.:: Railway History in Victoria 1900 - 1950
This page covers Railway History in Victoria from 1900 through to 1950. See also:
Railway History 1900 - 1925
1900 - As the recovery from the 1890's depression begins to take effect the Victorian Railways commence to expand once more. In addition to the four narrow gauge lines a small amount of extension is made to existing lines and the construction of new locomotives is resumed. Some, such as the AA Class are enlargements of the Speight group of standard 1880's locomotives. These were built by the Phoenix Foundry. But a number of pattern locomotives are also obtained from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia. These include the V Class Goods locomotive of 1900 and the narrow gauge NA Class tank locomotives. Additional locomotives of each class were built in Victoria. The V Class by Phoenix and the NA Class by the Victorian Railway's Newport Workshops. A number of these two classes of locomotives were built as compounds, [ ie. The steam passed through two sets of cylinders to obtain maximum expansion from the steam, before it was exhausted to the atmosphere] but were later converted to simple expansion. These locomotives marked an important change in construction ideas and a break away from following purely English design concepts.
1900 - Newport Workshops undertakes the rebuild of the M Class group of suburban tank locomotives, dating from 1878.
1901 - The first complete Royal Train was assembled from special purpose vehicles for the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York.
1903 - April 6th The Victorian Railways return to administration by three Commissioners. Thomas Tait is appointed as the Chairman of Commissioners. Tait had been Assistant General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Thomas Tait also introduced the brown [Canadian Red] livery for locomotives
1902 - The first DD locomotive is constructed at Newport Workshops. Additional locomotives, were constructed in 1903/4, by both Newport and Phoenix Foundry. Ultimately, the Government decided that the Railway Workshops could construct these locomotives at lower cost. From then, until the end of World War 2, the majority of locomotives for the Victorian Railways were constructed in their own workshops. While this marked a 'coming of age' for the workshops, it also spelt the end of locomotive construction by the Phoenix Foundry. The first DD locomotives were very English in appearance, with a narrow cab and low footplates, but by 1904 the design had been modified to include a wide, all metal cab and raised footplates. These changes are usually attributed to Thomas Tait. The DD locomotives were also the first to use the flat topped, Belpaire fire box boiler in Victoria. While the DD locomotives were intended for secondary duties, they introduced a new style of locomotive design to Victoria. Ultimately 263 locomotives of this class were constructed. [Examples of derivatives of the DD Class, D1, D2, D3 and D4 tank locomotives can be found in the Railway Museum.]
1906/1912 - Over these years a new fleet of passenger rolling stock is produced. Classed E Class, these vehicles retain the side corridor, compartment design was retained, but the carriages were wider, higher and of similar length to the 1893 carriages. Supported on six wheel bogies, and with a American style of curved end clerestory roof and larger windows, these carriages had a superior layout of the end vestibules. They marked a new era in comfort of long distance travel. Concurrent with their construction, similar style vehicles were constructed as VR/ SAR joint stock vehicles, including sleeping cars. Two parlour cars, with an open observation platform at one end were also constructed for the Sydney Express. [one of these parlour cars, 'Yarra' is retained by the Museum, but is maintained in running order by the Seymour Heritage Rail Centre.] A State Car, of similar style was also constructed, and has been used on most Royal Trains since its construction. This car is also held at SHRC along with a running set of E Class carriages. Some were also constructed as combined passenger/mail sorting cars, but were later converted to passenger/ guards vans.
1906 - May 7th Victorian Railways electric street tramway service between St Kilda Station and Middle Brighton commences. This service is extended to Brighton Beach on 22nd December.
1907 - A2 Locomotive introduced. This was a larger express passenger development of the DD Class. The initial locomotives were fitted with Stephenson's valve gear and were not superheated. From 1916 the design was modified to include superheating and Walscherts valve gear. These locomotives were the mainstay of passenger workings until the 1950's. they also saw frequent use goods services.[ an example of each type of A2 locomotive can be found in the Railway Museum]
1907 - Thomas Tait engages Charles Mertz to report on the possibility of electrifying the Melbourne Suburban Rail system. This report was presented in 1908, but not acted on due to its cost.
1908 - The DDE tank locomotives were introduced, being a tank version of the DD class. They had sufficient range to operate the longest suburban services and sufficient power to deal with the steeper grades of the outer eastern suburbs.
