A Brief History of the Victorian Railways Y Class 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � ----- the author is railfan Bruce Payne, on behalf of � � the Australian Railway Historical Society and written � � for the tour notes accompanying the return of Y 112 � � to service on 30 March 1996. � � ****** These notes are published with the ****** � � ******* express permission of the author. ******* � � Minor editing and formatting by Yuri Sos, 100033,2547 � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Note 1: ARHS = Australian Railway Historical Society Note 2: SEC = State Electricity Commission of Victoria Note 3: WCR = West Coast Railway Note 3: Dates are in English format ie DD/MM/YYYY or MM/YY INTRODUCTION The late 1880's were the days of "Marvellous Melbourne" when the State of Victoria had unlimited wealth. The capital Melbourne, although only fifty years old, could boast the world's tallest building, the world's largest cable tram system and an Exhibition Centre which provided 3 million square feet of covered area, three times the size of the recently opened Southbank Exhibition Complex. The Victorian Railway System expanded throughout the 1880's spurred on by parochial politicians requiring a railway to their electorate, backed by the endless money generated by the goldfields. Mr Richard Speight, formerly Assistant General Manager of the Midland Railway in England was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Victorian Railways in 1884 and presided over this period of expansion. The loco situation grew progressively more desperate as some 25 classes of more or less outdated engines battled to cope with the ever increasing traffic. Simply something clearly had to be done. The earliest steam locomotives were virtually hand-built; eventually classes of locomotives emerged on which parts were interchangeable between engines of the same class. By the late 1880's the concept was emerging on some progressive railways, of parts that could be used one more than one class of locomotive. It was with this in mind that Richard Speight made enquiries of several British builders to have such a series of locos designed. Eventually arrangements were made with Kitson & Co of Leeds to supply detail drawings of mainline and branch line, passenger and goods locomotives, as well as suburban tank engines, for a fee of �750. Kitson eventually built two locomotives, a "Y" class 0-6-0 and an "E" class 2-4-2T, but there was never any question of the locomotives being built anywhere but in Victoria. The Government of the day followed a fiercely protectionist policy of self sufficiency, which saw a flourishing locomotive industry established at a time when the other states were importing their locomotive needs from overseas. Accordingly the remaining 135 locomotives of the Richard Speight group were built in Victoria, 115 of them by the Phoenix Foundry in Ballarat. Part standardisation was evident to an extent not dreamed of ever before. Only two designs of boilers and cylinders and one design of tender covered all 5 classes of engine. By the time the last of the 137 locos entered service in 1893, the VR had a fleet of front line engines which were the envy of the other railway systems. DIMENSIONS AND GENERAL APPEARANCE The "Y" class 0-6-0 standard locomotives comprised a group of 31 engines, destined for mainline goods traffic. These were of impressive size for its day - in fact no bigger 0-6-0 was ever built for an Australian railway. The initial pattern engine (# 445), named " Victoria" was built to their own design by Kitson & Co. in 1885 and carried builder's number 3089. The remainder were built at Ballarat by the Phoenix Foundry and given road numbers, in odd notation, 383 to 441 (builder's no. 220 - 249). The early activities of the "Y" class were generally restricted to mainline goods traffic, as the the high axle loading precluded their use on the light lines which were generally laid with 60lb rails. In the 1890 Diagrams book they were allocated as follows: Melbourne (22), Ballarat (8) and Bendigo (1). These locomotives were fitted with two inside cylinders, 18" x 26", the slide valves being actuated by Stephenson's valve gear. These dimensions were common to the new "A" class 4-4-0's. Each of the six coupled driving wheels measured 4'6", with the axles equally spaced at 7'6" centres. Cast-iron sandboxes were mounted on the running plates adjacent to the smokebox and incorporated the leading splashers. Boilers were frequently interchanged with the "New A" class 4-4-0's and had a total heating surface of 1151 sq ft, of which the tubes contributed 1056 sq ft. The firebox of 95 sq ft had a fire grate area of 21 sq ft. The working boiler pressure was 140lb, which gave a tractive effort of 17,472 lbs. The 6-wheel tender which was standard on the "New A", "New R" and "D" classes carried 2,200 gallons of water and 3.5 tons of coal. The weight of the engine and tender in working condition was 69t 4 cwt. Maximum axle load was 14t 7 cwt. As constructed, the the "Y" class engines had built-up chimneys adorned with copper coping, whilst the round-topped dome shade was in polished brass. Ramsbottom safety valves, together with a large and efficient whistle, were mounted above the firebox. A large oil lamp supported by brackets was located above the