WAGR E class

The WAGR E class was a class of 65 4-6-2 steam locomotives built for the Western Australian Government Railways from 1902, and the first 4-6-2 locomotives in Australia. In the early twentieth century the railway lacked a dedicated long-distance express passenger locomotive, because the R class of 1897 lacked the power for the steep gradients of the Darling Scarp. Orders for forty-five were placed in 1900 with Nasmyth, Wilson and Company and Vulcan Foundry, and a further 20 were ordered in April 1911 from the North British Locomotive Company. The class eventually totalled 65, with 15 built by Nasmyth, Wilson, 30 by Vulcan Foundry and 20 by North British. The first fifteen entered service in 1903 and 1904 and were successful from the outset, becoming the mainstay of WAGR passenger services between Perth and Kalgoorlie for two decades. In 1924 and 1925 all but four were rebuilt with superheated boilers and reclassified as the Es class. The last was withdrawn in October 1963, and Es308 is preserved at the Western Australian Rail Transport Museum.