| Weight | 72t |
| Driving Wheels | 4ft 7ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 160psi |
| Cylinders | Outside – 18½in x 24in |
| Tractive Effort | 20,311lbf |
This locomotive was built by Beyer Peacock in Manchester in 1903 as one of the first batch of 35 locomotives of the S636 class for the New South Wales Government Railway (NSWGR). This batch entered service in 1903/04. Between 1905 and 1917 Beyer Peacock built a further 60 locomotives and the NSWGR constructed 50 at their Eveleigh Railway Workshop at Redfern in the Sydney suburbs.
The 145 locomotives were reclassified as C30 in 1924. At the same time this locomotive was renumbered from S648 to 3013.
The locomotives were designed to haul the growing traffic on the Sydney suburb services and especially over the heavy gradients on the Northern, Northern Shore and Illawarra lines.
The Sydney railway network was electrified from the mid 1920s which resulted in the locomotives being no longer required to perform the tasks for which they were designed. As the locomotives were regarded as too valuable to scrap 77 locomotives were rebuilt as 4-6-0 locomotives and became the C30T class.
The remaining 68 tank engines, which includes this one, were mostly employed on Sydney suburban to Cowan, Penrith and Campbelltown as well as branches to Carlington, Richmond and Camden. They were also used on suburban services in Newcastle and Wollongong.
A few were redeployed to the country areas where they worked on sections where turntables were not readily available. This included the Casino to Border Loop on the North Coast line, Leeton and Merriwa and shunting at yards such as Bathurst. The daily passenger trains on the extremely steep Unanderra to Moss Vale line were operated by 30 class locomotives until February 1967.
The first locomotive was withdrawn from service in February 1957. By July 1965 only 33 were in service and by mid 1971 only 3 were left in service. The last in service (3085 which is preserved) was withdrawn in February 1973 and was the second last steam locomotive in service on the NSWGR.
This locomotive was sold to Hebburn Colliery near Newcastle in 1967 having covered over 1.6 million miles whilst in service with the NSWGR. It remained in private ownership for use at the Hebburn No 2 Colliery on the Cessnock coalfield until about 1973.
In 1982 the locomotive was sold to a private owner and moved to the Cowra depot of the Lachlan Valley Railway. Work started then to overhaul the locomotive.
In 2009 the dismantled locomotive was gifted to Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) Australia Capital Territory (ACT) Division. The parts of the dismantled locomotive were relocated from Cowra to Canberra during 2009 and stored among the various carriage sidings at Canberra Railway Museum.
It is understood that 3013 was purchased privately.
Two other members of the C30 class built by Beyer Peacock are preserved.
- 3046 – Works number 5140
- 3112 – Works number 5807
Five members of the C30T class built by Beyer Peacock are preserved.
- 3001 – Works number 4444
- 3016 – Works number 4459
- 3026 – Works number 4469
- 3028 – Works number 4471
- 3102 – Works number 5797
There are also two class C30 locomotives preserved which were built at the Eveleigh Railway workshops.
- 3085 – Works number 52
- 3137 – Works number 134
There are also two class C30T locomotives preserved which were built at the Eveleigh Railway workshops.
- 3075 – Works number 42
- 3090 – Works number 57
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 