Railways and Tramways of Australia

Twice the first

 

Western Australian Ec Class locomotive no. 250 entered service on 7 August 1901.

 

An urgent need for new motive power around 1900 led the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) to order 20 steam locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. Baldwin could deliver engines more quickly than other suppliers in Britain.

 

After arriving by ship, the new Ec Class 4-6-2 locomotives were assembled at Fremantle Workshops before commencing service. No. 250 was the first to head out onto the tracks.

 

The Ec Class were Vauclain compound engines, having smaller high-pressure cylinders mounted above the larger low-pressure cylinders. This improved efficiency and reduced fuel consumption. Drivers had to be trained in their operation.

 

The Ec Class engines were capable of hauling heavy passenger or goods trains and began operating on the Eastern Goldfields Railway between Northam and Southern Cross. They hauled loads 38 per cent heavier than the O Class that had been working goods trains on this route. One engine worked passenger trains that previously required two locomotives.

 

Nine of the Ec Class were lightened from 1920 to 1923 and reclassified as the Eca Class. However, the Ec and Eca Class engines became worn out and they were withdrawn from service from 1923 to 1925. A rebirth came when all 20 were rebuilt at Midland Workshops in Perth. The rebuild involved new superheated boilers, replacing the compound cylinders with standard cylinders, and replacing the Stephenson valve gear with Walschaerts valve gear. They re-emerged as the L Class and no. 250 was again the first of the class to begin service. The L Class engines remained operational until the 1950s when they were replaced by diesels. All were scrapped.

 

No. 250 was the first of its class to enter service twice in its working life.

 

Bibliography

D Fletcher, Australia’s colourful American locomotives: their art and architecture 1876 – 1920, Light Railway Research Society of Australia, Melbourne, 2021.

A Gunzburg, WAGR locomotives: 1940-1968, Australian Railway Historical Society (WA Division), Perth, 1968.

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