LOCO 6042 going to be SCRAPPED?

Those Peacock-Beyer-Garratts (correct spelling) are a staggering piece of engineering. I wasn't aware that virtually every state in Australia had them, and the first were put into operation in W.A.

The major benefit they had, besides being able to articulate better on sharp curves .. was that, because of the design, the loco had a self-balancing effect on curves, as the main part of the loco hung over the inside of curves .. thus counterbalancing centrifugal forces, and greatly improving their speed ability on curves.

I have never seen a Garratt in W.A. .. but was familiar with the amazing Swan View tunnel, train wreck in 1942, which involved a Garratt.
A Garrett can trap the crew in a tunnel if it stalls, because they have hot cylinders each end of the loco, and the crew can't get past them.
In the Swan View Tunnel, fumes and smoke were a constant hassle because of the small diameter of the tunnel.

A double-header pulled up into the Tunnel, heading East on Nov 4, 1942, with a full freight load of 431 tonnes (just short of its allowable maximum) .. and the drivers and firemen were gassed not long after entering the tunnel, due to the heavy load and the walking pace of the locos. The crew of the Garret wouldn't have been able to jump off and escape anyway, because of the Garrett design.

The train stalled, one driver managed to shut off his loco before he passed out .. but the other didn't. The train started to roll backwards, the guard jumped out and applied the handbrake, thinking the drivers would apply the vacuum brakes .. but they couldn't, unbeknowns to him. The runaway train ran backwards past Swan View station at high speed, but fortunately, ran into an arrestor line, specially built for the purpose.

The train piled up in an amazing heap of wreckage, and even more amazingly, 3 of the 4 train crew escaped serious injury, because they were cushioned by the cascading wreckage at the rear. One of the drivers died due to the effects of being gassed.

Even when I was a kid, I could still find parts of that train wreck, lying on the embankments downhill from the Tunnel.

Swan View Tunnel .. www.dec.wa.gov.au/parks-and-recreation/k...john-forrest-np.html

Wikipedia .. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garratt

Andy, Dorrigo is abt 2 hrs from me towards Coffs Harbour, very very senic and worth a detour. The owner of the loco/ Dorrigo rail Museum has "issues", no one says much because of litigation (and I am not up to speed with the situation) and so the Canberra group will need support to ensure it's safe keeping. Did you know 101; the first garrett in the world, built in 1909, operated in Tasmania on 2 foot gauge, was repatriated by the builders and stood in York railway museum for ages but has recently had a total rebuild and is now operating on the Welsh Highland Railway.

OK ,
so were are we at right now on the subject of the Garrett at forbes ,is a mob from canberra on the job , or is it still facing the cutting torch.

All quiet at the moment
Casey Jones has the geae to move it ..........

Cheers, Steve. Didn't know any of that. Can't imagine something that size on a two-foot guage. Amazing.

Sounds like Dorrigo will be worht a visit. Will have to get the brother-in-law up for a road trip.

Still hoping to hear the future of this loco is definitely secured.

Interestingly, I've been reading posts by another chap on an Australian vintage aviation forum I'm a member of and he's been saying he's now very busy running 'his' railway in NSW. He's also into flying gear like helmets, g-suits etc and collect same.

This is what he's had to say:

Quote:
I have been away since Septemeber as i have been VERY busy managing (over 250hrs put into my spare time) setting up a new railway society in NSW. Last weekend i got elected as the first president of the newly formed railway society.
Here it is for people interested - merriwarailsociety.blogspot.com/

Anyone come across him? It seems a very interesting project and what's left at Merriwa - turntable etc - is pretty cool.

Andy, 6042 isn't two foot gauge. it is a NSW Mainline loco. And is a member of the AD60 classe. Have a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_AD60_class_locomotive

K1 the first garret was however 2 foot gauge see whr.bangor.ac.uk/k1.htm for more info.

5917 doing it easy up the mountain

Flying Scotsman in Australia

Andy, 6042 isn't two foot gauge. it is a NSW Mainline loco. And is a member of the AD60 classe. Have a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_AD60_class_locomotive

K1 the first garret was however 2 foot gauge see whr.bangor.ac.uk/k1.htm for more info.

Thanks, JB. I re-read Steve's post.

Flying Scotsman in Australia

I had the pleasure of riding behind it on it's 1st Passenger Carrying Run from Sunshine to Albury and return. It was meant to be limited to 80km/h but was leaving the rucks on the Hume for dead. Rumour is someone forgot to tell the drivers the speedo was in mph and speed limit in km/h.

The time that was in Australia was the last time a lot of the old steam men got a run before retiring. All trips were meant to be limited to 80 km/h but a lot of things 'just happened' as the drivers and crew were having fun. When the Scotsman left Melbourne on its journey to Alice Springs etc they arrranged for 2 Victorian R Class Steam Trains to run paralllel to Seymour. In order to do this all the other trains had to be stopped inthe area so one could run 'wrong way'. At Heathcote bank the Scotsman was timed at 60 mph, The R Class train I was in was overtaking it but slowly when the R Class in the centre shot through like we were both stopped. Somehow the speed recording charts were 'lost in transit' to prevent people getting in trouble