E class

E class may refer to:

Automobiles

Ships

Transport

New Zealand

Ireland

Australia

See also

New Zealand E class locomotive (1922)

The New Zealand E class battery-electric locomotive represented the third unique type of locomotive class to be given the E classification in New Zealand. The first was the E class of nine Double Fairlie steam locomotives of 1872-75; the second E class consisted of a Mallet compound made in 1906; and as both were no longer operated by the New Zealand Railways Department in 1923, the classification was free to be used for a third time when the small battery electric locomotive was delivered. This is the only time a classification has been used three times in New Zealand, though re-use happened a number of other times, arguably most notably when the A class of 1906 took the designation originally used by the A class of 1873.

Introduction

This particular E class was ordered for service on the newly electrified Otira Tunnel section of the Midland line and was constructed in 1922. In April 1923, English Electric delivered an order of six locomotives: five EO class mainline locomotives that collected electricity from overhead wires, and a sixth small battery electric locomotive for maintenance duties. It was classified as E 1, had a wheel arrangement of Bo-Bo-2 under the UIC classification system, and worked for the rest of the 1920s.

NZR E class (1872)

The NZR E class of Double Fairlie steam locomotives were two different types of Fairlie locomotive, and were the first classes to take that designation, followed by the E class Mallet compound locomotive of 1906 and then the E class battery electric locomotive of 1922. The other Double Fairlie class was the B class, and there were also the Single Fairlie R and S classes.

History – Vulcan E Class

In 1872, two locomotives were ordered by the Otago provincial government to operate trains on the newly built Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway. The first line to be built to the new national gauge standard of 3 feet 6 inches, it had as its consulting engineer Robert F. Fairlie, who persuaded the railway to order locomotives to his Double Fairlie design. Built by the Vulcan Foundry in England, the locomotives were shipped to New Zealand in kitset form. Arriving at Port Chalmers in August, they were unloaded onto the wharf and were assembled in situ. The railway's No.2 “Josephine” was assembled first due to its being closer to the end of the wharf, and after two weeks of assembly she first raised steam on 11 September 1872. After a short test run, “Josephine” was used to help finish the construction of the line while No.1 “Rose” was completed.