#3033

South Australian Railways 740 class

🇦🇺 Australia ·built by Clyde Engineering· from 1951· class of 10 broad-gauge 2-8-2 locomotives

2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences

1. 740 Class Locomotive: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
2. 740 Class Locomotive (cropped): Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain

what is it?

The South Australian Railways 740 class was a class of 2-8-2 freight locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the South Australian Railways in 1951–1952.

who runs it

South Australian Railways

base stats

weight 95.5 tin working order
built 10made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

First built 75 years ago, in 1951.
Weighs about as much as 16 African elephants (~6 t each).
22.3 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
Served for 9 years (1951–1960).

steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.

spec sheet

built: 1951–1953
in service from: 1951
retired: 1960
status: retired
number built: 10
kind: Steam
traction: steam
origin: 🇦🇺 Australia
builders: Clyde Engineering
operators: South Australian Railways
top speed: —
power: —
gauge: 1,600 mm Irish broad gauge
wheel arrangement: 2-8-2 1′D1′ 2′2′
length: 22.3 m
weight: 95.5 t

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q16927468, Wikipedia: South Australian Railways 740 class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.