Victorian Railways B Class (Steam)

The Victorian Railways B Class was a 2-4-0 tender locomotive built between 1861 and 1881 and was regarded as Victorian Railways first mainline steam locomotive. They were also wood fuelled, the reason behind why many of them had spark arresting funnels early in their careers.
== History ==
The B Class were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. of Manchester, England, with and additional 13 2-4-0's being produced by R.W. Hawthorn & Co. They entered service between the years of 1861 and 1862.
Both types of Locomotive had the uncommon Cudworth-type firebox and midfeather, a novel idea introduced in England in the early 1850's. This meant that the firebox was divided with two firehole doors and was implemented in Victoria to receive maximum firebox heat.
The B Class was fitted with external frames with the coupled wheels driven by outside bearings; giving them the nickname "The Overarmers". They were regarded as being fast and easy to run and an extra six were ordered from Beyer, Peacock & Co. This delivery was received between May and July, 1862.
== Notable Services ==
In 1867, No. 50 pulled the Victorian Railways Royal Train taking the Royal Prince Alfred Duke of Edinburgh around regional Victoria. During this time, B 50 set the class record of 72 kilometres (45 miles) in 52 minutes. This is calculated to be an average speed of 83 km/h, although it probably had gone faster.
Locomotive No. 88 had the honour of pulling the first official train between Melbourne and Albury on 20 August 1883.
== Accidents ==
On 2 April 1884, locomotives 82 and 92 collided head on at Little River (between Geelong and Melbourne. Both were used to repair the rest of the fleet. Only four months later, No. 72's boiler burst at Warrenhip (North of Ballaarat). It had the same fate as the other two damaged locomotives.
== Withdrawal ==
The 1889 reclassification scheme made the remaining 2-4-0's the system's B Class. They were superceded from 1887 due to the new D and (Old) A Class locomotives. Despite being rebuilt in the 1880s with larger cylinders, the locomotives were becoming old, with poor boiler condition and general deterioration dictated unceremonious withdrawals. B56 and B76 were the last to be scrapped, after serving as shunting engines in Spencer Street Station until may and June 1917.
None were preserved.
Category:Victorian Railways
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:2-4-0 steam locomotives
Category:2-4-0 locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Australian locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives