The class E consisted of 71 2-4-2T locomotives built for suburban service. It was designed by Edward Alexander Jeffreys together with the classes D, A, R and Y which shared many standardized parts. It had drivers of five feet and cylinders of 17 by 26 inches. Its cylinders and valve gear were both on the inside. One was built by Kitson in 1888 to be displayed at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition, but at the same time Phoenix Foundry had already started production of 45 locomotives of this type. Between 1892 and 1894, David Munro & Company built 25 more, bringing the total to 71, 70 of which had been built in Australia.
Five additional locomotives were built in 1894 as 0-6-2T shunters with the same driver and cylinder dimensions, but with an additional driving axle in place of the leading axle. These were designated class EE. By 1907, four of the original class E had been rebuilt in the same way. When the class E was withdrawn, 20 more were rebuilt between 1919 and 1923. Most received cylinders with a diameter of 18 inches and new boilers with 170 psi and only a few still had 17-inch cylinders and boilers with 140 psi.
The remaining locomotives of the original class E had been withdrawn by 1924 with the exception of a single one. Meanwhile, 20 had been sold to the South Australian Railways and became the class New M. The class EE was withdrawn between 1937 and 1963. The remaining class E number 236 was withdrawn in 1954. This one was preserved, together with two class EE members.
