran its first trial on 23 July 1900.

 

Tasmania’s North East Dundas Tramway was a two-foot (610-mm) gauge railway line connecting Zeehan with mines around Williamsford. It featured steep gradients up to 1 in 25 and numerous curves with a radius of 30 or 40 metres.

 

Seeking a locomotive to increase haulage capacity, but also capable of negotiating the gradients and curves on the line, Tasmanian Government Railways ordered a swivel-frame locomotive from Locomotivfabrik Hagans of Erfurt, Germany. Hagan’s Patent articulated locomotives were in service with Royal Prussian State Railways.

 

The 2-6-4-0 engine was assembled at Zeehan and designated the J Class. The leading set of six coupled driving wheels were driven by a connecting rod in the same manner as conventional steam locomotives. The four trailing coupled wheels were in a pivoted frame and driven by a separate connecting rod that was linked to the piston through a series of knuckle joints and levers.

 

At the time of its introduction, J1 was the heaviest 610-mm gauge locomotive ever built and was unique in Australia. Because of its size and weight, bridges on the line were strengthened and cuttings were widened. It was capable of hauling considerable loads.

 

For its first trial, J1 hauled a special train to Williamsford. It was reported that the locomotive ran smoothly throughout. During another trial on 22 August the rails spread, causing the engine to derail, which was attributed to inadequate track repairs. J1 generally operated smoothy without issues in regular service.

 

J1’s boiler was condemned in 1928 and it was withdrawn from service after a total of 86,470 miles (139,160 km) in operation, a considerable amount for a locomotive operating on a small network. This unusual engine remained stored at Zeehan until it was scrapped in 1949.

 

Bibliography

‘A heavy locomotive, T.G.R.’, The Locomotive Magazine, 6 June 1903, pp 386-8.

‘Hagan’s Patent locomotive’, Light Railways, no. 43, Autumn 1973, pp 14–21.

K Milbourne, Steam locomotives of Tasmania, self-published, 2021.

G Murdoch, Tasmania’s Hagans: the North East Dundas Tramway articulated ‘J’ Class’, self-published, 1998.

L Oberg, Locomotives of Australia: 1854 to 2007, Rosenberg, Sydney, 2007.

L Rae & T Coen, 150 years of railways in Tasmania, Lou Rae and Tony Coen, Hobart, 2021.

‘The NE Dundas Tramway’, Tasmanian Railway Hobbyist, vol. 3, no. 2, March-April 1997, pp 30–7.