1 Class

Locomotive No. 1 is one of the first four locomotives imported into NSW for the Sydney to Parramatta Railway.

Image – Builders Plate for Locomotive No. 1

During the earliest period of NSW Railways (1855 to 1890), the locomotives were classified by the road number given to the first engine in each design. Therefore, the group of four identical 0-4-2 locomotives of which No. 1 was the first, were known as the 1 Class.

Image of Locomotive No. 1 and Class 60 Locomotive No. 61 at Sydney Yard c1875. Passenger cars lined up to the left and all the gentlemen wearing their finest working on the railways.

Date – 1876
Photographer – Unknown

Type and Class : 0-4-2 “Stephenson” Type
Builder : Robert Stephenson and Company, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Build Date : 1854
Arrival in NSW : January 1855
Withdrawal : Retired from service on May 15, 1877, having travelled 156,542 miles.

Image of Locomotive No.1 being unloaded at the Technology Museum, Ultimo, in 1893. The Technology Museum become the Powerhouse Museum and operated at Ultimo for over 100 years.

First Service : Hauled the first passenger train in NSW—a special service on May 24, 1855 (Queen Victoria’s birthday), from Sydney Station to Long Cove Viaduct (near present-day Lewisham).
First Railway Line : Used on the Sydney Railway Company’s line, which officially opened in September 1855 (although No. 1 was undergoing maintenance and did not haul the official opening train).
Service Career : Used for both goods and passenger services before being confined to goods services as newer, larger locomotives arrived.

There were four locomotives in the original 1 Class introduced to the NSW Railways.

These four locomotives, all identical 0-4-2 mixed traffic engines built by Robert Stephenson and Company, were:

• No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4

They were the first locomotives to operate in New South Wales, arriving in Sydney in January 1855.

Image of No. 1 at Sydney Terminal for the Centary of NSW Railways in 1955.

Locomotives 3 and 4 at Sydney Yard – 1860

Locomotive No. 3 appears to be a mixed consist and Locomotive No. 4 passenger consist.

Date – 1860
Photographer – Unknown

Image from the ARHS Collection courtesy of the  University of Newcastle Library’s Special Collections

Locomotive No. 4 at the second Sydney Station.

Date – c1876
Photographer – Unknown

Locomotive No. 2 with No. 65 behind, at Sydney Yard

Date – c1876

Locomotive No. 4 at the Second Sydney Station.
Locomotives No. 1 and 61 in the centre, Locomotives No. 2 and 65 second from right, and Locomotives No. 23 and 57 on the right, at Sydney Yard.

Date – 1876
Photographer – Unknown

Locomotives at the Second Sydney Station and Sydney Yard.

Date – 1876
Photographer – Unknown

Class 5 Locomotive No. 7 at Sydney Yard.

Date – 1876
Photographer – Unknown

Locomotives at the Second Sydney Station, the terminus of the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern Railway, and Sydney Yard.

Date – 1876
Photographer – Unknown