Two Garratt locos (One ex-VR, one ex-SAR) double-heading over the picturesque Monbulk Creek trestle bridge.
Posted Aug 2, 2022, 1:36 PM UTC
34914
That is an awesome sight!
9
Woah, I didn’t even know there was more than one in operational condition
6
Apparently when the VR G class on the rear in this photo was first restored, it proved so popular and useful for the larger trains that the heritage group wanted to ensure they had a "spare" which is where the SAR NG/G16 class (The leading loco) came into the picture.
They also have a second NG/G16 class in dismantled condition that currently is just for spare parts but is a potential candidate for future restoration.
8
More facts.
The only part of G42 that is original are the motion gear, cylinders, wheels, coal bunker and water tank. Everything else is new. The frames are new, the boiler from another locomotive which is larger, the cab was mostly rebuilt too.
The original frames were so distorted they were not usable. The engineering team sourced plate steel from Sims metal who found an original imperial spec plate in South America. They shipped them over and refabricated new frames from scratch.
It's also true that many of the motion parts are from G41, her sister engine that was slowly stripped of parts in Colac to keep G42 running.
The crew at Puffing Billy more or less built a locomotive out of scrap.
7
Don't recall new frames being manufactured but IIRC the boiler is off another Garratt from the Fyansford Cement works.
3
Tagging u/TreeChangeMe so they see this too.
Yep, it was, APC over at Fyansford had combined their two original Garratts No. 1 and No. 2 into one functional locomotive to work alongside the Australian Standard Garratt G33 and their D1 T-class diesel as their main haulers during the 1960s by taking the boiler and boiler cradle from No. 2 and attaching it to the engine units from No. 1. As far as I know most of the remaining parts were scrapped, but some were kept for display or spares such as No. 1s boiler which wound up on G42 and a few other odds and ends now stored with the remaining locomotive at Bellarine Railway's Lakers Siding sheds.
2
Cool! I thought Puffing Billy Railway was all tank engines
5
Lekker!!
2
I'm always rather sorry Garratts never took off in the US. They're really interesting locomotives; I'd love to see one running.
2
Two of em
2
Omg I’m in heaven if u have video plz send it to CatMungo#7805 on discord
1
Eh, screw Discord. It's a crappier version of IRC and Teamspeak rolled into one. Anyway, moving on...
You're in luck as for such a sparsely populated country there's a surprising amount of railfans here with a decent camera and a YouTube account so here's a bunch of videos of the two Garratts at PBR:
The official Puffing Billy YT channel which has a few interesting videos on it.
Also as a finale, here's a 50 minute long video on the loco.
Enjoy.
4
Thanks
2
Awesome picture