History
During the early 1950s, Victorian Railways embarked on a massive upgrading of its ageing locomotive fleet as part of 'Operation Phoenix', an £80 million program to rebuild a network badly run down by years of Depression-era underinvestment and wartime overutilisation.
Victoria's branch line railway network, laid with 60 lb/yd rail and featuring gradients of up to 1 in 30, was still largely served by the D1, D2 and D3 variants of the once 261-strong 1902-era Dd class 4-6-0, which by the early 1950s was at the end of its life. These were supplemented by 53 K class 2-8-0 locomotives, some of which had been built as recently as 1946. Although highly successful, the K was unsuitable for potential conversion from 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in the event of the Victorian network being standardised, and VR policy was for all new locomotives to be engineered for easy conversion. As such, the building of further K class was not a desirable option.
With mainline electric and diesel-electric locomotives already on order, Victorian Railways' design team opted for an updated, gauge-convertible K class as what would turn out to be their final steam locomotive design.
Read more about this topic: Victorian Railways J Class
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Don’t you realize that this is a new empire? Why, folks, there’s never been anything like this since creation. Creation, huh, that took six days, this was done in one. History made in an hour. Why it’s a miracle out of the Old Testament!”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)