| Weight – Loco | 73t 4cwt |
| Tender | 47t 6cwt |
| Driving Wheels | 4ft 8ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 180psi superheated |
| Cylinders | Outside – 21in x 26in |
| Tractive Effort | 31,325lbf |
| Valve Gear | Stephenson (piston valve) |
This locomotive was built by the North British Locomotive Company in 1918 to a Robinson design. This type of locomotive was introduced on the Great Central Railway (GCR) in Britain in 1911 to haul coal traffic to the new GCR port at Immingham. The design was based on a successful earlier design of a 0-8-0 Q4 class locomotive.
By 1914 129 locomotives had been built to this design and they passed into the ownership of the London & North Easter Railway (LNER) at Grouping in 1923.
During the First World War the class was adopted by the Railway Operating Division (ROD) of the Royal Engineers as the standard type for war services. 521 locomotives were built by many different locomotive builders for service in France. The first orders for 325 locomotives were placed in February 1917 and these were followed by orders for 196 more in 1918 in order to keep British industry going during the post-war run-down in military manufacturing. They were almost identical to the GCR engines, but most of them were fitted with steel fireboxes that proved to have short lives. Some engines stayed in Britain and eventually all of those that travelled to France returned to Britain.
At the end of the war the engines were disposed of by the War Department. One hundred locomotives were purchased by the Great Western Railway (GWR), fifty by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR). Others were sold overseas to China and Australia.
It is interesting to note that 92 locomotives to this design were also used during the Second World War. They were shipped to Egypt and Palestine, where they worked on Egyptian State Railways, Palestine Railways, the Haifa, Beirut and Tripoli Railway between Palestine and Lebanon, the Chémin de Fer Damas-Hama et Prolongements in Syria, and Iraqi State Railways.
In 1925 J & A Brown purchased three ROD locomotives which were being stored as surplus in the UK. These three entered service on the Richmond Vale Railway as locomotives capable of hauling heavy coal trains over the Sugarloaf Range and across the Hexham swamp. The private railway linked Pelaw Main and Richmond Main collieries to Hunter River loading staithes at Hexham. J & A Brown operated a fleet of 60 coastal steamers to transport coal from Hexham to Sydney and around the Australian coast.
J & A Brown subsequently purchased a further ten ROD locomotives using one of their own ships (SS Minmi built in Glasgow in 1927) on its maiden voyage in 1927 to transport the locomotives from the UK to Australia. The ship sank in 1937 in Botany Bay after running aground on rocks.
During the Depression years in Australia output at the collieries declined. This resulted in the ten ROD locomotives only being reassembled after delivery as business recovered with the last not entering service until 1933.
This locomotive was one of the 369 such locomotives built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. It was built in 1918 and became ROD 1984 and spent some of its early working life in France after the Armistice prior to returning to Britain in 1919.
It was loaned to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway for a period before going to the London & North-Western Railway (LNWR) in November 1919. It ran on the LNWR until August 1921 as number 2955 after which it was sold to J & A Brown in 1925 and transported to Australia in 1927.
The locomotive became number 20 whilst in service with J & A Brown. It was withdrawn from service in May 1968 and placed in store at Hexham.
In 1973 Coal & Allied Industries (successors to J & A Brown) wanted to dispose of the accumulated withdrawn steam locomotives in store at Hexham.
It is thought that there were plans to return the locomotive to Britain but that transport costs proved prohibitive.
The locomotive is owned by the Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum Limited. This museum was opened briefly in 1986 but has remained closed to the public since then.
The locomotive passed into the ownership of the Hunter Valley Steam Railway & Museum (HVSR&M). It was stored at Broadmeadow before moving to HVSR&M storage site at Rhodda Colliery.
In late 1983 it was transported by rail to Glenreagh before being towed to Dorrigo along the reopened branch around 1986.
The locomotive remains in store at Dorrigo. The Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum was opened briefly in 1986 but has remained closed to the public since then.
There are two other ROD locomotives preserved in Australia which were operated by J & A Brown.
- 23 – Kitson works number 5201
- 24 – Great Central Railway
One member of the class (British Railways 63601 built by Beyer Peacock in 1912) which entered service with the Great Central Railway is preserved in Britain.
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