Festival of steam Thirlmere 1 March 2009

[alpineaustralia]

Some of my photos from the Festival of steam Thirlmere 1 March 2009.

[alpineaustralia]

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[ChrisV]

Good to see 3642 back up and running. Caught her many times around the state.

Looking forward to seeing 5711 up and running maybe down the track ( no pun intended )

Great pics!

[marknewton]

Alpine, nice shots of the 36.  Sadly, the bloke you photographed driving her is off the road, and unlikely to return...  :(

 

Chris, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the 57 to be put back into traffic - it will be a long wait! The unrestored engine in Alpine's photos is 5916, which is also unlikely to run again.

 

Did either of you get up to Maitland on the weekend for SteamFest? I worked one of the trains on the Sunday, but I was too busy to get any pictures.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[alpineaustralia]

I certain didnt get up to Maitland.

The badly rusted loco in my first set of photos seems bigger than the 3642. Is that correct is it just an illusion?

Personally my all time favourite Steam loco is the Garrett Beyer.

There is an Australian HO version around but I would love to see an N scale version. 

[stevenh]

Alpine, look at the wheel arrangement :)

36-Class is a 4-6-0 and the 'badly rusted' loco is a 2-8-2... I think it's a 59 Class?

 

As for the 60-Class Garrett... see here: ARHS ACT 6029 Restoration

 

Meanwhile, there was a 59 up there (5917) from Cowra...I caught it in Yass with 3237:

 

[ChrisV]

Great pics - love that 32 class shot.

I have not been on a steam ride for quite a while...last one I did manage to catch was 3801 doing trials down the south coast in her temporary grey nurse scheme. Did not actually ride her but followed her from Hurstville to Waterfall.

Here are some shots of my NSWGR steam fleet :

The AD60 Garrett by Eureka ( 6042 ) with sound and weathered.

5711 Bergs Brass -

[marknewton]

I certain didnt get up to Maitland.

 

Pity, it was a good weekend.

 

The badly rusted loco in my first set of photos seems bigger than the 3642. Is that correct is it just an illusion?

 

No, it's not. The rusted loco is a 59 class, which were 2-8-2s built by Baldwin in 1952. They're a bit bigger and heavier than a 36. 5916 is one of two 59s that were not converted to coal firing during the early 1960s. It and 5908 were eventually used at Broadmeadow loco as stationary boilers for washouts and house steam supply. They were later transferred to Eveleigh for the same purpose at the carriage works.

 

When I was working at Eveleigh we surveyed both locos for use at Port Kembla on the "Cockatoo Run". Of the two, 5916 was the better bet for a rebuild, but unfortunately nothing came of the proposal due to a change of management at the RTM, and we wound up with South Maitland Railway No.18 - "Bob", instead. Which is a pity, because I know which loco I would rather have been running and maintaining... ;)

 

Personally my all time favourite Steam loco is the Garrett Beyer. There is an Australian HO version around but I would love to see an N scale version.

 

Alpine, it's a minor nitpick, but they're Beyer Garratts, after the bloke whose idea they were, Herbert W. Garratt.

 

http://www.steamindex.com/people/garratt.htm

 

Interestingly enough, they have a strong NSWGR connection, as Garratt was an inspecting engineer for our railway at the time he developed the concept. One of the earliest Garratt proposals was for a 2' gauge 0-4-0+0-4-0 to be built for the Burrinjuck tramway, predating the Tasmanian K class engines that were the first Garratts built in 1909.

 

Like you , I'm rather partial to Garratts. I had many a ride on our 60 class engines when I was kid, and later had a few trips firing on 6029 when it was running with the ARHS in Canberra. They're a marvellous bit of gear to work on, their only downside IMO is they're fairly dirty engines. Their exhaust is quite soft, so the cabs are smoky, and the stoker delivery trough set into the footplate spits out great clouds of coal dust! But they steam like a witch, ride well, and they're surprisingly fast, so that more than makes up for the dirt.

 

I've never seen a commercial model of any Garratt in N scale, I think you might be waiting a while for one! But if you're interested in the type, there's two books worth having. One is "Garratt Locomotives of the World", by A.E. Durrant, and the other is "Beyer, Peacock - locomotive builders to the world" by Hills & Patrick. I have both, and can recommend them.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[alpineaustralia]

Alpine, it's a minor nitpick, but they're Beyer Garratts, after the bloke whose idea they were, Herbert W. Garratt.

 

Yeah. I noticed that I had mixed the name up after I had posted it but couldnt be bothered modifying the original post.

Out of curiousity, it would be interesting to see if they are more powerful or less powerful than the Big Boy.

 

 

[marknewton]

Our Garratts were about half as powerful. AD60 class engines weighed 260 tons in steam, and have a tractive effort of 63,600 lbs. A UP "Big Boy" weighed 500 tons in steam, and had a TE of 135,375 lbs. But they were designed for entirely different roles, so comparing them is like putting chalk up against cheese. The Big Boys were heavy mainline engines built for speed, whereas the AD60s were originally intended as branchline engines.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[alpineaustralia]

First set of three photos:

[alpineaustralia]

Second set of two photos: