Sunday 2 June 2019 - diary date
After 10 years of rebuilding and almost 2 years of testing, Yx141 will make its public debut and will be turned over to the Locomotive Department of Pichi Richi Railway.
Following the launch, Yx141 will make a return trip from Quorn to Woolshed Flat at 10:30am, followed by shorter Quorn to Summit shuttle trips from 2pm onwards. A limited number of tickets for the 10.30 am service are available for sale on-line and through the FRVIC. Shuttle service tickets will be available for $10.00 per person (children under 4 are free) on site on the day.
Yx141 began life more than 125 years ago in 1892 as Y141 and was one of 85 locomotives built at James Martin & Co's Phoenix Foundry in Gawler, South Australia.
Between 1904 and 1928 the South Australian Railways (SAR) decided to upgrade 58 of the James Martin locomotives with higher pressure boilers and Belpaire fireboxes, achieving a 25% increase in power over a standard Y class. These engines with new boilers and fireboxes were known as Yx class. Y141 was converted to Yx141 on 26 July 1923.
Yx141 spent its early days operating on the SAR Great Northern System operating over the entire system including hauling passenger and freight trains through Pichi Richi Pass to Port Augusta.
In 1927, Yx141 was transferred to the isolated Port Lincoln Division, where it served until retirement in 1963, when it was placed in a Port Lincoln playground and stayed for the next 20 years.
In 1983, Yx141 was transferred to the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society in Quorn to be restored by PRR volunteers.
.jpg)
