Model Trains and Things

Garratt steam locomotives are fairly well regarded the world over but in every family there has to be a black sheep and for the Garratt family of fine steam locomotives the black sheep has to be what was known as the Australian Standard Garratt.

On paper the Australian Standard Garratt should have been an absolute winner but in fact it was an absolute lemon. The Australian Standard Garratt was built during WWII under the auspices of the Commonwealth Land Transport Board at the Newport Workshops in Melbourne, the Islington Workshops in South Australia, the Midland Workshops in Western Australia and Clyde Engineering in New South Wales.

The first Australian Standard Garratt took a mere four months to build and while they were quick to impress railway staff with their pulling power their design faults soon showed through. The lack of a flange on the leading driving wheels contributed to their habit of derailing and a long list of other faults soon had railway unions calling for industrial action.

The locos saw service in Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania. In Queensland the Australian Standard Garratts were withdrawn as soon as the War ended and in Western Australia they lasted into the early 1950s and several of the Western Australian engines were then sold to South Australia for crew training to prepare staff for the arrival of the 400 class Garratts 

In Tasmania the Australian Standard Garratt was a little more popular and they lasted service until 1957. And that’s where we see this official photograph of one of the Tasmanian Government Railway locos. There’s no mention of just where the photo was taken but, as you can see, even official photographers have trouble with poles and lighting.

Photo used with the permission of the National Archives

A number of Australian Standard Garratts passed into private ownership and the largest private operator of these locomotives was the Emu Bay Railway. They liked the Australian Standard Garratts so much that, when one was wrecked in a derailment, they went out and bought another one as a replacement.

The Emu Bay Railway scrapped their last Australian Standard Garratt around 1966.

Looking back from this point in time it’s perhaps difficult to understand just what a disaster the Australian Standard Garratts really were … especially in Queensland … but perhaps this slide presentation from YouTube will help you understand.

There’s been some interesting articles appearing in some of the railway history magazines here in Australia lately. Perhaps the most interesting of all was in the August 2008 issue of Light Railways.

In an article entitled ‘Standard gauge industrial sidings in Sydney: Lower North Shore’ author Jim Longworth discusses several unusual railway sidings. Perhaps the most unusual was the siding into the Pastoral Finance Association Ltd’s meat preservation works at Kirribilli Point.

The rather large works was built right next door to the house that has since become the Sydney home for Australia’s Prime Ministers … and of course it had absolutely no rail access whatsoever.

So how did something that had no rails rate as a railway siding?

Wagons were transferred from Darling Harbour by a flat barge fitted with railway tracks. The loaded barge would be pushed into an unloading bay inside the factory and wagons unloaded.

So if you’re an Australian modeller looking for a prototype railway barge operation then here is the prototype for you.

The July and August editions of the Australian Railway History magazine carry an interesting two-part article on the life of the NSW Railways 70 Class. For some reason odd-looking little shunters have always attracted me and so I’ve always been interested in the 70 class.

It’s good to see that at least one is preserved in operating condition because, even though they weren’t a raging success, they did further the development of diesel hydraulic locomotives in Australia.

The August edition also has a look back at the visit of the Flying Scotsman to Australia. Last year I had the chance to talk to a couple of NSW drivers who were involved with the Scotsman while it was touring that state and it seems all was not sweetness and light between the British and Australian crews.

It seems that the British crew as rather hard to deal with and a jibe that I once saw on a tshirt was fairly close to the truth. The tshirt had an image of the nose of 3801 on the front together with the words “I pushed the Flying Scotsman around Australia”.

Admittedly the Scotsman did have trouble with some of the coal it was fed here in Australia but some of the other problems it seemed to encounter here in Australia were related to issues other than mechanical.

There’s an absolutely outstanding collection of photos that feature steam locos in NSW during the transition from steam to diesel here.

It is not to be missed!

Every Thursday morning a very unusual scene unfolds at a busy road  intersection in Maryborough Queensland. At first a man with a broom appears and sweeps the place where the Wharf Branch crosses the road.

At the same time the local shunter appears to flag the crossing - it seems that a man weilding a broom isn’t enough to trip the flashing lights.

And then the train appears

And finally … just when every motorist but me has had enough of waiting the loco appears pushing it’s train into the adjacent park.

Meet Maryborough’s very own operating steam locomotive, the Mary Anne. This is an operating replica of the first loco built by what became Walkers Engineering. Throughout the day on every Thursday and the last Sunday in each month it operates short trips on part of the Wharf Branch.