Locomotives Richmond Vale railway line

1 locomotives

1.1 nos. 1 , 2
1.2 nos. 3 , 4
1.3 nos. 5–8 mersey tanks
1.4 no. 9 pelaw main, no. 10 richmond main & no. 11 hexham
1.5 nos. 12–24 rods
1.6 no. 26
1.7 3013
1.8 abermain nos. 1 , 2
1.9 south maitland railways 10 class locos

locomotives
nos. 1 , 2

the first locomotives, no. 1 , 2, used on original minmi hexham railway 0-4-2t side tank locomotives built r & w hawthorn of newcastle upon tyne in 1856 (builders nos. 947 , 948). in 1922 both rebuilt saddle tanks. no.1 scrapped in 1942 , no. 2 sold stewarts , lloyds in 1941.

nos. 3 , 4

j & brown no.4 @ hexham, june 1973

in 1878 no. 3, 0-6-0t saddle-tank, purchased j & brown kitson , company in leeds, england (builders no. 2236), similar engine no. 20, named buck built kitsons (builder no. 1620), browns wanted buy new south wales government railway. buck , built in 1870 , used haul coal on government railways hexham newcastle. no. 20 bought government railways in 1891 , renumbered no. 4 on browns roster. 1920s both locos being used on shunting staithes @ hexham. no.3 remained in service until 1966 , no. 4 lasted until november 1967. both survive, no. 3 @ dorrigo steam railway , museum , no.4 new south wales rail transport museum , on display @ newcastle regional museum @ former gnr honeysuckle workshops @ newcastle.

nos. 5–8 mersey tanks

j & brown no.5 @ hexham, june 1973

with richmond vale railway nearing completion there need larger locomotives haul trains on line, john brown purchased 4 large 0-6-4t side-tanks locos england. these locos had been built beyer, peacock , company in 1885–86 mersey railway in liverpool. first 3 locos purchased in 1905, fourth loco purchased in 1908. before these locos shipped australia had vacuum operated brakes , condensing apparatus removed, had enclosed cabs , steam brakes fitted. upon arrival in australia given j & brown nos. 5–8 , known 5 class. no. 5 mersey railway no. 1 , built in 1885 (builder s no. 2601) , named major, no. 6 mersey railway no. 7 , built in 1886 (builder s no. 2607) , named liverpool, no. 7 mersey railway no. 9 , built in 1886 (builder s no.2782) , named connaught, no. 8 mersey railway no. 4 , built in 1885 (builder s no. 2604) , named gladstone. nos. 5–7 still carried mersey railway nameplates whilst in j & brown ownership, no photographic evidence has been found of no. 8 nameplates intact whilst in j & brown service. after introduction of r.o.d. locos 5 class locos set aside when major repairs required. nos. 7 , 8 had been withdrawn 1934 , no. 6 sold cessnock collieries limited in 1934 use @ kalingo colliery. in 1936 after period of storage no. 5 transferred jabas abermain colliery railway system remained until 1939 placed in storage. in 1941 after being overhauled used on hexham stockrington trains until suffering boiler defects in july 1942 when withdrawn. no. 5 preserved @ new south wales rail transport museum, thirlmere, new south wales. driving wheelset no.8 survives @ richmond main.

no. 9 pelaw main, no. 10 richmond main & no. 11 hexham

no.10 richmond main @ hexham, june 1973

in 1908 kitson , company of leeds asked j & brown supply large 2-8-2t side-tank engine. new loco designed browns , based on great central railway class 8a 0-8-0 tender engines dating 1902 kitsons had built gcr. loco built in 1908 (builder s no. 4567) , fitted cast brass nameplates kitsons name pelaw main. upon arrival given number 9 , loco being successful , richmond main colliery undergoing development 2 similar locos ordered. these 2 new locos built in 1911 (builder s nos. 4798 , 4834) , numbered 10–11, these 2 locos fitted brass nameplates no. 10 carrying name richmond main , no. 11 hexham. these 3 locos mainstay of traffic on rvr until arrival of rod locos, when relegated secondary duties. 1940s 3 locos being used on stockrington hexham workings. no.11 withdrawn in 1949 , scrapped in 1966. 1954 nos. 9 , 10 standby locos , used intermittently. however, 1969 both locos used regularly in shunting sidings @ hexham. in october 1972 both locos returned main line traffic being regularly used on stockrington hexham trains. no. 9 worked until november 1980 , no. 10 worked until december 1976 , both preserved @ richmond main.

