Between 1885 and 1892, the Tasmanian Government Railways took delivery of 19 C class locomotives from Beyer, Peacock & Company, Manchester.

[2] They were the first of what became almost an Australian 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) standard, as locomotives of similar design served in large numbers as the Silverton Tramway Y class, South Australian Railways Y class and Western Australian Government Railways G class, and also in Queensland and on the North Australia Railway.

[3][4][5][6][7] In 1912, six (16-19, 26 & 27) were rebuilt with new cylinders, Belpair boilers and larger smokeboxes and reclassified as the CC class.

In 1924, a further four (21, 23-25) were rebuilt also receiving Walschaerts valve gear and reclassified as the CCS class.

[5][6][8] Four have been preserved:[7] Media related to TGR C class locomotives at Wikimedia Commons