Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn     Works No 7422   Class MA    4     4-6-2      Tasmanian Government Railways    Gauge 3ft 6in

Weight	98t
Driving Wheels	4ft 7ins   MA   4ft  0ins
Boiler Pressure	180psi
Cylinders	Two Outside – 16in x 24in
Tractive Effort	17,090lbf   MA  19,600lbf

In March 1952 the Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) took delivery of ten class M locomotives built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns at Newcastle upon Tyne. They were similar to the YB class locomotives supplied to the Indian Railways.

They operated on the North-Eastern and Western lines and at Hobart.

As the TGR had already started to employ diesel power on some lines that had been intended to be operated by the M class engines four locomotives were fitted with smaller driving wheels in 1957 which enabled them to be haul heavier trains on the steeply graded North-Eastern line. The locomotives fitted with smaller driving wheels became the MA class. The four were originally numbered M1, M2,M6 and M8 and became MA2, MA4, MA3 and MA1 respectively.

The smaller driving wheels had recovered from withdrawn Australian Standard Garratts locomotives.

The locomotives were withdrawn from service from 1960 as they became due for overhaul.

This locomotive (MA4) was built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns in 1951 for the Tasmanian Government Railways and entered service as M2. It is one of the four locomotives subsequently fitted with smaller driving wheels which formed the MA class.

It was the last member of the class in service but was latterly used at Launceston on steam-cleaning duties. This use for the locomotive ceased in the early 1970s when the waster in the boiler was allowed to get too low which resulted in the firebox being damaged.

The locomotive is now on static display at the entrance to the Don River Railway at their base at Don in the north of Tasmania.

All ten locomotives built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns as class M locomotives have been preserved. The others are.

• M1 – Works number 7427
• M2 – Works number 7430
• M3 – Works number 7423
• M4 – Works number 7424
• M5 – Works number 7425
• M6 – Works number 7429
• MA1 – Works number 7428
• MA2 – Works number 7421
• MA3 – Works number 7426

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