WAGR Msa class

WAGR Msa class
Works photo of Msa468, taken in 1930.
Power type	Steam
Builder	WAGR Midland Railway Workshops
Serial number	46–55
Build date	1930
Total produced	10
Configuration	2-6-0+0-6-2
UIC classification	(1′C)(C1′) h4t
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Driver diameter	39 in (991 mm)
Weight on drivers	60 tonnes (59 long tons; 66 short tons)
Locomotive weight	74 tonnes (73 long tons; 82 short tons)
Boiler pressure	160 lbf/in² (1.10 MPa)
Firegrate area	27 sq ft (2.5 m2)
Heating surface: Total	1,088 sq ft (101.1 m2)
Superheater area	180 sq ft (17 m2)
Cylinders	Four (Garratt)
Cylinder size	13.25 × 20 in (337 × 508 mm)
Tractive effort	24,489 lbf (108.93 kN)
Career	Western Australian Government Railways
Class	Msa
Number	466–475

The WAGR Msa class was a class of Garratt steam locomotive constructed at the Western Australian Government Railways Midland Railway Workshops in Australia.

The class was preceded on the WAGR system by the M and the Ms Garratts. The class were used extensively on WAGR lines with light rails and sharp curves, as a consequence many of the smaller older branch lines on the Darling Scarp; as well as those with steep inclines such as those on the Mundaring Weir Branch Railway, the Nannup Branch, and the Flinders Bay Branch Railway railways.

Hearsay evidence suggests that the poor quality of the boilers in the Msa rendered some inoperable by the late 1940s. The last remaining Msa was awaiting moving to a preservation status in the 'steam graveyard' adjacent to the Midland Railway Workshops, when instructions were misunderstood by a scrap metal company employee, and it was destroyed.

See also

• List of Western Australian locomotive classes

References

• Watson, Lindsay (1995) The Railway History Of Midland Junction : Commemorating The Centenary Of Midland Junction, 1895-1995 Swan View, W.A : L & S Drafting in association with the Shire of Swan and the Western Australian Light Railway Preservation Association.

Further reading

• Gunzburg, Adrian.(1984) A history of W.A.G.R. steam locomotives Perth, W.A : Australian Railway Historical Society, Western Australian Division. ISBN 0959969039