The World’s First Garratt
I know a lot of people might find it hard to believe but in it’s early days the Tasmanian Government Railways was surprisingly innovative. They weren’t afraid to embrace new technology if they thought it could get the job done.
That attitude is what led to Tasmania being the first place in the world to employ the first Garratt type steam locomotive. Two of these locomotives entered service on the Government’s North East Dundas Tramway … a 2′ 6″ gauge line on the island’s west coast … in 1909.
This photo of one of the class is thought to have been taken at Zeehan.
The photo is used with the permission of the National Archives
These locomotives were built by Beyer Peacock and entered service as K1 and K2; they worked on the Tramway for many years despite one glaring design fault. If you look at the cylinders you will see that they’re the reverse of all subsequent Garratts and the rear set of cylinders are under the cab floor.
That caused the cab floor to get very hot and Beyer Peacock were quick to take notice of drivers’ complaints.
Both locomotives were withdrawn around 1939 and in 1947 K1 was sold back to Beyer Peacock. To ensure that the company got a complete locomotive the TGR combined parts of both locos and K1 was returned to England.
The remains of K2 are thought to have been finally cut up for scrap during the 1960s and Tasmania … and Australia … lost a vital part of our railway history.
November 5th, 2007 at 6:54 am
[...] I posted a photo of the world’s first Garratt locomotive - the Tasmanian K class - just follow the link to find the [...]
November 7th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
[...] more Garratt type locomotives. This time they weren’t looking for anything like the original L Class they had bought three years earlier - this time they were looking for some 3′ 6″ gauge [...]
November 10th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Do you have any information on an derailment in Burnie around 1950 - 1956
where a Garrett EBR owned loco came of the tracks just after the Brooklyn Rd on the Burnie side? It went off to the right of the railway heading towards Burnie. Any information or details would be appreciated.
Regards
Coops
November 16th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
G’day Coops
My apologies for not getting back to you sooner with an answer but this has been a rather hectic week and, while I spend most of my day at the computer, it’s been all business time this week.
The accident you refer to is documented in the Centenary Edition of Lou Rae’s excellent book ‘The Emu Bay Railway’
The loco involved was No.12 and according to Lou’s account “… it careered away out of control on the run downhill into Burnie on 18 July 1950, derailing and turning over near the Brooklyn Crossing. Luckily none of the crew were badly injured but the six ore trucks came off a lot worse for the trip. The loco’s sturdy construction saved it from the wrekers and it was repaired and returned to service.”
Hope that helps mate.
June 29th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
I am looking to design interpretation panels for the West Coast, Tasmania and searching for photos of Garratt locomotives. Can anyone help?
June 29th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Hi Naomi
There’s another photo here
http://www.modeltrainsnthings.com/2007/11/05/more-on-the-tasmanian-k-class/
And the state archives in Hobart might be able to help you as well but afaik the two here on Model Trains n Things were the only two in the National Archives - at least they were the only two I found in repository in Hobart and I had a pretty good look through their collection about 10 years ago
Stuart