User:Zzrbiker/testbio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Power type | steam |
|---|---|
| Designer | Eugene Siepen |
| Builder | Phoenix Foundry, Ballarat |
| Build date | 1900–1903 |
| Configuration | 4-4-0 |
| UIC classification | 2'Bh2 |
| Gauge | 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) |
| Driver size | 6 ft 1 in (1.854 m) |
| Axle load | 18 tons 10 cwt (18.8 tonnes) |
| Weight on drivers | 71 tons 18 cwt (73.1 tonnes) roadworthy |
| Tender weight | 47 tons 0 cwt (47.8 tonnes) |
| Locomotive and tender combined weight | 80 tons 6 cwt (82.1 tonnes) |
| Boiler pressure | 200 psi (1.4 MPa) |
| Fire grate area | 32 sq ft ({{Convert}} no longer accepts sqm as code. Please use m2 instead. Please refer to {{convert}}'s talk page for the reasoning behind this. Sorry for any inconvenience.) |
| Heating surface: Total | 2,417 sq ft ({{Convert}} no longer accepts sqm as code. Please use m2 instead. Please refer to {{convert}}'s talk page for the reasoning behind this. Sorry for any inconvenience.) |
| Superheater area | 327 sq ft ({{Convert}} no longer accepts sqm as code. Please use m2 instead. Please refer to {{convert}}'s talk page for the reasoning behind this. Sorry for any inconvenience.) |
| Cylinders | Two, inside |
| Cylinder size | 19 × 26 in |
| Valve gear | Walschaerts |
| Tractive effort | 38,400 lbf (170.81 kN) at 85% boiler pressure |
| First run | 1900 |
| Last run | 1932 |
The AA class was an express passenger locomotive that ran on the Victorian Railways between 1900 and 1932. The largest, heaviest and most powerful 4-4-0 to run in Australia, it was the final development of this locomotive type in Australia.
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1900, Victorian Railways still ran express passenger trains with the successful but ageing B class 2-4-0 which dated back to 1862. The "New A" class of 1889 was a successful design, as was the X class 0-6-0 of 1889. The VR drafting office decided to take the best features of the New A class, but enlarge the locomotive with a larger, higher pressure boiler and larger cylinders.
With a 200 psi boiler, it was not possible to use traditional slide valves. As such, the AA was the first VR locomotive to use piston valves.
With an engine weight of ?? t and and axle load of ?? t, the AA had reached the limits of Victoria's track infrastructure and had a relatively low factor of adhesion. Future VR locomotive designs were based on three or four coupled axles.
[edit] Production
Twenty of the class were built by the Phoenix Foundry in Ballarat, entering service between 1900 and 1903. The last ten had a slightly larger firebox and grate. [1]
[edit] Design improvements
In practice, the C class was initially a somewhat less successful design than the A2. Key shortcomings included a very long, 9 feet 7 inches (2.9 m) manually stoked firebox that was difficult to fire and prone to clinkering, and an undersized boiler.[2] The locomotives tended to run out of steam when worked hard.
In an attempt to rectify these problems, locomotive C 5 was fitted in 1933 with 'Modified Front End', a streamlining of the steam passages and other changes designed to reduce back pressure on the exhaust side and increase efficiency. The success of Modified Front End was such that the rest of the C class was progressively modified, as well as all of the A2, K, N, S and X classes.[2]
In 1929, C 5 also became the first VR locomotive to be fitted with a cross-compound air compressor, which was also subsequently adopted across other VR locomotive classes.[2]. The C class was also the first goods locomotive to be fitted with Automatic Staff Exchange apparatus, given their frequent used on express goods and fruit services.[1]
As the poor quality of coal available after World War II exacerbated the problems of firing the C class and industrial action in the mines threatened supply, the entire class was converted to oil firing from 1946 onwards following an initial conversion of C 15 in 1946. Despite the success of the conversion, C class locomotives were still prone to running out of steam when pushed on long rising gradients.[1]
Whereas other VR locomotives to receive Modified Front End treatment had been equipped with smoke deflectors in the 1930s, it was not until 1947 that the VR finally developed a successful design of smoke deflector for the C class, based on the German "Witte" pattern.[3] This design was then adopted for the final Newport-built N class locomotives as well as the last two steam locomotive classes on the VR, the R and J classes.
[edit] Passenger use
During World War II, increasingly heavy passenger trains and a shortage of suitable motive power saw the C class used as mainline passenger locomotives, a somewhat unusual assignment for a 2-8-0. To facilitate passenger working, their maximum allowable speed was raised from 50 mph (80 km/h) to 60 mph (96 km/h) on the key North Eastern, Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong lines.[3]
[edit] Withdrawal
The postwar rebuilding of Victorian Railways in the late 1940s and early 1950s saw the order of hundreds of new locomotives of superior design to the C class, culminating in the delivery of B class mainline diesel electric and L class mainline electric locomotives.
With these new locomotives entering service, the ageing C class locomotives were progressively withdrawn from service, commencing with C 20 in June 1954. The last C class in service, C 7, was withdrawn in April 1962.[2]
[edit] Preservation
C 10 was set aside for preservation on 18th May 1962, after having run 1,160,856 miles (1,868,217 km) during its career on the VR.[3] It is today preserved at the ARHS North Williamstown Railway Museum.

