North British Locomotive Company      Works No 26930     Class  Pmr    Pmr 735     4-6-2      Western Australia Government Railways    Gauge 3ft 6in

Weight109t 1cwt 
Driving Wheels4ft 6in
Boiler Pressure175psi
CylindersOutside – 19in x 26in
Tractive Effort25,855lbf  
Valve GearWalschaerts

After the Second World War the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was short of motive power which resulted in an authorisation being given for the procurement of 35 4-6-2 locomotives. It was initially planned that 10 of these would be built at the Midland Railway Worksops and 10 being constructed externally. Due to capacity constraints at Midland an order for 35 locomotives was placed with the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow and these became the Pm class.

Nineteen were built as the Pm class with plain bearings on the coupled axles and roller bearings on the carrying axles. The other sixteen were built as the Pmr class with roller bearings on all axles. One Pm was later converted to a Pmr at the Midland Railway Workshops.

All of the 35 locomotives entered service on the WAGR in 1950.

Although they were designed to operate passenger services, their independently sprung driving wheels gave a rough ride meaning they could not maintain schedules, hence they were quickly relegated to fast freight trains on the Eastern Goldfields and Great Southern lines and associated branches. They were restricted to a maximum speed of 40mph.

Later they were concentrated on the Great Southern and South Western lines.

All of the locomotives were withdrawn from service between 1970 and 1972.

After being withdrawn from service this locomotive (735) was displayed on a plinth at Tuart Hill for many years.

It was the purchased privately and moved to Willis Light Engineering for restoration prior to being used by the Pemberton Tramway Company. It is not known how far the restoration work has progressed.

There are five other Pm/Pmr locomotives built by the North British Locomotive Company that have been preserved.

  • Pm 701 – Works number 26545
  • Pm 706 – Works number 26550
  • Pmr 720 – Works number 26564
  • Pmr 721 – Works number 26565
  • Pmr 729 – Works number 26924

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