Those Great Locomotives - Victorian Railways R Class

Revolutionary. Racing fast. Railtour Queens. Yet too little, too late. Scot or not, how come the Victorian Railway's R Class is regarded as such a success, despite some members having seen less than a decade (or less than a half a decade for some) on the VR's books?
SOURCES & CREDIT:
Photo of the S Class in service By Victorian Railways - Victorian Railways publicity photograph, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Promotional Photo of the S Class By Victorian Railways, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Photo of the streamlined S Class By John L. Buckland (d) - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Bidgee using CommonsHelper. Original uploader was Dbromage at en.wikipedia, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Promotional Photo of the R Class - Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Photo of R761 at Bendigo By Zzrbiker at en.wikipedia - Own workTransferred from en.wikipedia, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Photo of R730 at Parwan - Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Lineup including R711 at Newport Works By Zzrbiker, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
Photo of R711 at Geelong By Jason L - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
Photo of R761 at Newport Works By Max Thum - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
Photo of R700 By MattOatenVR - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
Photo of A2 986 on the turntable at Melbourne - Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Photo of R703 at the Newport Railway Museum By hugh llewelyn - www.flickr.com..., CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikime...
Official Logo of the Victorian Railways By Unknown author; SVG: Redrobsche - victorianrailways.wikispaces.com; SVG: Own work, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Unedited version of the VR Winged logo By National Library of Australia collection, Fair use, en.wikipedia.o...
Map of Australia, Victoria highlighted By TUBS - This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file:, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
Photo of a Mechanical Stoker By Tomasz O. - Own work, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Footage and images not marked with distinction of ownership are my own work.
External website sources:
www.victorianra...
www.martynbane...
www.australians...
Video/Film sources:
'Steam Alive In Victoria'
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.
LINKS
Discord server - / discord
Twitter - / teawithcaramel1
Outro music: Kevin MacLeod - Fiddles McGinty
(Fiddles McGinty by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. creativecommon...
Source: incompetech.com...
Artist: incompetech.com/ )
Channel icon by - / lookitstrainart
#VictorianRailways

[@WillJamesRailways]

Good stuff! Keep these coming!

[@johnsexton8759]

What kept the R's working longer was the bumper Victorian wheat crop in the mid 60's and many, many double-headed R consists doing amazing work from the Mallee down to Geelong, having to negotiate the almost 3 miles of 1 in 52 Warrenheip Bank coming out of Ballarat. Not bad for express pass locos. Sadly the drought that followed, plus more diesel elecs (especially the powerful X's) saw the majestic thoroughbreds withdrawn and confined to a handful kept for enthusiast work and the rest used for parts or cut up. So proud to have ridden behind 706, 707, 749 & 769 in the late 60's. Beautiful locos that oozed grace and power.

[@stef.b.m.lk1902]

All the locos have have vereing preservation lives but this is there current status. The ownership status or the 7 R class survivors is a follows. 700(long term restoration), 761 are owned be Victrack heritage (VTH) and are allocated to Steamrail. 711 is owned by the Bendigo city council and is leased to SRV. 704 (static) is owned by VTH and is allocated to the Newport railway museum. 707 and 753(parts loco) is owned by VTH and allocated to 707 OPS. and 766 is on standard gauge in NSW owned by a private group who lease it to THE PICNIC TRAIN. Great video mate 👍👍

[@mr99gto]

Great video covering those fine greyhounds from Victoria. A interesting historical note regarding the R's, VR had originally planned to construct the R's in house at their workshops in Newport, but due to all the repairs needed to be done on infrastructure & equipment due to all the wear & tear of the war, it was more practical to have the construction contracted out.

[@Trainskitsetc]

Probably about this point they realised they'd stuffed up by monopolising the local manufacturing industry by doing pheonix out of business... ooops. Had they looked back to the mother land for inspiration they may have seen the value of not putting all their eggs in one state run basket just to save a few quid

[@mr99gto]

@@Trainskitsetc Though would have been curious to see if they'd contracted out Clyde engineering for the duty of constructing the locos.

[@aidenteszke9000]

@@Trainskitsetc "The motherland" miss us with that crap

[@Trainskitsetc]

@@aidenteszke9000 the british empire, its a laughing matter

[@Nubfist]

As an Australian (Victorian) myself this fills me with so much joy that you are bringing some light onto my beloved R class! Great video! Edit: R 700 isn't quite cosmeticly restored. It is missing it's boiler casing, cab, and a few other things. The reason for this is because it is under long-term restoration by Steamrail.

