GSR Class 700


The Great Southern Railways Class 700 consisted of five 0-6-0 locomotives built by Inchicore railway works in 1929 and were the last locomotives designed by J. R. Bazin.
The design was more traditional with a saturated rather than superheated boiler and with slide valves as opposed to piston valves. The tenders used initially were those reallocated from withdrawn 360 class 4-6-0. A more modern feature was underslung springs.
Operationally the need for the class has subsequently been questioned and speculation has arisen that it was to use up surplus type 60 boilers.
This class seems to have compared poorly with the older 101 class when especially when the latter were fitted with superheated boilers, possibly due to an inadequate heating surface leading to high coal and water consumption.