smokebox door, but it appears these were removed in their early days of service. Kitson's design called for a cut-away cab, but the Victorian standard metal-sided cab, with twin glazed rectangular side windows and two fixed circular windows in the front plate was finally adopted - a very neat arrangement. The lower side sheets were extended forward to mask the rear driving wheels and rectangular air reservoirs. Cow-catchers attached below the front buffer beam were of the built-up variety, with equally spaced iron rods and a somewhat narrow chainplate. The class was resplendent in a livery of green and later became all black. GENERAL HISTORY OF THE Y CLASS Between 1904 and 1909 the class was rebuilt with a new and bigger design of boiler with a higher operating pressure of 175 lb that raised the tractive effort to 21,840 lbs. The engines were originally allocated odd numbers being goods locos as passenger locos used even numbers. The numbering system was abolished in 1912 with the widespread introduction of the dual purpose Dd and A2 classes, and an attempt was made to group engines into blocks of numbers. Accordingly the Y383 - 399 group of engines inherited even numbers in the 400 block. In 1950 the 400's were allocated the expanding "N" class steam locomotives, and the surviving Y's were relegated to the 100 block, as by this time only 20 Y class locos remained. The year 1926 saw the beginning of the withdrawal of the "Y" class and by 1960 only 3 were left in service. Y106 finished its days at Ballarat East with the coupling rods removed from the rear coupled wheels, making the engine to all intents and purposes an 0-4-2 and was withdrawn in 9/60 and scrapped in 12/60. Y112 contrarywise pottered around the Bendigo passenger yard with its leading wheels uncoupled, thus becoming a 2-4-0 and finally ran 1,421,872 miles (2,289,214 km). On 31/03/1961 Y112 and D2-591 ex Bendigo arrived at North Melbourne Loco Depot and were hauled to Newport the next day by C1. HISTORY OF EXISTING Y CLASSES: 1. Y108 Steam loco Y108 (now on display at the ARHS Railway Museum in North Williamstown) was built by the Phoenix Foundry Company of Ballarat as builder's number 226 and placed into service on 28/02/1889 as Y395. It was rebuilt in 04/1909 with a standard "A" and "Y" class 175lb boiler. Renumbered Y412 on 17/12/1924 and Y108 on 16/05/1951. Y108 was withdrawn on 05/08/1963 after cracking a cylinder head at Newmarket. It was then the last "Y" class steam loco in regular service and also at that time Victoria's oldest working locomotive. HISTORY OF EXISTING Y CLASSES: 2. Y112 Steam loco Y112 was also built at the Phoenix Foundry Company of Ballarat as builders number 238 and then entered service as Y 419 on 24/07/1889. It was the 20th of 31 engines to do so. It would have completed its obligatory "light engine" trip to Lal Lal and return before being accepted by the Railways. Its cost was estimated at �4,127/9/11. This engine received the bigger 175lb boiler on 09/10/1907 at a cost of �1004 for the materials and �365 for labour, whilst the cylinders appeared to have been renewed on 9/09/1911 at a cost of �524. In the years from 1907 it spent most of its time at North Melbourne, although it was noted at Traralgon in 1913. On 2/11/1923 at Newport Workshops it was fitted with footboards and handrails for shunting, and by 1926 it had been transferred to Bendigo and spent the next 35 years shunting the Bendigo Passenger Yard with 16 visits to Bendigo workshops for various work during this period, including no less than four reboilerings; so even shunting locomotives required constant workshop attention. Its last visit for overhaul took ten months, from 9/06/1952 to 9/04/1953, when it received its present boiler and a new tender tank. It was renumbered from Y419 to Y112 on 18/03/1951. (A soundtrack of Y112 hard at work in Bendigo Yard during August 1960 can be heard on the ARHS record entitled "Steam on the Five Foot Three".) On 31/03/1961 Y112 and D2-591 ex Bendigo arrived at North Melbourne Loco Depot and were hauled to Newport the next day by C1. The D2 went off-register on 14/05/1961 and retained for historical purposes. Locomotive C1 was scrapped on 10/08/1961. SAVED FROM THE TORCH As early as May 1959, a query had been received regarding the preservation of a Phoenix loco in Ballarat. The Railway Department had offered a choice between Y100 at �1300 or E380 at �945, both engines having been recently withdrawn. The Y was listed as having a bent rear buffer beam and a distorted tank, whilst both locos were missing manufacturer's plates and number plates. No action was taken and both locos were scrapped. The Ballarat Historical Society was not finished, however. The Phoenix Loco Group was headed by Mr Bill Roff, a Ballarat City Councillor, with a reputation for getting things done. He arranged for Y112 to be held until moves could be made for its acquisition. This took a while and the "Y" had to sit nervously among engines being scrapped for a number of years. In fact during 1965 a start was made to cut up the locomotive with the front buffers and smokebox door handle being removed before work was stopped. The missing parts were replaced with some from an "N" class being scrapped alongside, so Y112 had a North British smokebox door handle during its days of static