[@buzzygaming7667]

its cab is actually sitting in the back half of the newport workshops I've seen it myself

[@VRDenshaOtaku]

Nice seeing my home state getting some recognition, I would love to see one done on our H class 4-8-4, seeing at it is the only 4-8-4 with a 3rd cylinder that survived during the 2nd world war

[@willtrainvideos]

Excited for this to finally be out! I’ll just mention here that locomotive R766 as of last year finished a 10 year project to convert it to standard gauge from 5” 3’. It now runs specials on the picnic train in NSW. Would be great to see next the NSWGR C38 Class including arguably the most famous Australian Steam Locomotive, 3801.

[@DoriftoDuckMan]

oh wsg ik u from the club

[@russellgxy2905]

That is an interesting opposite Coin face you presented. The R’s barely had working careers, hence them being so popular for preservation. Yet engines that are famous barely, if ever get to run, because their past achievements are valued more

[@Jam_Van]

I actually saw R761 in real life once! It was truly a sight to behold! Great video. Also you should do a video on the puffing billy railway! That would be really interesting!

[@Reserve.s]

Nice video! I'm actually a volunteer with Steamrail and I will say that R761 is one of their most well-kept engines. I've seen R700, R704, R707, R711 and R761 irl. My favourite engine from their fleet is K183 because of her history and also she looks pretty :) But alas, someone committed an act of arson on Steamrail's sheds in 2015. Destroyed a lot of their rollingstock, which some dated back to the 1880s. It was heartbreaking to read about it, but they've come so far ever since and I'm glad to be volunteering with them! My first trip with them was...eventful to say the least. One of the K Class locos broke down and we were stranded on the mainline for about 3 hours. About 3 passenger trains and 1 freight train were stuck on the line because of it 😅😅 But we managed to get to our destination which was good.

[@johnd8892]

Definitely Australian, since they were designed by the Victorian Railways in Australia using the best available practices at the time., like very un British bar frames, roller bearings., mechanical stoker and high strength Australian designed SCOAP driving wheels. German type smoke deflectors too from new. North British only built them, badly, as you correctly acknowledged. The Hudson Power book on the R class has a near chapter on all the mainly manufacturing defects, but also the lack of care taken by North British in preparing them for shipping them to Australia as deck cargo. The North British decline perhaps culminated with their later diesel hydraulic locomotives that had the entire business close not long after. Their later tender to supply the locomotives that became the still running VR S class diesels thankfully was laughed out of contention by VR in favour of the Clyde GM S class 1800 hp Co-Co locomotives of 1957 with some still running after multi million miles of close to trouble free service.

[@thatd59ladlarry]

You have my attention

[@ThompsonSteamtrain]

Love these Locomotives and i nickname then Essendon trains hence the Black exterior with Red lining and named after the Essendon Football club.

[@brucelamberton8819]

I always found them an impressive looking loco

[@Alzaar_The_Gunzel]

I’ve always viewed the R classes as a miniature version of the H220.

[@Alpha-oo8]

Hey, they are my local locomotives! I live within their operational range (they might visit once a year or so) and it’s not too far to travel to see their home base, an hour and a half drive from my house. I’ve even been in the cab of R761 during steamrails open house event. As to wether they are scottish or Australian, you’d have to ask the engines. My sister was born in the uk, and she considers herself Australian, and she was in the UK longer than the R class was!

[@ianrx122]

Don't forget the 50 N class that North British built before the they did the R class.

[@railtrolley]

Perhaps it is ironic that the R class has gone on to a long successful post-career in it's intended purpose: express passenger work, albeit on tourist trains. Not the only locomotive to arrive too late to have a useful career in the VR: the J class Consolidations arrived only just before the T class diesel was being brought in for secondary and branch line workings.

