#0294
South Australian Railways I class (first)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Neilson and Company· from 1873· class of 1 Australian 0-4-0T locomotive
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. South Australian Railways I Class No. 38: State Library of New South Wales· Public domain
what is it?
The first South Australian Railways I class locomotive was built by Neilson and Company, Scotland for the Canterbury Railway, New Zealand in 1873 and numbered 9. In May 1878, the South Australian Railways (SAR) purchased it. The ship that transported it to South Australia was wrecked, but the locomotive was salvaged and entered service on the SAR in April 1879 as number 38.
who runs it
base stats
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 153 years ago, in 1873.
- Weighs about as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 36 years (1873–1909).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1873
- in service from
- 1873
- retired
- 1909
- status
- retired
- number built
- 1
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Neilson and Company
- operators
- South Australian Railways, Canterbury Provincial Railways
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- wheel arrangement
- 0-4-0T
- length
- 5.5 m
- weight
- 12.2 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q66039138, Wikipedia: South Australian Railways I class (first) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.