Tasmanian Government Railways C class

Between 1885 and 1892, the Tasmanian Government Railways took delivery of 19 C class locomotives from Beyer, Peacock & Company, Manchester. A further eight followed in the early years of the 20th century.^[1] A 28th originally built for the Emu Bay Railway was purchased second hand in 1937.^[2] They were the first of what became almost an Australian 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) standard, as locomotives of similar design served in large numbers as the Silverton Tramway Y class, South Australian Railways Y class and Western Australian Government Railways G class, and also in Queensland and on the North Australia Railway.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

In 1912, six (16-19, 26 & 27) were rebuilt with new cylinders, Belpaire boilers and larger smokeboxes and reclassified as the CC class. In 1924, a further four (21, 23-25) were rebuilt also receiving Walschaerts valve gear and reclassified as the CCS class.^[4][5][7]

In 1948, a further seven locomotives of the same design were purchased from the Commonwealth Railways. These had originally been built as South Australian Railways Y class locomotives and sold to the Commonwealth Railways to operate North Australia Railway services in World War II. Four entered service as the F class, with the other three used for parts.^[5][6][8]

Four have been preserved:^[7]

• C1 at the West Coast Pioneers Museum, Zeehan^[9]
• C22 at the Tasmanian Transport Museum, Glenorchy restored to service 1983, withdrawn for overhaul 1999 returned to service November 2009^[10][11]
• CCS23 at the Don River Railway, Devonport^[12]
• CCS25 at the Don River Railway, Devonport^[13]