N Class Suburban Tank Locomotive
N 201
| Builders: Nasmyth,Wilson Neilson & Co Robert Stephenson Midland Workshops |
| Coupled wheel diameter 4'0" |
| Total weight 48 tons 16 cwt |
| Tractive effort 13,046 lb |
| Coal capacity 2.5 tons |
| Water capacity 1600 gallons |
| Number in service 42 |
The N class design was the response to the increasing suburban traffic around Perth following the gold rush of the 1890's. The design was contemporary with the O class and the first five locomotives entered service in September 1896. The design was very successful and eventually forty two locomotives of the design were in service, including ten built at Midland Workshops using parts obtained from withdrawn O class locomotives. The N class were mainly used on suburban passenger trains both in Perth and in Kalgoorlie, which at the height of the gold rush boasted a suburban service as frequent as that in Perth.
The N class continued in service until the 1950's when the arrival of the Dm and Dd class tank locomotives led to the first withdrawals.
N 201 was one of the Robert Stephenson locomotives and went into service on 27 October, 1898. While it spent most of its career in the Perth metro area on passenger and goods working it would have also worked the occasional passenger train to Bunbury. Most of the N class engines were withdrawn after World War Two and by 1961 only two were left. One of these was N 201, which had been withdrawn from regular use on 28 September, 1960 and stored at Midland Workshops. It was returned to service as a steam cleaner at East Perth Loco Depot in April 1961 and carried out that role until August 1965. It was then offered to the Town of Claremont for display but eventually on 1 July, 1972, diesel loco X 1010 shunted N 201, along with suburban tank engine Dd 592, into the Rail Transport Museum for a well-earned retirement.