Queensland Railways 8D15 Class Steam Engine

*Steam engine No. 77 of the Queensland Railways was one of five members of the 2-8-2 8D15 Class of tank engines.*

These rather handsome looking engines were built for the Queensland Railways by Dubs of Scotland and No. 77 carried builders number 2012 of 1884. It entered service in January 1885.

The 8D15 Class engines were built for use on goods and mineral traffic … particularly on the steep grades on the line from Brisbane to Toowoomba but when the class entered service 75, 76 and 77 were assigned to the Ipswich depot while two were sent to Rockhampton.

In 1890 the two northern engines had the trailing truck removed and a tender fitted to increase their range. All members of the class were reboilered in 1903.

The first of the tank locos was written off in 1922 but the two members of the class that had been converted to tender engines remained on the books until 1938.

It’s possible that at least one of the tank engines passed into private hands and spent some time working the timber lines on Fraser Island.

Technical Details

Wheel arrangement	2-8-2T
Driving wheel diameter	36in
Boiler pressure	130lb
Cylinders	15×20
Tractive effort	13,000lb
Coal capacity	2 tons (4 tons with tender)
Water capacity	1,000 gallons (1,400 gallons with tender)
Weight	31.5 tons (28 tons when converted)

References
Photo courtesy of State Library of Queensland
Technical details: http://www.qrig.org