1911 - Mertz is invited to present a revised plan, which is approved in 1912
1911/1914 - A shorter version of the E Class carriages, classified W Class, are produced. The style and interior layout was virtually the same but the shorter carriages were carried on 4 wheel bogies. From 1924/1925, additional W class carriages were built but with a curved ended elliptical roof
1912 - The first internal combustion powered railcars are introduced. These 'McKeen Cars' were largely unsuccessful due to mechanical failures.
1913 - Newport Power Station is commenced and the construction of a fleet of electric powered trains is commenced. These carriages were of similar outline to the country passenger cars, but had sliding doors to each bay of seats, to allow speedy loading and unloading. In addition, many of the newer suburban passenger carriages of the Speight period were lengthened and strengthened for electric propulsion, but retained their swing doors. These vehicles, which became popularly known as 'Red rattlers', were a part of the Melbourne suburban scene until the 1980's [a swing door motor car is preserved in the museum and operating examples of swing door and Tait cars are preserved by 'Elecrail Victoria']
1913 - A steam powered railcar with a Kerr Stuart power unit and a body built by the Newport workshops entered service.
1918 - C Class heavy goods locomotive introduced. At the time of their introduction they were the largest locomotive in Australia. [a C Class is included in the Museum collection.]
1919 - May 28th The first suburban electric passenger service in Australia commenced operation from Essendon to Sandringham. By 1930 all of the then suburban system had been converted to electric operation.
1919 - Alfred Ernest Smith is appointed as Chief Mechanical Engineer. Smith had risen through the ranks of the Victorian Railways and had been closely associated with the design of the DD, A2 and C Class locomotives.
1919 - Harold Clapp is appointed as Chairman of the Victorian Railways Commissioners. A position he retains until 1939.
1919/20 - A series of light weight, high capacity excursion carriages classed BPL were constructed. Using an open saloon design, they were based on the suburban Tait carriages, including the use of sliding doors. Many were built on the under frames of older vehicles and some were fitted with outward swinging doors. A small number were fitted with a guards compartment and were classified BCPL. Some survived in service until the 1980's. A few have found preservation on tourist railways.
1922 - The first K Class locomotives are produced for use on heavily graded light lines. [a K Class is included in the Museum collection.]
1922 - The first of a series of rail motors based on AEC truck chassis are introduced. These vehicles were only single ended and had to be turned on a turntable. The last continued in service until the 1950's.
1923 - The first steeple cab suburban electric goods locomotives are obtained. These were followed in 1928 by similar locomotives but with a box cab They were later Classified as E class.
1925 - Following an agreement, that all new designs of locomotives should be suitable for gauge conversion, by the Australian Railways Commissioners Conference in 1923, a new design of light lines goods locomotives, the N Class, were introduced. These locomotives introduced a trailing truck supporting a wide firebox to Victoria. This allowed the locomotives to use lower quality coal, but their greater length made them too long for some branch line turntables. [an N Class is included in the Museum collection.]
1925 - Four double ended Leyland rail motors are obtained
1926 - Two Garratt type locomotives are obtained from Beyer Peacock for use on two of the narrow gauge lines, Colac to Crowes and Moe to Walhalla. Classified G Class, G42 now operates on the Puffing Billy line.
1923/1928 - Under a Commonwealth agreement a number of lines are extended into New South Wales. The Moama to Deniliquin line is purchased in 1923. In 1926 a branch from Barnes to Balranald is constructed. 1925 Kerang to Murrabit constructed and in 1928 extended to Stony Crossing.
Railway History 1925 - 1949
1928 - The S Class, 3 cylinder express passenger locomotives are introduced. These locomotives were A. E. Smith's crowning achievement and used bar frames and Gresley conjugated motion to drive the valve of the inside cylinder. Smith retired in this year.
1928 - Additional suburban electric goods locomotives are constructed, but with a box cab design. These were later classified E Class and were popularly known at 'Butter Boxes'.
1928 - A series of petrol-electric railmotors are introduced. These were regarded as successful and continued in service well into the 1980's. In 1951, the original Winton petrol engines were replaced by General Motors diesels and the railmotors became generally known as DERM's. While no DERM is on display in the Museum, several are preserved on tourist railways and one is allocated to the Railway Museum for eventual display.
1929 - The X Class Heavy Goods Locomotives were introduced, Designed by A.E. Smiths design team and commenced in the year of his retirement, they were both an adaptation of the C Class to meet the requirement for gauge conversion and a goods equivalent of the S Class.
