Model Trains and Things

Railway administrations all over the world have always been interested in cutting costs and those who were in charge of the railways in Tasmania were no different.

So when it came to moving small numbers of passengers around the state both the government railways and the private railway companies were early adopters of railmotors and railcars.

One of the earliest railcars to be seen in Tasmania was this Berliot four-wheeler bought by the Emu Bay Railway for use on its private line that ran southwest from Burnie. By 1960 it had been sold to a sawmiller in Zeehan who was still using it to transport workers to his mill.

One of the earliest railmotors operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways was this unit … note the unusual wheel arrangement.

When it had outlived its usefulness as a people carrier it was converted to this maintenance vehicle. The Australian Standard Garratt in the background is an indication that this this unit was still in service well into the 1940s.

Most Tasmanian Government Railmotors were classified ‘DP’ and DP7 was another unusual design. Once again, notice the unusual wheel arrangement on a railmotor that was obviously intended for more busier lines than the earlier railmotor.

All images are used with the permission of the National Archives and come from negatives held in the Archives.

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 In Queensland the Australian Standard Garratts were withdrawn as soon as the War ended and in Western Australia they lasted into the early 1950s and several of the Western Australian engines were then sold to South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.

Over on the AusNarrowGauge group on Yahoo they’re discussing the possibility of producing a model of the Tasmanian H Class – a Krause 0-4-0 locomotive that was used on the 2’6″ 2 foot gauge line heading into the rough country behind Zeehan on the west coast.

Some are wondering if there would be enough interest in the locomotive to produce both a 7mm and a 1:48 kit and but there does seem to be enough interest to produce it in at least one of the scales.

This photo is used with the permission of the National Archives

A kit of this locomotive would definitely be hard to resist

My partner and I lived in Tasmania for a number of years and one of the most interesting railways we came across while we were down there was the Ida Bay Railway. We only visited it once and I didn’t get to take many photos while we were down there but that railway has been lurking in the back of my modelling thoughts ever since 2001.

With locomotives like this Malcolm Moore on the roster and a background of hauling limestone in a very lonely part of the world it’s hard not to find the Ida Bay Railway interesting. Just how lonely it can be down there on the Ida Bay Railway you’ll see when you read Sad and Lonely

Then at the beginning of December I  found that a very similar loco was now available in On30 through two hobby shops here in Australia.

One look at that model and I began to wonder if it might be time to switch from N to something bigger … something that my eyes might be able to handle a little better. So I began to search the Net for information about On30 and I’ve come across some very interesting and very informative sites out there.

I’ve also come across the On30 Conspiracy – a Yahoo group that is definitely worth joining if you’re interested in narrow gauge O scale. Now I’ve got some On30 bogies coming in the mail, I’ll be picking up some timber to start building layout and I’ve really been bitten by the modelling bug once more.

Now I don’t really think that I’m going to model the Ida Bay Railway but I certainly do blame the Ida Bay Railway

You’ll find the kit for this Malcolm Moore loco available from Bergs in Parramatta and Christmas Every Day on the Gold Coast.

Here is the very spartan cab of the Ida Bay Malcolm Moore loco and I’ll post some more photos from our trip at a later date. Until then you can find out more about this interesting little railway here.

You see some interesting things from a railway carriage. You can look into private worlds as you pass; you catch glimpses of things that you wouldn’t normally see and get a snapshot of life as we all live it.

Well here’s something interesting that I snapped from a passing train

This would have to be one of the loneliest cemeteries in Australia. It was once close to a bustling mining area but the coal mines  limestone south of Dover in Tasmania closed ran out and the people moved away … leaving their dead behind them.

Here there is nothing but headstones, ferns and the wind that blows almost every day. It’s lonely here and there is no way to visit this cemetery other than the train … that only runs occasionally.

The train I took this from was the morning tourist trip on the Ida Bay Railway  – the most southerly railway in Australia.

In 1912 the Tasmanian Government Railways went back to Beyer Peacock for some 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 mainline grunt for both goods and passenger locomotives.

Once again Tasmania led the world for the M class passenger locos Beyer Peacock supplied were the first Garratt mainline express locomotives ever built.

