Q class

Q Class or Class Q may refer to:

Locomotives

Other uses

NZR Q class (1901)

The NZR Q class was an important steam locomotive not only in the history of New Zealand's railway network but also in worldwide railways in general. Designed by New Zealand Government Railways' Chief Mechanical Engineer A. L. Beattie and ordered from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1901, they were the first locomotives in the world to be built with the wheel arrangement of 4-6-2. This wheel arrangement came to be known as the Pacific type after the voyage the completed locomotives had to make across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand. A few instances of the 4-6-2 wheel arrangement are known to have existed prior to 1901, but these were all reconstructions of locomotives that were originally built with a different wheel arrangement, thereby making the thirteen members of the Q class the first "true" Pacifics in the world. The Pacific style went on to become arguably the most famous wheel arrangement in the world.

Design

The Q class's design stems from the requirement for a locomotive similar to the Ub class with the inclusion of a wide firebox to burn poor quality lignite coal from the South Island and the Waikato. Originally plans to equip the new locomotives with a Wootten Firebox would have seen the "Camelback" configuration adopted.

SER Q class

The SER Q class was a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotives of the South Eastern Railway. The class was designed by James Stirling and introduced in 1881. These locomotives should not be confused with the later SR Q class 0-6-0.

Rebuilding

The locomotives passed to the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899 and 55 were rebuilt by Harry Wainwright to Class Q1 between 1903 and 1919.

Numbering

Thirty-two unrebuilt locomotives survived into Southern Railway ownership on 1 January 1923 with random numbers between 6 and 424. All had been withdrawn by 1929.

References

Bibliography

External links

https://orion.math.iastate.edu/jdhsmith/term/slgbsecr.htm