Victorian Railways NA Class, Baldwin 2-6-2T

The turn of the century Baldwin industrial tank engine was a popular choice for the logging, mining and plantation industries in the US, Hawaii and south of the border.  In 1898 a pair of 2’6” gauge 2-6-2 Baldwins found their way to Victoria in Australia to server the remote farming and forestry communities. By 1915 seventeen were in service. They were classified as the ‘NA’ class, meaning narrow gauge A class, and given road numbers 1A through to 17A. Six of the NA class have survived and are preserved on the ‘Puffing Billy Railway’ east of Melbourne. The American Baldwin  It was common for US builders to provide new locomotives using works livery.  ‘1A’, the first of the Australian Baldwins was delivered in a ‘Light Ivy Green and gold, Style 292’ livery from the Baldwin ‘Book of Styles’. This was a Baldwin stock export livery of single green finish, lined with gold and red ‘shadow line’. The green paint finish was used extensively on the locomotive, including the chassis bar frames a