Victorian Railways V class (1857)

The Victorian Railways V class of 1857 was a class of goods locomotives operated by the Victorian Railways between 1858 and 1904, built by George England and Co., Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

History
Victorian Railways initially numbered passenger and goods locomotives separately. The goods engines were numbered 1–4 (the first passenger engine was also numbered 1). This was changed to consecutive numbering between June 1859 and March 1860 with the goods locos being numbers 2–5. With the introduction of the J class in 1860, to avoid confusion these were temporarily altered to 2A–5A. The numbering was once again changed in the late 1860's to odd numbers for goods locomotives and even numbers for passenger locos with these locomotives taking the odd numbers 11–17. This odd and even system remained in use until 1912. In 1886, they were allocated to Class V.

Production
The four locomotives were built in 1857 with builder's numbers 142–145 at a cost of £2300, +£900 freight and insurance, for each loco. The first arrived in Port Phillip on 12 May 1858 along with passenger locomotive No. 1, the remaining three arrived in Port Phillip on 31 May 1858.

Regular service
In addition to regular goods service, some were loaned to contractors, like Cornish & Bruce, for line construction and ballasting purposes. In 1894, it was noted that three were allocated one each to Daylesford, Geelong, and v.

Design improvements
Over the years they were fitted with various new cabs. There were also various upgrades over the years; with constant improvements to safety — these including things like updates to safety valves (and domes), brakes, and cowcatchers — and improvements for their useability — handrails and footboards. The original brakes provided was a hand brake on the tender with wood blocks on all six wheels. This was upgraded to steam brakes on the engines in 1884-1886, and at least two (V15 and V17) were later fitted with Westinghouse air brakes. New boilers with a working pressure of 130psi were fitted, starting with V11 in 1880, and the remaining 3 locomotives in 1884-1885.

Accidents

 * December 1878 - V13 collided with L14 in the Melbourne Yard
 * August 1879 - V17 collided with O65 in Melbourne Yard
 * January 1883 - V13 ran off road on Dock Pier
 * September 1890 - No 497 in shops after accident
 * 29 November 1894 - V17 broke leading axle near Bairnsdale

Demise
All the locomotives were removed from the Victorian Railways register between 1891 and 1904. V13 was sold to an unknown buyer in 1893, then bought back and renumbered 497 (unclassed). V11 was sold in May 1891 to contractor Andrew O'Keefe for £1900($2700). The remaining locomotives were withdrawn in 1904, with the last V15 being withdrawn on 13 September.