nos. 12–24 rods

j & brown rod 23 @ hexham in june 1973

these 13 locomotives part of class of 521 2-8-0 tender engines built several locomotive builders railway operating division (r.o.d.) of royal engineers use in france during first world war. these locomotives based on pre war great central railway class 8k 2-8-0 locos design john g. robinson after armistice these locomotives surplus , j & brown bought 13 of these locomotives, these built north british locomotive company (9), kitson , company (1) , great central railway s gorton works (3). these 13 locos shipped australia on period march 1925 march 1927. first 3 locos arrived complete on ss boorara in february 1926. unloaded in sydney , hauled hexham. in late 1927 rest arrived in crates on brown s new ship ss minmi on maiden voyage hexham. dismantled locos gradually reassembled last locos not being reassembled until 1931. whole 13 locos never in service @ 1 time maximum in service @ 1 time being ten in 1954. class lasted until 28 june 1973 when last rod in service no. 24 withdrawn. nos. 20 , 24 preserved dorrigo steam railway , museum , no. 23 preserved richmond vale railway museum.

no. 26

purchased second hand sydney & suburban blue metal company s gravel quarry @ widermere in 1948 serve opened open cut @ minmi, loco former nswgr 2-6-4t side tank loco 2013 built beyer, peacock , company, manchester in 1885 (builder s no. 2567). due condition of loco underwent major overhaul @ hexham workshops , when completed in 1949 transferred abermain instead of intended use on minmi open cut trains. fitted replacement second hand boiler obtained hebburn limited in 1954. remained @ abermain until closure of abermain collieries railway system in 1963 , stored @ hexham. in february 1967 transferred hebburn replace system s failed robert stephenson , hawthorns loco. no. 26 used intermittently on hebburn system until december 1967 when put aside, cut in march 1970 @ hebburn no. 1 colliery.

3013

ex nswgr 4-6-4t 3013 @ hexham in june 1973

due problems experienced no. 26 whilst @ hebburn required hiring of south maitland railways locomotive , since smr short of locos due state of loco fleet @ time, jabas purchased 4-6-4t 3013 new south wales department of railways. locomotive built beyer, peacock , company in 1903 (builder s no. 4456). loco delivered hebburn colliery @ weston on 15 may 1967, remained until closure of hebburn no. 2 colliery in june 1972 when transferred hexham on 12 july 1972. regularly used on duties @ hexham until arrival of second smr ten class loco in may 1973, when used on standby duties until being stored in 1976. in 1981 loco sold lachlan valley railway, dismantled overhaul. in october 2009 dismantled loco transferred canberra railway museum.

abermain nos. 1 , 2

these 2 0-6-0t saddle tank locos built avonside engine company abermain coal company no. 1 in 1911 (builder s no. 1606) , no. 2 in 1922 (builder s no. 1916) use on abermain collieries rail system between abermain nos. 2 , 3 collieries , exchange sidings smr @ abermain no. 1 colliery. upon formation of jabas in 1931 these 2 locos kept original road numbers , known abermain no. 1 , 2 . 2 locos remained on abermain system other when being transferred hexham workshops overhaul, , return abermain. in 1955 no. 1 loco transferred hexham use in servicing new coal preparation plant. withdrawn in 1961 after suffering burnt boiler , scrapped in 1966. no. 2 loco transferred hexham in december 1963 after closure of rail line servicing abermain no. 2 colliery. @ hexham used service coal preparation plant , coal staithes until 1969 when withdrawn, in june 1973 sold hunter valley steam railway , museum.

south maitland railways 10 class locos

the first of fourteen locos of class supplied east greta coal mining company in 1912 beyer, peacock , company. in following years remaining locos supplied both east greta coal mining co. , successor south maitland railways pty ltd last arriving in 1926. these fourteen locos used on coal haulage on south maitland system between various collieries @ cessnock , transfer point government railways @ east greta junction @ maitland.

in 1973 remaining r.o.d. locos @ hexham due withdrawal service , south maitland railways being owned subsidiary of coal & allied since 1967, 2 10 class locos transferred hexham. after withdrawal of no. 9 pelaw main in 1980 third 10 class transferred hexham. after replacing of steam on smr sra diesels in june 1983 fourth 10 class allocated hexham work richmond vale railway. of fourteen south maitland railways 10 class worked on surviving section of rvr between hexham , stockrington @ various times. fourteen locos survive.