P 508

The Railway Museum, Bassendean

P 508 displayed in unlined black livery at The Railway Museum, Bassendean on 9 May 2002.

It looks like the tender tank may have rusted out at the bottom, with the affected areas cut-out in preparation for patching.

Builder	North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow
Builder’s Number & Year	23150 of 1924
Wheel Arrangement	4-6-2

Pacific locomotives having found WAGR favour with the E / Ec / Es classes dating from 1900, the wheel arrangement was again selected when renewal of the locomotive fleet was required. This time full advantage of the ‘Pacific’ trailing truck was taken by designing a large firebox and wider grate situated behind the driving wheels. The North British Locomotive Company won the contract for construction, delivering 10 units from 1924 which were followed by a further 15 from the WAGR Midland Workshops from 1927. Interestingly the domestic examples re-used the shorter tender frames from retired R-class 4-4-0 locos in order to lower construction costs. (The pioneering Baldwin Ec locos were withdrawn in 1924/25 and rebuilt to L-class Pacifics for light line duties; their withdrawal dates suggesting they may have been displaced by the new P class.)

Preserved example P 508 is one of the initial North British batch, entering service on 21 February as P 448. It was withdrawn on 18 July 1968 and was condemned on 10 February 1969. Fortunately it was saved to represent the class in preservation and entered into the care of the Australian Railway Historical Society (WA Division) at The Railway Museum, Bassendean, where it arrived in October 1971.

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P 508 at Narrogin on 14 February 1967, seemingly during a period of storage, with a dinky vintage crane parked behind.

The loco is parked in the classic ‘rods down’ pose of official portraits, but the rust on the rods tells a different story!

Image used with permission of the Rail Heritage WA archive:

http://railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/displayimage.php?pid=7101

(Image reference P11292, original photographer – P. Hopper.)

A fine action view of P 508 leading sister P 503 on a goods train north of Cranbrook. Photo dated 19 March 1967.

Image used with permission of the Rail Heritage WA archive:

http://railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/displayimage.php?pid=6311

(Image reference P09702, original photographer – P. Hopper.)

Builder’s portrait of P 451 (later P 511) circa 1927, first of the P-class examples constructed locally by the WAGR Midland Workshops.

The tenders re-used the shorter frames from earlier R-class 4-4-0 locos, resulting in lower coal and water capacity – and a rather funny look.

Image used with permission of the Rail Heritage WA archive:

http://railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/displayimage.php?pid=323

(Image reference P00323, original photographer – WAGR.)

References

a	A. Gunzburg 'A history of WAGR steam locomotives', published by ARHS (Western Australian Division) 1984.
b	Gray. W. K., 'Guide to Rail Transport Museum, Bassendean, Western Australia', Australian Railway Historical Society W. A. Division, First Edition November 1999.
c	Rail Heritage WA website, Exhibits page: ‘P Class Steam Locomotive’: https://www.railheritagewa.org.au/museum/locos/pages/p_steam.php retrieved 23 December 2023.

Page updated: 24 December 2023

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