Tasmanian Government Railways C class

Between 1885 and 1892, the Tasmanian Government Railways took delivery of 19 C class locomotives from Beyer, Peacock & Co, Manchester. A further eight followed in the early years of the 20th century. A 28th originally built for the Emu Bay Railway was purchased second hand in 1937. They were the first of what became almost an Australian 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) standard, as locomotives of similar design served in large numbers as the Silverton Tramway Y class, South Australian Railways Y class and Western Australian Government Railways G class, and also in Queensland and on the North Australia Railway.[1][2][3][4][5]

In 1912, six (16-19, 26 & 27) were rebuilt with new cylinders, Belpair boilers and larger smokeboxes and reclassified as the CC class. In 1924, a further four (21, 23-25) were rebuilt also receiving Walschaerts valve gear and reclassified as the CCS class.[1][2][4][5]

In 1948, a further seven locomotives of the same design were purchased from the Commonwealth Railways. These had originally been built as South Australian Railways Y class locomotives and sold to the Commonwealth Railways to operate North Australia Railway services in World War II. Four entered service as the F class, with the other three used for parts.[2][3]

Four have been preserved:[4]

• C1 at the West Coast Pioneers Museum, Zeehan[6]
• C22 at the Tasmanian Transport Museum, Glenorchy restored to service 1983, withdrawn for overhaul 1999 returned to service November 2009[7][8]
• CCS23 at the Don River Railway, Devonport[9]
• CCS25 at the Don River Railway, Devonport[10]