NZR class Q (1901)
| NZR class Q (1901) | |
|---|---|
| Numbering: | 338-350 |
| Number: | 13 |
| Manufacturer: | Baldwin |
| Year of construction (s): | 1901 |
| Retirement: | 1941-1957 |
| Type : | 2'C1 'n2 |
| Gauge : | 1067 mm ( cape track ) |
| Length over coupling: | 16,872 mm |
| Service mass: | 48.77 t |
| Service mass with tender: | 73.25 t |
| Friction mass: | 31.19 t |
| Wheel set mass : | approx. 10.5 t |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1,248 mm |
| Cylinder diameter: | 406 mm |
| Piston stroke: | 559 mm |
| Boiler overpressure: | 137.8 N / cm² |
| Grate area: | 3.72 m² |
| Evaporation heating surface: | 156.4 m² |
The Class Q vehicles of the New Zealand Government Railways (NZR) built in 1901 were steam locomotives with a tender with a 2'C1 '( Pacific ) wheel arrangement . The class designation Q had previously been assigned to a series of 1'B2 'tank locomotives, which, however, had already been retired in 1901 (see NZR class Q (1878) ).
The locomotives are considered to be a possible origin of the name Pacific because they were delivered from the USA across the Pacific . They were also the first “real” Pacifics at all, because all previously built machines with this wheel arrangement were test locomotives or, for weight reasons, Ten Wheeler (wheel arrangement 2'C) were supplemented with a running axle .
The Baldwin- built locomotives were designed by the NZR's Chief Mechanical Engineer, AL Beattie. The basis of the construction was the requirement for a wide fire box in order to be able to burn lignite of inferior quality. Only with a trailing axle was it possible to arrange such a fire box completely behind the coupling wheels, while the fire box of the 2'C predecessor class Ub was wedged between the drive wheels.
The locomotives proved to be very useful, and the railway subsequently procured numerous other Pacifics. Almost 34% of all NZR steam locomotives were ultimately of this type, a value that no other railway has achieved. The class with the highest number of units was the Ab class introduced in 1915 with 141 units .
The class Q locomotives were initially used in front of express trains on the Auckland - Rotorua and Oamaru - Dunedin routes until they were replaced by heavier machines due to increasing train weights. In the course of their service life, they received new boilers that corresponded to those of the Ab class. The decommissioning of the locomotives last used in the Otago and West Coast regions began in 1941 and was completed in 1957.
No copy has survived.
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Reuter: Record Locomotives . Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart ISBN 3-87943-582-0 , p. 165
Web links
- Picture, drawing and technical data (English)