Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 - 1872), Thursday 29 September 1870, page 12


COLONIAL MANUFACTURED LOCOMOTIVE.

No better evidence of the progress and importance of our local

manufactures could have been given than the two splendid loco-motive engines recently constructed for the Government of New South Wales, and lately exhibited at the Exhibition grounds, Prince Alfred Park. One of these was constructed at the Rail-way Works, Sydney, the other at Mort and Co.'s Dry Dock Engineering Works, Balmain. With the latter we have nothing to do at present ; our remarks now relate to the one built at

the Railway Works, and which claims to be the first locomotive passenger engine manufactured in the Australian colonies.

The motive that led to the building ol the locomotive engine. No. 10, was, that about the middle of last year it was felt the traffic required a greater number of engines than were at the

disposal of the Commissioner. Although some had just been ordered from England, and also a contract entered into with Messrs. Mort and Co. and Vale and Lacy, for supplying some engines built in the colony, yet it was conceived that by build-ing one at the railway works it would be available for use before any of the imported ones, or of those made in the colony. Events have shewn that this expectation was not ill-founded. This engine was ten months in building, having been commenced on the 13th of August, 1869, and was running on the 10th June, 1870, It has run a mileage of 4000 miles, and has made twelve trips to Goulburn and back, and has proved a valuable addition to the rolling stock. With this engine there is a saving of 4 lbs. of coal per train mile run, compared with the other passenger engines working the same trains. No. 10 is the first locomotive passenger engine built in the Australian colonies. There have been small engines built by Sydney firms for the use of railway contractors and coal companies. This engine will bear com-parison with any of the imported ones both in appearance and in quality of workmanship. The latter is evidenced by the fact, that No. 10 has caused less trouble in getting it into perfect working order than has been caused by any of the imported ones. No doubt a good deal of misapprehension was lately caused in the public mind by a newspaper telegram stating that this engine was delayed by a hot axle. Now in fact any engine is liable at any time to have hot axles, and it is often impossible to account for it. New engines, however, or engines that have been under repair, are more liable to it. On the occasion refer-red to, the engine was subsequently not touched in the way of repair, and it has been running ever since without having been lifted. This is intended as a pattern engine for working the heavy Southern passenger traffic. It was constructed from a design by the Engineer-in-Chief for Railways, and was built under his personal inspection. It was necessary to make all new patterns and templates. These are now available for the construction of other engines of the same class. The engine frame was forged by the steam hammer from scrap iron, the tender frame was cut out of large 3/4 boiler plates. The only articles used in this engine which were not manufactured at the Railway Works were the wheels, boiler tubes, and boiler plates. Dimensions :-length of barrel of boiler, 15 ft ; diameter of barrel of boiler, 4 ft 4 in ; thickness of plates, 7-16ths in; thick-ness of copper tube plate, 7/8 in ; thickness of iron tube plate, 3/4 in; number of tubes, 167 ; length of tubes, 15 ft 6 in ; dia-meter (external), 2 in ; tube surface, 1354 ft ; total heating sur-face, 1440 ft ; diameter of cylinders, 17 in ; length of stroke, 24 in; length of steam ports, 12in; width of steam ports, 1 3/8 in; exhaust of steam ports, 4 1/4 in ; travel of slide valve, 4 1/2 in ; lap of slide valve, 1 in ; lead of slide valve, 3-16ths in ; diameter of driving wheels, 5 ft 6 in, trailing of driving wheels, 5 ft 6 in, coupled together ; leading of driving wheels, 3 ft 6 in ; length of wheel base, 13 ft 3 in ; length of frames, 27ft; width of frames, widest part, 3 ft 8 in; thickness of frames, 1 1/4 in;

capacity of tender, 2061 galls.; weight of engine in steam, 33 tons 14 cwt ; tender, full, 22 tons 10 cwt ; engine and ten-der, 56 tons 4 cwt ; traction power, 9000 lbs.

COLONIAL MANUFACTURED LOCOMOTIVE.