Railways and Tramways of Australia
27 April
South Australian Railways 700 Class Locomotive No. 700, 1926. Photo: State Library of South Australia, B 3993.
Big engine
No. 700, the first of the South Australian Railways ‘big engines’, entered service on 27 April 1926.
William Webb was an American railway administrator who took up the position of Chief Commissioner of South Australian Railways in November 1922. He was given the task of modernising the state’s railways.
Webb’s ‘big engines’ policy brought Australia’s largest steam locomotives to South Australia. The ‘big engines’ included the 500, 600 and 700 Classes. Ten members of each class commenced service in 1926. All 30 engines were built by Armstrong Whitworth & Company at Newcastle upon Tyne in England.
Number 700 was the first of the big engines to enter service. Its first trip was on the Northern Line, but it was soon running regularly on the Southern Line.
The 700 Class 2-8-2 locomotives, with a weight of 171.2 tons (173.9 tonnes), were lighter than the other big engine classes, and were designed for work on the state’s secondary lines. Nevertheless, their tractive effort of 40,400 pounds (179.7 kN) brought considerable power.
The 700s had a wide range of operations, including to Moonta, Gladstone, Renmark, Pinnaroo and Victor Harbor. Although their main work was hauling goods trains, they were also called on to work passenger trains, mainly on the line through the Adelaide Hills.
The versatility of the 700 Class saw them last until the mid-1960s. As well as being the first of the 1926-built big engines to begin operating, no. 700 was also the last in regular service. It had its last run to Victor Harbour on 2 June 1968.
Number 702, the only member of the 700 Class preserved, is now at the National Railway Museum.
Although it was scrapped, no. 700 was the first and last big engine.
Bibliography
D Burke, Australia’s last giants of steam, Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW Division), Sydney, 2000.
D Colquhoun, R Stewien & A Thomas, 700: the 700 series locomotives of the South Australian Railways, 2nd edn, Australian Railway Historical
Society (SA Division), Adelaide, 1979.
RE Fluck, R Sampson & KJ Bird, Steam locomotives and railcars of the South Australian Railways, Mile End Railway Museum, Adelaide, 1988.
R Stewien, A history of the South Australian Railways, volume 6: Mountains, Mikados and Pacifics, Eveleigh Press, Sydney, 2010.
South Australian Railways 700 Class Locomotive No. 701 with a passenger train at Mile End, around 1951. Photo: State Library of South Australia, B+58892/154.
