N Class Suburban Tank Locomotive
| Builder | Coupled wheel diameter |
Total weight | Tractive effort | Coal capacity | Water capacity | Total number in service |
| Nasmyth,Wilson Neilson& Co Robert Stephenson Midland Workshops |
4'0" | 48t 16c | 13046lb | 2.5 tons | 1600 gal | 42 |
The N class design was the response to the increasing suburban traffic around
Perth following the goldrush of the 1890's. The design was contempary with
the O class and the first five locomotives entered service in September 1896.
The design was very successful and eventually fortytwo locomotives of the
design were in service, including ten built at Midland Workshops using parts
obtained from withdrawn O class locomotives. The N class were mainly used
on suburban passenger trains both in Perth and in Kalgoorlie, which at the
height of the goldrush boasted a suburban service as frequent as that in
Perth.
The N class continued in service until the 1950's when the arrival of the
Dm and Dd class tank locomotives led to the first withdrawls.
N.201 was one of the Robert Stephenson locomotives & went into service
on 27 October, 1898. After spending some years at Kalgoorlie it was returned
to Perth, where it operated on suburban trains. Most of the N class engines
were withdrawn after World War Two and by 1961 only two were left. One of
these was N.201, which had been withdrawn from regular use on 28 September,
1960 to become the steam cleaning engine at the East Perth Locomotive Depot.
It was finally retired, & on 1 July, 1972, diesel loco X.1010 shunted
N.201, along with suburban tank engine Dd.592, into the Rail Transport Museum
for a well earned retirement.