| Weight – Loco | 67t |
| Tender | 46t |
| Driving Wheels | 4ft 7ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 175psi but later 180psi |
| Cylinders | Outside – 20in x 26in |
| Tractive Effort | 28,650lbf but later 29,500lbf |
During the 1950s the Victorian Railways (VR) embarked on a £80m programme to rebuild its network which was badly run down following many years of underinvestment. As part of this the railway undertook a massive upgrade of its aging locomotive fleet.
The sixty J class locomotives ordered from Vulcan Foundry at Newton le Willows were designed to cope with the gradients of up to 1 in 30 and be capable of being converted to 4ft 8½in gauge. They were a based on the Victorian Railway built k class but included many improvements on the earlier locomotives.
Initially VR ordered 50 locomotives from Vulcan foundry but subsequently ordered a further 10 after selling off ten of its brand new N class locomotives to the South Australian Railways. By the time the purchase of the J class locomotive had been awarded the VR had already begun to take delivery of class B main line diesel-electric locomotives. The VR unsuccessfully attempted to cancel the order for the class J in favour of an order for branch line diesel engines.
The J class locomotives were introduced to haul both passenger and goods traffic on Victoria’s branch line network where they were allowed to travel up to a speed of 45mph although the restriction was later lifted to 50mph.
In the 1960s the boiler pressure was raised to 180psi and the tractive effort to 29,500lbf. Following recommendations of the 1957 Australian and New Zealand Conference one locomotive was converted to oil burning but this did not prove to be a success and the locomotive was reverted to coal burning. The second 30 locomotives were however built as oil burners.
The coal fired J class locomotives were the regular engine on the 09:00 Melbourne to Yarram passenger service, with other duties being from Lilydale to Warburton and local services from Spencer Street to Werribee. The oil-fired J class engines were pressed into service hauling the final leg of The Gippslander express from Sale to Bairnsdale.
In their later years, J class locomotives also ran the Horsham to Dimboola leg of the morning service from Melbourne, one of the last regular steam-hauled passenger train services in Victoria.
Although J class locomotives produced the same nominal tractive effort as the K or N class, they had a slightly higher adhesive weight (and so a better factor of adhesion) and were permitted to haul heavier loads on gradients.
Within a year of the introduction of the J class, the T class diesel electric locomotive was also introduced. The T class proved to be such a successful design that further orders of that locomotive class were made during the late 1950s and 1960s, and the diesel-electric units gradually displaced the J class from many of duties.
By the late 1960s, the J class was largely relegated to shunting at various country yards, with many losing their cowcatchers and gaining shunter’s steps on sides of the tender. They were superseded in the shunting duties by the introduction of further diesel locomotives resulting in the first class J locomotive being scrapped in November 1967. One (J550) of the 11 members of the class that has been preserved hold the distinction of being the very last steam locomotive in normal revenue service on the Victorian Railways which took place in May 1972.
This locomotive ((J515) was built by Vulcan Foundry at Newton le Willows in 1954 as one of the coal burning engines. Although J550 was the last member of the class to haul a revenue earning service, J515 was the last member of the class in service when it was withdrawn from shunting duties at Newport Workshops in 1978.
In 1984 it was transferred to Seymour Railway Heritage Centre for restoration where it was the first such project undertaken there. The locomotive has been restored to main line operations and now carries the name Harold P Ward. Since 2008 the locomotive has been leased to the Victorian Goldfields Railway where it has been employed on hauling tourist trains between Castlemaine and Maldon.
Ten other class J locomotives built by Vulcan Foundry are preserved.
• 507 Works No 6053
• 512 Works No 6058
• 516 Works No 6062
• 524 Works No 6070
• 536 Works No 6082
• 539 Works No 6085
• 541 Works No 6087
• 549 Works No 6095
• 550 Works No 6146
• 556 Works No 6152
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