preservation. The engine had been written off from 11/11/61 and was shown as sold to the Ballarat Historical Society on 15/02/1966, the day it was towed to Ballarat. On 27 February 1966 Y112 was moved by way of temporary track from the Doveton Street siding, with a railway track gang labouring through the heat of the day laying panels of track along Armstrong Street, inching Y112 to its resting place in the car park behind the Civic Hall. With work completed, Mayor Roff declared his drinks cabinet open at the Town Hall open for his crew. With a paint job urgently required, the Mayor rolled up his sleeves and did it himself; not your average Municipal politician! FROM BAD TO WORSE! The engine was repainted into an authentic original livery in 1980, but it wasn't until after the completion of the local restoration of D3 639 in 1984 that people began to look seriously at restoring the "Y" into running condition. Steamrail Ballarat came to an arrangement with the owners, the Ballarat Historical Society and it was transferred by diesel loco Y112 to the SEC Depot siding, Norman Street, Ballarat North. Restoration at this point was being undertaken due to the availability of BiCentennial money. At this stage the loco was basically still intact. At the SEC Depot siding the loco was progressively stripped back to bare frame and some restoration work was undertaken (and bicentennial money was spent-ed). As events transpired, the restoration, for all its good intentions was to go no further. As the locomotive was dismantled, it was realised that it was in far worse condition than first estimated. Although the boiler appeared to be reasonably sound, there were major problems with both axles and wheels. To solve that problem, a similar locomotive (Y413) which had been converted to diesel for operation on the Nowingi line was obtained so that one good good set of wheels could be assembled out of the two sets. According to Steamrail Ballarat's subsequent investigations they decided there weren't enough wheels in good order to make up a full wheel set. Other options were investigated, but it was more or less at this time that the project ceased. The loco then remained dismantled at the SEC site. SLOW REBIRTH In 1993 the Ballarat Historical Society contemplated moving the component parts of the locomotive from the SEC site to the Gold Museum to be re-assembled as a static display. Not very long afterwards, West Coast Railway commenced occupation of the former Ballarat East Locomotive Depot, and then soon formulated plans to restore the locomotive. The component parts of Y112 were then shifted from the SEC Depot siding at North Ballarat back to Ballarat East Loco Depot on 12/04/1994. The parts were then stored around the turntable pending a time to review their condition. Although the condition of the locomotive was found to be considerably worse than at first expected, it was established that there were no tasks that were beyond the ability of WCR to deal with. On that basis, the restoration commenced in early 1995 with WCR managing the project. Labour has been provided by both volunteers from Ballarat and by WCR. Funding for the project has been provided for by Ballarat Historical Society, Sovereign Hill, WCR, and a grant from the Minister for Public Transport, Mr Alan Brown. The ARHS Museum provided a better set of tender wheels possible after a swap with the wheel from Y108. -- additional material below supplied by Yuri Sos TEST RUNS The test runs were originally planned to run to Lal Lal, as they had 106 years ago, but traffic loads precluded the use of this line (especially if something went wrong). On 26/03/096 Y112 and 1 car departed Ballarat bound for Sulky Loop, some 20km north of Ballarat. Soon after departure from Ballarat, loud clunking sounds came from cylinders. It was found that the piston heads had loosened on the tapered-fit piston rod. This was not considered an unusual problem, and the loco returned to Ballarat at low speed. The next day, both cylinder heads were removed and piston heads tightened. On 28/03/96 the loco completed a successful trial from Ballarat to Tourello Loop (40km) and return. Final adjustments and work on the loco finished at 2.00am on 30/03/96. FIRST RUN The ARHS organised an "Inglewood Round Trip" tour which was to include Y112's welcome back and introductory run. The tour commenced in Melbourne with R707 and six cars running to Ballarat. At Ballarat Y112 was placed on the front of the train and four passenger cars for local travellers added at the rear. Looking a bit like a "beer can being pushed by a Mack truck" the train departed Ballarat and after numerous set-back photo runpasts and a speed limit of 65km/h arrived at Maryborough some 40 minutes late. The engines took coal and water; the R going on towards Inglewood, while the Y returned to Ballarat with four cars. All in all a successful return to service for the 106 year old locomotive. THE FUTURE The loco is to be housed at Ballarat East Loco Depot, and used for local charter and fan trips as the need arises. West Coast Railway has recently announced that it intends to seek to run a tourist railway service from Ballarat to Ararat Society in association with the Ararat Railway Historical Society and Steamrail Ballarat, so it seems likely that Victorians will see a bit more of Y112.