1929 - The final modification of the DD class, the D3 were produced. With an improved, superheated boiler these largely overcame the steaming problems of the earlier variations. Many of the earlier locomotives were converted to D3. As already noted, one D3 is preserved in the Railway Museum.
1929/1935 - The Great Depression produces a virtual halt in railway development. During this period no new locomotives or carriages were constructed. During the remainder of the 1930's no new locomotives were built and the only new passenger carriages were for the 'Spirit of Progress'.
1934 - Experiments into modified front end drafting by Edgar Brownbill results in modifications being made to many classes of locomotives. These relatively low cost modifications, resulted in considerably improved performance and deferred the construction of new locomotives until World War 2.
1935 - Carriage 36AE is fitted with air-conditioning to become the first air-conditioned carriage in Australia.
1937 - November 23rd S Class locomotives, newly streamlined, with an enlarged tenders on six wheel bogies, begin hauling an all steel bodied, fully air-conditioned train, between Melbourne and Albury. Named the 'Spirit Of Progress', this new train was a landmark in the development of the Victorian Railways passenger services. While the interior arrangement of the train retained the traditional compartment arrangement, the location of the end vestibules and toilets differed to earlier designs. The interior styling was based on art nouveau designs used in American carriages of the period, but were carried out using Australian timbers.
1939/1945 - World War 2 has a significant impact on the Victorian Railways. In addition to vastly increased traffic, resulting from the need to move men and munitions to the war zones, a significant proportion of the capacity of Newport Workshops was diverted to the production of war materials ranging from aircraft fuselages, to armoured fighting vehicles, and tug boat hulls. Newport Workshops were also made an assembly point for the ill-fated Australian Standard Garratt [an example of this type of locomotive is preserved in the Railway Museum]. To meet the demands of wartime traffic an additional batch, of the 1922 designed, K Class light goods locomotives were constructed. However, much of the locomotive stock was severely run down and much routine maintenance was deferred.
1941 - H220 introduced to service. Originally conceived as a passenger locomotive to haul the 'Overland' express on the Victorian portion of the journey to Adelaide. The 4-8-4 wheel arrangement copied the latest locomotive practice in the USA, but use of three cylinders, with the valve of the centre cylinder driven by a conjugated lever motion based on European practice. The locomotive incorporated the modified front end designs developed in the mid 1930's and was unusual in having twin funnels. Initially these were placed side by side across the smoke box, but were later arranged longitudinally. Due to weight restrictions on several bridges on the Western Line, which could not be upgraded during the war time emergency, H220 never entered regular service in its planned role, spending all of its service life on the North East line hauling express freight trains. On the few occasions it was used on 'The Spirit Of Progress', H220 was easily ably to maintain the schedule in spite of a 100kph [60mph] speed limit. Although the frames for two additional H Class were constructed, the locomotives were never completed. [H220 is preserved in the Railway Museum]
As noted above, the demands of World War 2 left the Victorian railways with a major backlog in maintenance and an additional urgent need for new locomotives to make up for the lack of production in the 1930's
1942/47 - Newport Workshop produced 10 additional locomotives of the X and were produced. N Class
1948/51 - In response to the desire to reduce the number of un-economical mixed train services on lines where there was light traffic, to improve the standard of service provided, and in response to the uncertainties of coal supplies in the post war period; a significant number of additional railcars were purchased from Walkers of Wigan, England. Known as Walker Rail Cars these articulated, lightweight vehicles revolutionised many country services. These railcars came in three sizes and horsepower ratings [102hp, 153hp and 280 hp]. While their lightweight design often produced rather spirited riding and the standard of interior fittings left much to be desired by current standards, the success of these units saw them continue in service to the 1970's. [examples of Walker Rail Cars form part of the Museum Collection.
1949 - In 1949, prolonged industrial troubles in the coal mining industry caused the Victorian railways to launch a major program of conversion of locomotives to use oil as a fuel. All of the C Class, the four S Class and 60 of the A2 Class, being converted. In addition, half of the order for the new J Class locomotives were built new as oil burners, as were an overseas order for additional N Class. The search for an additional fuel also saw X32 being converted to burn Pulverised Brown Coal. This equipment was later fitted to one of the new R Class [R707]. However, the difficulty of handling this fuel, the costs of providing bulk handling facilities, and the difficulties of training firemen to operate a limited number of locomotives, saw these experiments abandoned, in spite of encouraging results with this fuel.
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