 In 1923, C 16 was modified with Fuller-Lehigh equipment to run on Pulverised Brown Coal (PBC), a potentially abundant fuel in Victoria given the large brown coal reserves in the Latrobe Valley.Unlike the later conversion of X class locomotive X 32 to PBC firing in 1949, this early experiment was not considered a success and C 16 was returned to black coal operation.During World War II, increasingly heavy passenger trains and a shortage of suitable motive power saw the C class used as mainline passenger locomotives, a somewhat unusual assignment for a 2-8-0.