#3042
Victorian Railways R class
🇦🇺 Australia ·built by North British Locomotive Company· from 1951· class of 70 Australian 4-6-4 locomotives
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Victorian Railways R class locomotive No. 704 at the Newport Railway Museum - May 2017 - 01: nzsteam· CC BY 2.0
- 2. Victorian Railways R class locomotive No. 704 at the Newport Railway Museum - May 2017 - 02: nzsteam· CC BY 2.0
- 3. Victorian Railways R class locomotive No. 704 at the Newport Railway Museum - May 2017 - 03: nzsteam· CC BY 2.0
- 4. R class steam locomotive R707 'City of Melbourne' during the 2026 Steamrail Open Day at the Newport Railway Workshops in Newport, Melbourne - 55141401064: philip.mallis· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. R707 locomotive arriving at Castlemaine station — July 2022: Alison Newman· CC0
- 6. R707 Shunt: Jlancaster447· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. R707 South Dynon: Jlancaster447· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. Castlemaine station: Jamesmcardle· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 9. Crawl On Through - March 2024: Max Walton· CC BY 2.0
- 10. R707-mx1: Max Thum· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The R class is a 4-6-4 Hudson express passenger steam locomotive that ran on Australia's Victorian Railways (VR) from 1951 to 1974. A much-needed replacement for the 1907-era A2 class 4-6-0, their development and construction was repeatedly delayed due to financial constraints caused by the Great Depression and later the manpower and materials shortages of World War II and the immediate postwar period. Orders eventually totalling 70 locomotives were placed with the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow.
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 75 years ago, in 1951.
- 1.4 MW is about 16 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 18 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 23.5 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 16 years (1951–1967).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1951
- in service from
- 1951
- retired
- 1967
- status
- retired
- number built
- 70
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- builders
- North British Locomotive Company
- operators
- Victorian Railways
- top speed
- —
- power
- 1.4 MW
- gauge
- 1,600 mm Irish broad gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-6-4
- length
- 23.5 m
- weight
- 109 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7927284, Wikipedia: Victorian Railways R class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.