Queensland Railways class A10

In 1865 and 1866, Neilson & Co. built 13 small 0-4-2 locomotives for the railways of Queensland. Eight of these were destined for the Southern & Western Railway and four for the Central Railway. The last one was delivered to railway contractor Peto, Brassey and Betts. Despite the small size, they had injectors and an Adams trailing axle. No. 7 was special in that it had a vertical boiler. They were originally designated class B, but later became class A10, where the A stood for two driving axles and the 10 for the cylinder diameter in inches.

Later all four Central Railway locomotives also came to the Southern & Western Railway. After these railroads were incorporated into Queensland Railways, most retained their old numbers. Between 1887 and 1890, four were rebuilt into class 4D10 2-4-4T tank locomotives, including the vertical boiler No. 7. In 1902, only No. 3 was still in service. This locomotive was used as a shunter until 1914 and restored to working order again in 1936. No. 6 had been sold to Gibson & Howes in 1896. After it received a new boiler in 1955, it was used until 1965. Since 1991 it is in working order again at the Queensland Rail Heritage Fleet.

Apart from the 0-4-2 Neilson variant, there were two 2-4-0 variants which were also designated class A10 due to their two driving axles and ten-inch cylinders. Four were built by Avonside in 1864 which had the same basic dimensions as the Neilson variant. They had originally been designated class A and the last one had been withdrawn by 1896.

The other three built in 1877 had been ordered from the Fairlie Engine Co. which subcontracted the construction work to Vulcan Foundry. All went to the Central Railway. These had a cylinder stroke of only 14 inches instead of 18 like on the two other variants. Two were withdrawn in 1888 and the third one in 1906. All three had the luck of not being scrapped, so all are still existing today.