| Driving Wheels | 4ft 0ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 200psi |
| Cylinders | Outside – 16in x 24in |
| Tractive Effort | 21,760lbf |
| Valve Gear | Walschaert |
The design of the class W locomotives originated in 1947 with Frederick Mills who was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR). When he died in in 1949 his successor Charles Clarke progressed the design.
Mills had requested Beyer, Peacock & Company to reserve capacity for their construction when the design was first proposed, however, by the time Clarke took over, Beyer, Peacock & Co had identified a number of possible problems with the design. Following a meeting of the designer and constructer the locomotive was substantially redesigned.
The resultant locomotive included many proprietary boiler and ancillary fittings, as well as parts interchange ability. The firebox was substantially altered to take into account the properties of Collie coal. This included a combustion chamber, thermic syphons and arch bar tubes.
The running gear was based heavily on Beyer, Peacock & Co’s Standard Light Garratt design, which was built for the South Australian Railways as its 400 class. The first 40 were delivered partially erected, whilst the final 20 were fully assembled prior to shipping. The last 20 had larger tenders, capable of holding an additional 550 gallons. All were delivered between April 1951 and June 1952.
Four locomotives were also supplied by Beyer, Peacock & Company for the Silverton Tramway which were also categorised as the W class. These locomotives did have some differences from the WAGR W class including a skyline cowling running the length of the boiler and smokebox, Westinghouse air brakes, and an additional blow-down valve in the middle of the bottom of the boiler barrel.
The Silverton Tramway was a 58km railway that ran from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. It was opened in 1888 and was used until 1970. It served the mines in Broken Hill, and formed the link between the 4ft 8½in standard gauge New South Wales Government Railways and the narrow gauge South Australian Railways lines. It was owned and operated by the Silverton Tramway Company (STC).
The Silverton Tramway closed in January 1970 when it was replaced by a standard gauge line operated by the South Australian Railways.
This locomotive (W22) was built by Beyer, Peacock & Company in Manchester in 1951 as the first of the four locomotives supplied to the STC. The locomotive was given the name Justin Hancock
Around 1969 the locomotive was withdrawn from service and placed on static display in the grounds of the Puffing Billy Museum at Menzies Creek in Victoria.
After many years on display it was moved to the Pichi Richi Railway in South Australia with the intention of restoring the locomotive to steam. After examination the locomotive was found to be in a poorer condition than the WAGR W class locomotive W916 which the Pichi Richi Railway had identified as being used for spares for their other locomotives. The result was that W22 became the donor and W916 was restored but carries the number W22.
The remains of W22 are in store at the Pichi Richi Railway.
There are two other locomotives built for the Silverton Tramway that have been preserved.
- W24 – Works number 7553
- W25 – Works number 7554
There are 15 members of the WAGR W class built by Beyer, Peacock & Company preserved.
- 901 – Works number 7378
- 903 – Works number 7380
- 907 – Works number 7384
- 908 – Works number 7385
- 916 – Works number 7393
- 919 – Works number 7396
- 920 – Works number 7397
- 924 – Works number 7401
- 931 – Works number 7408
- 933 – Works number 7410
- 934 – Works number 7411
- 943 – Works number 7455
- 945 – Works number 7457
- 947 – Works number 7459
- 953 – Works number 7465
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