[@Lamp_2155]

I think a locos home is where it has achieved its service history. As a Brit, I don’t see the bullet train in York as belonging here because it was built for somewhere else and wasn’t used here

[@buzzygaming7667]

I literally live across the road from R704 and down the road is newport workshops where R700 R707 R711 R753 and R761 are so yeah this is pretty good to see

[@trainman9024]

forgot to mention 766 is now SG and in NSW

[@tobys_transport_videos]

Don't knock the R class! As a Victorian railfan I have spent many days chasing the three operational survivors across the state! The R class were built from scrapped WWII tanks, which were themselves, made of shit metal. The fact that the R class worked so well for the years they had (1951 to around 1973/74/75) is quite something in itself. Please don't knock R711! From what I remember reading, this is the lowest mileage (in service) R class still in existence today. It was "stuffed and mounted" outside Bendigo station for many years until our West Coast Railway saw it as a potential to restore to working order, and use in regular service. Certain negative people (unknown names) in a certain well know preservation group allegedly had the very negative view that the people at WCR were wasting their time, and that R711 would never run again - it was too far gone! LMAO!!! 🤣R711 was restored to be a "modern day" (as much as possible) steam locomotive. It had improved performance, improved seats for the crew, and M.U controls to allow a diesel to work it in M.U with it - a World First AFAIK!!! Sadly when WCR could no longer make a go of their operation, R711 passed to a certain other preservation group who set about trying to undo some of the changes that made R711 special. Whilst R707 and R761 are good engines in their own right, and R766 is an Australian first, with R700 some years away, R711 was _"something else!"_ On the subject of R766, full credit to those that made its gauge conversion happen! I've seen it running in NSW, and after years of them in their home state, it seems weird to see an R running deep in NSW, _"where no R class has gone before!"_ I hope to see more Victorian steam locos able to run on the Australian standard gauge network, without sacrificing the existing Broad Gauge fleet.

[@australiasindustrialage689]

The R Class were certainly superb locomotives and their potential was never realised. They spent most of their remaining years on fast goods work. As for whether they became more celebrated in preservation, it depends on who you ask. It would be interesting to discuss the performance of these locomotives with those who worked them in service. As for the video, it was rather brief, but still not a bad effort.

[@LemonSpacebirb]

Ah the R class I remember when I was 4 I road in the cab on excursion run

[@DangerAngelous]

I would put the Rs down as similar to Angus and Malcolm Young, born in Scotland but migrated here and their ultimate success/work lives happened here, aka a small, quiet band called AC/DC who a lot of people outside have probably never heard of~

[@robertwilloughby8050]

A suggestion for "Those Great Locomotives" - the WAGR X Class. An example of what fitters can do with a supposedly rubbish loco.

[@JacobGrimaR761]

Good to see the R Classes getting a mention 👍

[@Alexander-km8es]

I reacon you should do a video on the South Australian Railways Rx class because the VR R classes are what a modern Scottish engine design would look like the South Australian railways RX class is a rebuild version of a Scottish steam engine but built in Scotland before the Jones goods class on highland railway and was a big success in South Australia with all 88 members rebuild before the big engine policy happened

[@lorenzosdeadchannel]

Great video ! If that's ok may i suggest you take a look at the italian FS 640 or 625 class next ? Thet are classes that have always intrigued me but unfortunately there aren't many (if any) KZbinrs out there making quality videos about Italian engines.

[@FlyingScott]

Would love to do something about an Italian kettle, here's hoping I have literature for it!

[@jazzybelleverdonwilliams4978]

Have a look at the NSWGR 50/53/55 Class

[@erikaatkins1841]

Its always cool to see locos from Aus get the spot light. if you wanna do some other episode on aussie steam i recommend two from my home state of NSW 3800 class as 3801 has a massive record/acheivmennts to its name or the AD60 garret type locomotives cause they were some of the biggest stanndered gauge garrets at 4+8+4+4+8+4

[@tobys_transport_videos]

No such thing as a "3800 class" steam locomotive. The engine you refer to is the class leader of the *38 class,* built from 1943 to 1947, totalling 30 in all, with the first five built by Clyde Engineering and semi-streamlined. The following 25 (3806 to 3830) were "unstreamlined" and built "in house" at Eveleigh (13 IIRC) and Cardiff (12, IIRC). The NSW 60 class *Garratts* numbered 42 in total, being a 4-8-4 + 4-8-4 wheel arrangement, and lasted from 1951 to 1973 (just). The "AD" prefix" like the "C" and "D" prefixes on older engines, was never actually seen on the locos, only in official paperwork, with the letter indicating the number of driving wheels.

[@McAttack21574]

We need some C38 class locomotives

[@trainman9024]

hey will you ever make a video on any other VR engine or even a Australian engine

[@dylangranger9129]

Could you do a video of the New South Wales government railways C38 class pacific that are also from Australia please

[@1manz_1]

You should do another one of my personal favourite Australian tender engines, the 19 class (or A class). They worked in Darlington Harbour in Sydney and other various places. Just a suggestion.

