| Weight – Locomotive | 63t 0cwt |
| Tender | 42t 4cwt |
| Driving Wheels | 4ft 3ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 160psi |
| Cylinders | Outside – 21in x 26in |
| Tractive Effort | 30,576lbf |
This locomotive was built in 1902 by Beyer Peacock in Manchester for the New South Wales Government Railway (NSWGR) and entered traffic as T 619 in March 1903. It was renumbered 5069 in 1924
This very successful type was one of the three standard classes designed by NSWGR Chief Mechanical Engineer William Thow in conjunction with Beyer Peacock & Co. The choice of wheel configuration followed earlier NSWGR experience with 2-8-0 locomotives built by Baldwin in the USA for heavy freight duties. The 2-8-0 wheel arrangement had been developed by Baldwin for heavily-graded mountain railways in Colorado.
The T(524) class which the engine became part of were the most numerous class of locomotives in Australia with 280 being delivered to the NSWGR between 1896 and 1916. Of the 280 151 were built by Beyer Peacock, 84 by the North British Locomotive Company 10 by Neilson & Co, 5 by Dübs & Co and 30 by Clyde Engineering in Australia.
The T(524) class were reclassified as D 50 in the NSWGR renumbering scheme of 1924.
The final 75 locomotives delivered were fitted with superheaters as part of the developments made over the delivery period. Many of the earlier saturated engine were progressively converted to superheating and these could be easily identified by their extended smokeboxes. Works number 4372 was not one fitted with a superheater.
10 superheated locomotives built by the North British Locomotive Company never made it to Australia as they were requisitioned by the British Army’s Royal Engineers Railway Operating Division (ROD) for service in Europe during the First World War and most ended up in Belgium.
This locomotive was one the 88 steam locomotives that were used to provide dead weight during the load testing of the Sydney Harbour Bridge prior to its opening in 1924.
By the middle of 1964 only 113 of the 280 remained in service and they were normally restricted to hauling coal trains in the Hunter Valley and shunting duties at larger marshalling yards.
The locomotive remained in service with the NSWGR until April 1973 when it was withdrawn from service after covering nearly 1.5 million miles.
It was stored at Enfield Roundhouse but when other members of the class were disposed of in 1974 this locomotive survived It was purchased for the collection of the proposed Hunter Valley Steam Railway & Museum (HVSR&M) and transferred to their Rhondda Colliery base near Newcastle.
In preservation the locomotive is paired with a 3650 gallon tender of the type originally supplied.
At Rhondda Colliery the locomotive was steamed for shunting duties on a number of occasions.
The HVSR&M changed its focus to reopening the Dorrigo branch line on the New South. Wales north coast. As a result the locomotive was moved by rail to Glenreagh in 1983. It was then one of the two locomotives that operated the inaugural train to Dorrigo in 1986.
The locomotive is now at the Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum.
Two other members of the class built by Beyer Peacock are preserved.
- 5132 – Works number 5074 built in 1909
There is also one other locomotive preserved which was built by Clyde Engineering in Australia.
- 5096 – Works number 1 built in 1907
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 