The class at this time was renumbered, with numbers 400-429 assigned to the pre-war Newport locomotives, 450-499 assigned to the North British locomotives, and 430-449 reserved for the postwar Newport locomotives. A fourth batch of twenty N class of a modified design were also ordered from Newport Workshops. They went into service with road numbers N 110–139.Ī third batch of fifty locomotives were later built by North British Locomotive Company in 1949-1950 as part of Operation Phoenix, the postwar rebuilding of Victorian Railways. A second batch of ten locomotives followed in 1930–1931. Twenty N class locomotives were built by Newport Workshops between 19. Large-scale standardisation of Australia's broad gauge rail network did not get under way until 1995, nearly thirty years after the withdrawal of the N class. By the time the standard gauge Albury to Melbourne mainline opened alongside the existing broad gauge line in 1962, steam locomotives were rapidly being withdrawn from service. This enabled possible gauge conversion without radical re-engineering of the frames and grate.ĭespite these design features, no N class locomotive ever ran on standard gauge. It retained the same wheels, cylinders, motion, and much of the frame of the K, but featured a longer boiler with a wider, larger grate, mounted above the frames and supported by a trailing truck. Thus when additional branch line locomotives were required, the VR produced a 2-8-2 'Mikado' variant of the K, the first 2-8-2 tender engine in Australia.
The K class 2-8-0 built by VR in 1922-23 was a success, but with a firebox mounted between frames engineered for broad gauge operation only, it was not readily gauge-convertible. The rationale was that the task of converting VR from broad to standard gauge at a future date would be far easier to achieve if the existing locomotives and rolling stock could be easily modified for standard gauge operation, rather than requiring expensive re-engineering or replacement. In 1923, in response to the recommendations made by the 1921 Royal Commission on the matter of uniform railway gauge, VR announced a policy that all new locomotive designs were to be capable of conversion from broad to standard gauge.
A development of the successful K class 2-8-0, it was the first VR locomotive class designed for possible conversion from 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm) to 4 ft 8 + 1⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm) standard gauge.
The N class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1925 to 1966.
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