Notes

This class was the most significant and successful of the locomotives designed in the nineteenth century. The design resulted from a need for more powerful engines for passenger trains. Initially designated as “Passenger” B15, they were later better known as PB15.

They spent many of their early years hauling important passenger trains around the state. With the strengthening of the main lines they were relieved of most of these tasks by more powerful locomotives. Later they were relegated to lesser duties on branch lines and in shunting yards. Engines attached to Wooloongabba and later at Mayne were used on “Southside” suburban passenger trains until 1968.

A number of modifications including cab alterations and fitting of electric headlights were carried out during their lives. Tenders on engines constructed at Toowoomba Foundry and the one at Ipswich had increased water capacity. Some engines based at Cairns had additional boards on their tenders to enable additional coal to be carried. Several engines were fitted with an additional sandbox and electric light on the tender for working on branch lines where no turning facilities were available. In May 1918, Ipswich Workshops converted N°411 into a tank engine. Evidently the results were not completely satisfactory as the engine returned to its original form in March 1922. In the late 1920s, the boiler pressure was increased from 150psi to 160 psi.

They could run on all parts of the system except the Etheridge line, the isolated Normanton and (now closed) Cooktown Lines.

One engine was built in 1924 for the Aramac Shire Council. This engine was subsequently purchased from the Council when the Aramac Shire Tramway was dieselized in 1958. Numbered A1 in Council service, it first ran on QR in February 1958 as N°1052 but was renumbered N°12 in June of that year. This was the only engine of the class to be constructed at Ipswich Workshops.

In 1924, increasing traffic on lines that could not carry C16 engines resulted in orders being placed for an engine of similar proportions but fitted with Walschaerts valve gear. These engines became PB15 (1924) Class.

In November 1969, nineteen members of the class were still operating; eleven in the Mackay District, and four at Maryborough and four at Ipswich.

*Originally 8 x 7½. The larger pumps were fitted between 1928 and 1942

Abbreviations

EAP – Evans, Anderson, Phelan & Co, Brisbane, Qld
Ipswich – Ipswich Workshops, Qld
Kitson – Kitson & Coy, Leeds, UK
Toowoomba – Toowoomba Foundry Ltd, (Southern Cross Works) Toowoomba, Qld
Walkers – Walkers Limited, Engineers, Maryborough, Qld

Notes

These engines were referred to as Large Consolations before the introduction of the new classification system.

They were the first eight coupled engines to run in Queensland and were also the first to have a bogie tenders. An early problem experienced with them was that they were too long for existing turntables and could only be turned on fork lines. They were built by Baldwin and were typical of that company’s products of the time with a large oil headlight, pepper pot steam dome and sandbox and also a wooden cab with glazed windows.

N° 41 was put to good use on the Main Range where it could haul 120 tons compared with 75 tons for the E (B12) Class although it had originally been purchased with the intention of being used on the line beyond Chinchilla. It was shipped to Townsville in June 1881 and was later returned to Ipswich in 1890.

N°42 was imported by the contractors working on the Stanthorpe Extension and named “Queenslander”. It was later bought by the railway after the new line opened in May 1881.

The engines had their original wagon top boilers replaced with round top ones in 1900. Apparently engine loads were not increased even though the new boilers had an increased pressure of 140 psi.

Both finished their days working in the Rockhampton District.

In 1889 locomotives and rollingstock were consolidated into one rollingstock register. This resulted in most items, except those operating on the original Southern and Western Railway (from Ipswich), being renumbered. Numbers shown are state (or former S & W) numbers. Those in brackets are former numbers of individual railways.

Abbreviations

S&W – Southern & Western Railway based on Ipswich
GNR – Great Northern Railway based on Townsville
Baldwin – Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia USA

Notes

* Six engines were obtained from Chillagoe Railway and Mining Coy after its collapse. These engines were designed to provide an engine more powerful than the B13 class. A number of different features were introduced to various batches of this class. The first fifteen engines built by Nasmyth-Wilson had British style “pull over” regulators, separate regulator and safety valve domes on the boiler and spartan cabs but no air brakes. The second batch of engines, constructed by Evans Anderson Phelan, were fitted with an enclosed cab with glass windows on the spectacle plate, American style “pull out” regulator and Westinghouse Brakes. These engines also had steel boilers in place Yorkshire iron used on the earlier batch. This allowed the boiler pressure to be raised to 140 psi. Further improvements were made to the cab on the engines built by Yorkshire Engine Company in 1895. This design of cab became standard on all subsequent engines until the “sedan” cab was introduced in 1935. American Balance slide valves were fitted to all B15 engines built from 1898. The “balanced” valves proved successful and were fitted to all subsequent slide valve engines.

The modifications introduced with various batches were later incorporated into the older engines as they underwent overhaul. The large awing in front of the spectacle plate of earlier cabs disappeared when the new style cabs were fitted. Sand boxes were originally on the running boards but later replaced with the more common sandbox mounted on top of the boiler. As boilers were renewed the safety valves were incorporated into the regulator dome. In 1900, N° 336 was fitted with 45″ coupled wheels to increase the engines speed and so make it suitable for use on passenger trains. The experiment was successful and a further 92 engines were similarly rebuilt. They became known as the “B15 Converted” class to distinguish them from the original designed engines. The five engines that did not undergo conversion were all condemned in 1934. This class was sometimes referred to as “B15 Goods”.

* Average price for first 30 constructed

Abbreviations

NW – Nasmyth, Wilson & Co, Manchester, UK
EAP – Evans, Anderson, Phelan & Co, Brisbane, Qld
York – The Yorkshire Engine Co, UK
Walkers – Walkers Ltd, Engineers, Maryborough, Qld
WO – Written off Register