[@tobys_transport_videos]

The 19 class of the NSWGR were part of the later "Z class" - meaning they were "lesser engines" in the NSWGR fleet. Also, the place you refer to is *_Darling_* Harbour, not *"Darlington"* Harbour. The only "Darlington" I know of is in Northern England, whose railway was under construction (or at least planning) 200 years ago. " The 19 class lasted until late 1970 as Darling Harbour shunters until replaced by the new 73 class diesel shunters. It's hard to think of the 19 class in their original form as Express Passenger engines that date back to 1877 and therefore saw nearly 100 years of service!

[@1manz_1]

@@tobys_transport_videos Oh oops. Thanks for fixing up some of my errors in the words I said. I'll try to get it right in future! Thanks.

[@chrisgurney2467]

The R Class is like Bonn Scott, Scots born but Aussie thru and thru XD

[@sammylinx6576]

The Victorian K class would be a great locomotive to look it, it was designed to not be a remarkable engine just doing branch line work etc in the end it ended up being superior minus the ability to be gauge converted and now is one of if not the most preserved steam locomotive in Victoria

[@smitajky]

It is a reflection on the policy of gauge conversion that lead to more expensive engines that were less suitable for their ordinary tasks. The K class was a much older design but highly successful. For many reasons. The desperation of the railways for motive power lead to the permission to build cheaper engines that were proven in service more quickly. With the exception of fast passenger services, that the diesels took over promptly, they were excellent in general service. Very much like the later diesel "T" class.

[@STYtrainspotter2007]

R700 still doesn't have a cab it's under restoration

[@DoriftoDuckMan]

They are a2 classes not a squared

[@Comeng_]

Alt moment

[@Shark30006]

How fast can this locomotive go?

[@wagrtrains]

Can you do something from the west? Maybe the W class?

[@williamadams7865]

A very nicely done production showcasing one of the stars of Australian steam preservation. You summed it up best yourself, the R class are a neatly proportioned design and could have gone on to great things in revenue service, if they had the chance. Dieselisation however had already set in though and their relegation to secondary duties was assured. They have found a second life in preservation as you have mentioned and are a spectacular sight to behold. Check out this recent clip by Trains Direct Victoria of Rs 711 and 761 making their presence felt in the middle of Melbourne (the state capital): kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqqlpKmajrtsiac

[@patricksommerville6706]

Australia had many locos built overseas yet many were considered Australian locos

[@STYtrainspotter2007]

VR J class was built in the UK

[@Skasaha_]

The narrow gauge Puffing Billy Railway's 'Puffing Billy' locos are also like this - they were designed by and the first two built by Baldwin in the US. All the surviving examples are locally built at Newport though. One engine they own is hilarious though - 861, a French design, Belgian built loco, only ever was used in Victoria and was extensively rebuilt in a 1890s US style before reaching PBR.

[@Trainskitsetc]

They're british... init. interesting one is the ROD 2-8-0. Those examples in NSW worked in both. Did more work here. Yet to all but the modt die-hard people who refer to them by their nomenclature from the colliery they are an ROD 2-8-0... with a scattering or true nutters going for GCR identity. Another one is the Na class, none are Baldwin built, yet you ask anyone and they are a "Baldwin climbing through the Dandenongs" when they visit puffing billy. Is just the design enough to make them something? To really sum the R class up, it's Australian when talked of as a good machine. The moment it breaks down or you discuss them being the sort let down last hoorah of Victorians steam, the moldy cork that let the diesel into the bottle, then they're British or Scottish. Speaking of Na class "baldwins", can I request those.... whoever built them or whatever they're good fun bits of kit

[@lachlansmith1522]

the first 4 nA units were baldwin built(1 and 2A were built by baldwin, 3 and 4A were assembled through the large quantity of spare parts sent with the 2 but assembled by newport) and the rest were built by newport, so technically speaking a baldwin one still exists wuth what remains of 3A on static display

[@Trainskitsetc]

@@lachlansmith1522 yeah, but the ones running are... well not. And further from baldwin or even VR with boiler replacement, cylinder replacement etc etc as the fleet goes on in time. Interesting none the less, guess similar argument applies to the NGG, british built but we call it south african but it now runs here. Wonder if in a few decades it'll be thought of as an aussie loco

[@treavy1]

That engine looks very American and not very British

[@johnd8892]

It was designed in Victoria Australia using the best available practices at the time., like very un British bar frames, roller bearings., mechanical stoker and high strength Australian designed SCOAP driving wheels. German type smoke deflectors too from new.