500: The 4-8-2 and 4-8-4 Locomotives of the South Australia Railways

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia: Australian Railway Historical Society (SA), 1979. 2nd Edition . Soft cover. Good/No Jacket. 48 pages b/w photos - The beginnings of the railway were in the Port Adelaide railway line. This suburban main line linked the harbour area of Port Adelaide to the colony, and was laid with Irish gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) track. This line was opened in 1856. Later on, branch lines in the state's north in the mining towns of Kapunda and Burra were linked through to the Adelaide metropolitan system. From here, a south main line extended to meet the horse tramway from Victor Harbor to Strathalbyn, and towards to SA/Victorian Border. With the metropolitan systems being broad gauge, the mid north and south east of the state were originally laid with 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge track. These systems were closely based on British practice, as was the broad gauge system prior to 1926. Locomotives and rolling stock were bought from Britain and the USA, from builders such as Beyer, Peacock and Company, Dübs and Company, their successors, the North British Locomotive Company, and Baldwin Locomotive Works. Nine broad gauge tank locomotives plus the frame of a tenth were bought second-hand from the Canterbury Provincial Railways in New Zealand when it converted to narrow gauge. In 1922, after the SAR's worst financial deficit, the government appointed American railroad manager William Webb, from the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (the KATY, for short) as Chief Commissioner. When Webb arrived in Adelaide with his young family, he found a railway system unchanged since the late 19th Century. The locomotives and rolling stock were small, wagons and carriages were of wooden construction, the track and bridges were unsuitable for heavy loads, the workshops had antiquated machinery and the signaling system was inflexible. These attributes drove up the ratio of operating costs to revenue. Webb introduced a rehabilitation plan based on American railroad princilpes of large, standardised locomotives and steel bodied freight wagons, with automatic couplers to enable a significant increase in productivity. Lightly patronised passenger trains would be replaced by self propelled rail cars, enabling faster, more frequent and more efficient services. He recruited Fred Shea as his Chief Mechanical Engineer and had him prepare specifications for this new equipment. This resulted in orders being placed for 1,200 wagons of four types from American Car and Foundry, 12 petrol mechanical railmotor cars from the Service Motors Corporation, Wabash, Indiana, and 30 locomotives based on ALCO plans but built by Armstrong Whitworth & Co. in the UK. These were of the Mountain, Pacific and Mikado wheel arrangements, 10 of each type, which became the 500, 600, and 700, class locomotives. To carry the heavier trains, the rehabilitation plan included the strengthening of track and bridges, and the conversion of the mid north narrow gauge system (the Western division) to broad gauge. The antiquated Islington Workshops were demolished and replaced with a thoroughly modern railway maintenance and manufacturing works, a large new round house was built at Mile End, near Adelaide, and several 85 foot turntables were installed throughout the state to enable the much larger locomotives to be turned. Efficient train operations were facilitated by the adoption of American train order working on country lines, and Adelaide railway station was replaced with an imposing new building, opened in 1927. This grand building now acts as the casino of Adelaide. When the two shiploads of new locomotives arrived in 1926 they caused a sensation with the public and throughout the railway industry in Australia. The 500 class "Mountain" was over twice the size of the biggest pre-Webb engine, and was the most powerful locomotive in Australia. Henceforth double heading broad gauge trains became a rarity in South Australia. The massive locomotives were unloaded at Port Adelaide and taken off the pier by horses (the locomotives weight alone exceeding the docks maximum loading capacity). Apart fr