WAGR P and Pr classes

The WAGR P and Pr classes were two classes of 4-6-2 steam locomotives designed for express passenger service on the Western Australian Government Railways, with initial designs prepared by E. S. Race and thirty-five locomotives built in all. The P class entered service in 1924 and the Pr class in 1938. The North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow won the 1924 order for the first ten P class engines ahead of several other firms, with delivery promised within thirty-three weeks so they would be in traffic for the 1924 and 1925 wheat harvest; six entered service in December 1924 and four in February 1925. The remainder were built locally at the Midland Railway Workshops, and the ten new locomotives of 1938 became the first WAGR engines to be named, each after a prominent Western Australian river. The P class were withdrawn between January 1968 and October 1969, and the last Pr class engine was withdrawn on 10 September 1970.