Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company 2-2-2WT (1854)

Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company 2-2-2WT (1854) was the first locomotive operated on a railway line in Australia. The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company completed the first steam-hauled railway line to operate in Australia, a 4.5-kilometre (2.8 mi) line between Flinders Street Melbourne and Sandridge beach on 12 September 1854. The delay in obtaining locomotives from Robert Stephenson and Company meant that the railway was without a locomotive, so that the company engaged Melbourne foundry company Robertson, Martin & Smith to construct a 2-2-2 tender locomotive. The firm had previously constructed a small donkey engine for hauling supplies along the line during construction.

Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company 2-2-2WT (1854)
Type and origin
Power typesteam
BuilderRobertson, Martin & Smith
Build date1854
Total produced1
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte2-2-2
Gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Cylinders?
Cylinder size200 mm (7.87 in) x (?)
bore x stroke
Performance figures
Maximum speed40 km/h (25 mph)
Power output22.4 kW (30.0 hp)
Career
First run9 September 1854

The boiler was made by Langlands foundry and Robertson, Martin & Smith assembled it at Joseph Raleigh's disused boiling down works on the Saltwater River near Footscray.[1][2] Raleigh had died in 1852, so it appears the buildings were not in use at the time.[3]

The locomotive was completed in just ten weeks and cost £2,700. Forming the first steam train to travel in Australia. It had its trial run on 9 September 1854, and first official passenger running on 12 September 1854.[4][5]

The locomotive had 200 mm (7 7⁄8 in) diameter cylinders, was capable of producing 22.4 kilowatts (30.0 hp), reached 40 km/h (25 mph) and hauled 130 tonnes (130 long tons; 140 short tons).[1]

The partnership of Robertson, Martin & Smith was dissolved on 10 July 1855.[6]

References
  1. Oberg, Leon (2007). Locomotives of Australia: 1854 to 2007. Rosenberg Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 9781877058547.
  2. Magee, Gary B.; Thompson, Andrew S. (11 February 2010). Empire and Globalisation: Networks of People, Goods and Capital in the British World, C.1850-1914. Cambridge University Press. p. 13. ISBN 9781139487672.
  3. Maribyrnong Heritage Citation Victorian Heritage Database place details – 16 June 2013 Raleigh Castle at 14 Belvedere Close
  4. "VICTORIA". Colonial Times. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 16 September 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  5. Although horse-drawn "trains" debuted on a railway between Goolwa and Port Elliot in South Australia on 18 May of that year, Melbourne hosted the first mechanical railway.
  6. "DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 3 October 1853. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  • Cave; Buckland; Beardsell (2002). Steam Locomotives of the Victorian Railways. Vol 1: The First Fifty Years. Melbourne: ARHS. ISBN 1-876677-38-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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