This photo is used with the permission of the National Archives

Two of these handsome 4-4-2+2-4-4 locomotives were built and placed in service on the mainline express and mail trains between Launceston and Hobart. M1 remained in service until 1925 and M2 lasted until 1931.

Beyer Peacock also supplied two mainline goods locomotives – these were the L class and even though they were narrow gauge locomotives they certainly rated some serious tractive effort of 134.3kN (30,171 lb).

Compare those figures to the most up-to-date NSWGR locomotive of the time – the 53 class with a tractive effort of 128.1kN (28,777 lb) and you’ll see that the L class had some serious grunt.

This photo is used with the permission of the National Archives

These 2-6-2+2-6-2 locomotives also worked the mainline from Launceston to Hobart. They lasted in regular service until 1936 but made a brief come-back in the last years of the war.

If you compare both the builders photos of the M and the L class you will see that the centre unit was basically the same for both classes and both classes shared the same boiler pressure.

None of these locomotives were preserved and all wer cut up around 1950/51

Yesterday I posted a photo of the world’s first Garratt locomotive – the Tasmanian K class – just follow the link to find the photo.

A little while after I posted that photo I was digging around in my photo draw and came across this builders photo of one of the K Class.

The photo is used with the permission of the National Archives

As I mentioned yesterday Tasmania lost a real piece of its railway heritage when it sold a hybrid version of K1 back to Beyer Peacock in 1947 but for some time in the 1990s another version of the K class ran in Tasmania.

The Bush Mill was an extensive tourist attraction on the Tasman Penninsula not far from Port Arthur and it had a miniature railway that ran for a kilometre or two down into the forest. Originally tourist trains were hauled by a smart red 0-4-2 tank loco but in latter years this superb locomotive was added to the fleet.

It even sported its own builders plate.

I understand that the Bush Mill site has now been closed for several years and the locomotives were offered for sale shortly after the site closed. I’m not sure what became of them.
 

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.

Earlier in the week I talked about some Queensland locomotives that were sent down to Tasmania after the Commonwealth took over and I showed you a photo of the QR1300/Tasrail ZC class.

Another group of Queensland locos to head south were 16 members of the 2350 class. Like the 1300 class the 2350s were built by English Electric but didn’t enter service till 1973. They have a power rating of 2350hp.1750kW.

Once they reached Tasmania they were reclassified as the ZB class. The loco seen here in Hobart Yard on December 28 1997 originally entered service as 2371 in May 1975 and was renumbered to 2128 after Pacific National bought the Tasmanian rail system from the Commonwealth.

Tucked away behind the loco is an old Hobart Tram that was awaiting restoration.

I should also note – in this day and age when some railway photographers seem to think that they have the right to trespass on railway property to get that special shot – I was not trespassing even though I’m obviously on railway property. Back in 1997 I worked for the local government-owned bus company and the Hobart meal room was in the old Hobart loco depot.

It was an interesting place to spend long layovers

Over my years as a railfan I’ve been on some interesting tours but this one would have to have been the worst that I have ever experienced. On Australia Day 2000 the rail museum out at New Norfolk in Tasmania ran a tour up the mainline to the Midlands and Toni decided that we should go – it was her first rail tour and it’s probably going to be her last.

I just forget where the ultimate destination was but wherever it was we didn’t get there. Not long out of Hobart X18 began to sound sick and the further we went the sicker it became. It seemed to stall several times but each time the driver got it going again until it finally expired at Colebrook and that’s where this photo was taken.

There are a few bleak places on the line from Hobart to the north and on a winter’s day Colebrook is one of them. Even though this was January it was cold and miserable and just as bleak as if it had been a winter’s day.

And this is where we sat for hours … and hours. The train crew who had been everywhere on the train while it was in motion suddenly disappeared when it came to a stop. There was no communication with the passengers, the toilets couldn’t be used and no one knew what was happening.

It wasn’t till late in the afternoon that the museum’s Y class arrived to tow us back into Hobart and magically the train crew reappeared. We were not happy campers that day and even though we were offered tickets on a subsequent tour we never took them up on the offer.