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Saturday 5 March 2022

2256) "Commonwealth Railways NM Class locomotive No. NM25", Australia: "STEAM POWER - Australian Rail Heritage" - Steam Engines Coin Series": Seventh Coin in the 50 Cents Coin Series features the iconic Steam Engine introduced into operation in 1925: Year of Coin issue: 2022:

2256) "Commonwealth Railways NM Class locomotive No. NM25", Australia: "STEAM POWER - Australian Rail Heritage" - Steam Engines Coin Series": Seventh Coin in the 50 Cents Coin Series features the iconic Steam Engine introduced into operation in 1925: Year of Coin issue: 2022:

Steam Power - Australian Rail Heritage Coin Series:






"Australian Rail Heritage Coin Series" brings together seven iconic locomotives to celebrate the golden age of Australian Steam Engines. 

Covering more than a century of steam travel, the story of the railways opening up the country and putting Australia on a path to federation and a modern nation is presented on this Coin Series.

The Seventh Coin features the "Commonwealth Railways No. NM25, Steam Locomotive/Engine :

The Commonwealth Railways NM class locomotive was a class of 4-8-0 locomotives of the Commonwealth Railways, Australia. The class operated on 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge lines in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Between June 1925 and December 1927, the Commonwealth Railways took delivery of 22 locomotives built to the same design as the Queensland Railways C17 class for use on the Central Australian Railway, but with larger tenders and vacuum rather than air brakes. All were built by Thompson & Co, Castlemaine.

The final locomotive was despatched to the North Australia Railway, returning South in September 1941.

Eighteen were converted to burn oil during the 1949 coal strike, being converted back to coal burning after the strike ended. 

All were withdrawn between 1954 and 1956 as the NSU diesel locomotives entered service.

Two have been preserved, NM25 in operational condition at the Pichi Richi Railway and NM34 at the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide.

Australian Steam Trains – About the Commonwealth Railways NM25:

NM25 was built in 1925 to work the Central Australia Railway. It was often used to haul the "Ghan" through to Alice Springs. 

For a detailed post on the "Afghan Express" (nicknamed the "Ghan"), please visit the undernoted Link:

More on NM 25:

NM25 is one of two surviving Commonwealth Railways (CR) 4-8-0 locomotives used to operate the Port Augusta to Alice Springs railway. The other (NM34) is maintained under cover as a static exhibit by the Port Dock Station Railway Museum at Port Adelaide.

NM25 was built by Thompsons of Castlemaine (Victoria) in 1925, entering service in December of that year.

 It was one of the first batch of 14 locomotives of the class. A further 8 were subsequently ordered. They spent all their working life trudging up and down the line from Port Augusta to Alice Springs, with the exception of NM38, which was sent to Darwin, where it was apparently of little use, being too heavy for much of the track.

NM25 was one of the last to be in service, and survived, partly because it was kept as a standby to assist trains through the occasional flooded creek, when the NSU diesels could not get their traction motors wet. 

It was eventually transferred to Port Augusta where it maintained an existence as a stationary steam plant for cleaning at the roundhouse.

The locomotive was later sent to the "Homestead Park" space in Port Augusta, where it stayed  until 1990. 

NM25 was lifted out of Homestead Park, Port Augusta, in 1990.

NM25 had been out of service for over 25 years, and acquired for preservation, it was restored to operational condition in the early 2000s.

NM25, presently  owned by National Railway Museum, , and has been preserved and now hauls many of Pichi Richi Railway's heritage train journeys, on the same track it used to haul the Ghan for the Commonwealth Railways from 1925 to 1956.

The Coin featuring - the iconic "Commonwealth Railways NM Class locomotive No. NM25 "Steam Locomotive/Engine:

The Coin Card featuring the Obverse and Reverse of the 50 Cents Coin is titled - "THE COMMONWEALTH RAILWAYS NM CLASS No. 25" shows an image of the iconic Steam Engine and the   specifications of the Coin

The Folder containing the Coin and a description of its history and how it helped shape modern day Australia

The Reverse of the 50 Cents Uncirculated Coin features iconic Steam Engine of Commonwealth Railways ("CR") on its run. The inscription reads - "CR NM25. STEAM POWER. AUSTRALIAN RAIL HERITAGE".

The Obverse of the 50 Cents Uncirculated Coin depicts an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right. The peripheral inscription reads -"ELIZABETH II. AUSTRALIA. 50 CENTS".

The specifications of this Coin are:

Country of issue: Australia; Year: 2022; Coin Series  Theme: "Steam Power - Australia's Railway Heritage"; Coin Theme: "Commonwealth Railways - NM Class No. NM25 -  Steam Engine"; Denomination/Face Value: 50 Cents; Weight: 15.55 grams; Diameter/Size: 31.51 mm; Coin Quality: Uncirculated; Coin Folder: Coloured Uncirculated Coin and Folder, Coin Card; Minted By: Royal Australian Mint: Mintage: 20,000 pieces.








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2 comments:

  1. Santosh Khanna has commented:
    "Very informative writeup on a heritage train engine".

    ReplyDelete