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The Victorian Railways NA class is a 2-6-2 tank locomotive built for their four 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge branch lines.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works in the United States supplied the first two 2-6-2 tank locomotives, as well as a range of spare parts. These two engines were numbered 1A and 2A and were both placed in service for construction of the Wangaratta to Whitfield line in the North East of Victoria in September 1898. The spare parts from the Baldwin Locomotive Works were used to construct locomotives 3A and 4A at Newport Workshops in 1900 for the Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Line, with further examples of the class entering service up to the last, number 17A, in 1915. Engines 2 and 4 used Vauclain compound high- and low-pressure cylinders, while the rest of the class used simple expansion cylinders.
In 1920 parts were made for 2 more NAs—18A and 19A—but due to a downturn in traffic the order was cancelled, and the parts were used as spares on the other NAs. By the mid-1920s these small locomotives were not able to handle the increasing traffic, and two G class Garratt locomotives were purchased to supplement the fleet on the heavily patronized Walhalla and Beech Forest Lines.
Even with G41 and G42 in service the NAs were still the backbone of the VR Narrow Gauge Lines right up until the 1950s when they were progressively withdrawn from traffic between 1945 and 1960. 1A and 2A were withdrawn and scrapped in September 1929 due to being worn out. 4A was withdrawn in 1933 for the same reason and 16A was withdrawn in 1934 due to low use. They were both scrapped in September 1936.
The locomotives weigh and produce a tractive effort of , allowing them to haul loads of up grades of 1 in 30 (3.33%). Numbers 6A, 7A, 8A, 12A, and 14A have been restored and operate on the Puffing Billy Railway, and No. 3 is also on the Puffing Billy Railway, currently plinthed in a dismantled state in the Lakeside Discovery Centre. The remaining locomotives have all been scrapped.
A gauge replica of a NA class locomotive was built in 1993 for use on the Isle of Mull Railway. The engine, named "Victoria", was built by the Mouse Boiler Works, using drawings provided by the Puffing Billy Railway. It operated on the Isle of Mull until the railway's closure in 2011, and is currently operating on the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway.
Preservation
As of January 2021, the Puffing Billy Railway operates NA class locomotives 6A, 7A, 8A, 12A, and 14A. Puffing Billy Railway also have 3A which is awaiting restoration.
3A
Withdrawn from service in 1955. Sold in 1960 to the Lord Mayor’s Camp at Portsea where it remained on static display until 1977 when it was brought to Belgrave for eventual restoration.
Currently located in Lakeside Discovery Centre on display.
6A
6A arrived at the Puffing Billy Railway in June 1962, and was in use on regular service trains until January 1980, when it was withdrawn due to boiler problems. It returned to traffic on 13th of December 1980 but was withdrawn again in September 1983 due to a condemned boiler and moved to the Menzies Creek Steam Museum for Storage on November 30 that year. In April 1988 it returned to Belgrave for axle box repairs, but the following month its boiler was removed and was put into storage at the rear of the running shed along with 12A.
In October 1997 restoration of 6A commenced, led by the workshop's leading hand fitter Ron Gunn. Restoration progressed until March 2001 when 14A's former all steel welded boiler was fitted into 6A's Frames. One of the modifications made under the direction of Nigel Day was the fitting of a new lempor exhaust system similar to L.D. Porta's design for South African Railways' Class 26 3450 the Red Devil. The system allows the exhaust steam to go through the funnel through four flues then up the funnel. A sleeve inside the funnel was also fitted for a quieter exhaust beat. These modifications made the engine extremely efficient, reliable and powerful. The locomotive was also painted in a more historically accurate VR Two Tone Green livery with removable hungry boards on the bunker, tapered steam dome, dummy ash ejectors on the smoke box, small builders plates, and double row of rivets on the water tanks.