South Australian Railways R class

The South Australian Railways R class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways. The initial 30 of the class were upgraded and reclassified as the Rx class; the 54 later acquisitions were built to Rx specifications.

History

In 1886, Dübs and Company of Glasgow, delivered the first six R class locomotives. A further 24 were built by James Martin & Co, of Gawler by November 1895. Starting in 1899, all of the class were rebuilt with Belpaire boilers, achieving a 20 per cent increase in tractive effort. They were reclassified as Rx class engines. A further 54 locomotives were built as Rx class by the Islington Railway Workshops, North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow and Walkers Limited, Maryborough, Queensland. All were in service by May 1916.

At the outset, the locomotives were the predominant class used on broad-gauge mainline services in South Australia. After railways commissioner William Webb introduced large locomotives of contemporary American design in the early 1920s, their roles were reduced to hauling freight and mixed trains on secondary mainlines, Adelaide suburban passenger trains and regional branchline passenger trains; and shunting in freight yards. A large group of Rx class locomotives, mainly early builds, were withdrawn from service in 1934; the remainder continued to serve into the mid-1960s.

Ten members of the class remain in various states of preservation.