Locomotives and railcars

Although this tank locomotive has no direct relevance to the Pichi Richi Railway, it is a design variation on the South Australian Railways Y class which has strong links with the railway through the Pichi Richi Pass.

BHP No. 3, the second Broken Hill Proprietary Co. (BHP) locomotive to carry the number 3, was built by Beyer Peacock in 1890 for the Silverton Tramway Co. of Broken Hill. In Silverton Tramway service it was numbered Y5. It was transferred to the Sulphide Corporation in 1901 where it operated at the Central Mine as No. 5. It was sold to BHP Whyalla in December 1940, and entered service with BHP in late 1941.

With the assistance of a trailing pony truck, the locomotive could operate with a self-sufficient supply of water in side tanks and coal in a rear bunker.

It was withdrawn from service in May 1962 and stored prior to display in a Whyalla playground.

During 1983 the Whyalla City Council accepted a Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society offer of $1,000 worth of playground equipment in exchange for BHP No. 3, which was being vandalised in its playground location. It was transported to Quorn and placed into storage.

Technical specifications

Representatives in the Pichi Richi Railway collection

BHP No. 3 (second)

The story of NB30 goes back to Wilkes Barre in Pennsylvania, USA. In 1916 four small saddle tank shunting engines were built by the Vulcan Iron Works for use in the construction of the Henderson Naval Base in Western Australia. In 1925 two of these were taken over by the Commonwealth Railways and transferred to Quorn as NB29 and NB30. The other two went to the Australian Portland Cement Co. at Fyansford, Victoria, and eventually one of them found its way to a nearby railway preservation group, the Bellarine Peninsula Railway.

Meanwhile, the two NBs at Quorn were used for shunting around loco and the station yard where they were known as 'pugs'. They were both laid aside in the late 1940s, and in 1957 the remains of NB30 were removed to Port Augusta and the frame and wheels were used to build up a small diesel-hydraulic locomotive, also known as NB30. In its new guise NB30 was initially used to assist with the recovery of rails from the Brachina Hawker section of line, and it was then re-assigned to Quorn for shunting work. In 1971 it was transferred to Port Augusta for use as a workshops shunter. It was superseded by another small locomotive, NC1, in these duties during 1972 and set aside as a 'standby' unit.

NB30 dwelt out of use in an open part of the Commonwealth Railway Workshops at Port Augusta.  Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society (PRRPS) made a representation to the Australian National Railways (ANR) and arrangements were made to transfer this locomotive to Quorn in May 1979.  Mr K.A. Smith, then Chairman of ANR, may have had a soft spot for this engine as he was the Chief Mechanical Engineer at the time of its creation.

Technical specifications

Representatives in the Pichi Richi Railway collection

NB30

Article text adapted from: Babbage, J & Barrington, R: "The History of Pichi Richi Railway"

The final development of motive power on the Central Australia Railway narrow gauge was the NJ class—six GM powered units built by Clyde Engineering and introduced in 1971. With the cessation of services the NJs were all transferred to the Port Lincoln Division.

Technical specifications

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Representatives in the PRRPS collection

None

The NM class locomotives, 22 in number, were introduced in 1925 by the Commonwealth Railways in readiness for the extension of the Oodnadatta railway to Alice Springs. The design of the class was based on that of the Queensland Railways' C17 class. The NM class operated the Ghan and other services on the Central Australia Railway until replaced by diesel locomotives from 1954.

Technical specifications

Representatives in the Pichi Richi Railway collection

NM25

For some years NM25 was the pilot engine based at Alice Springs (steam engines could go through deeper flood waters than diesels). It last ran about 1964. After storage in Port Augusta it was placed in Homestead Park at Port Augusta before the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society Inc. (PRRPS) obtained it in 1990. Restoration was carried out by PRRPS primarily with funds generously granted by the City of Port Augusta. Most of the restoration work was undertaken in Adelaide at Panorama Campus of Douglas Mawson Institute (TAFE SA). See the NM25 Restoration Project page for more information.

When diesel-electric locomotives were sought for the narrow gauge the Commonwealth Railways called for tenders and ultimately selected a Sulzer-powered design proposed by the Birmingham Carriage and Wagon Company, England, as being the most suitable choice for the harsh desert conditions of the Central Australia Railway.

An order for fourteen locomotives was placed and delivery was anticipated in 1952, but for various reasons was delayed until 1954. The first engine, NSU51, was officially placed in service and named George McLeay (the Federal Minister for Shipping) by his wife in a special ceremony at Port Augusta on 12 June 1954. The locomotive had been temporarily placed on standard gauge bogies, and following the ceremony it hauled the guests on a special run to Bookaloo (68 km) and return. In the meantime NSU52 was the first of the class to journey through the Pichi Richi Pass to Quorn. By late 1955 all of the locomotives were in service. An additional advantage of these locomotives was their ability to operate in pairs. Only a single crew was necessary as the second unit could be operated by remote control cables.

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When additional locomotives were required on the Central Australia Railway a decade after the introduction of the NSU class in 1954, another Sulzer powered design was chosen. Unlike the earlier NSU class, the thirteen NT class locomotives were built in Australia by Tulloch Ltd of Rhodes, NSW. The NT class were based on a design using Sulzer engines and AEI electrical equipment, and rated at 1300 hp. (In the "NT" class designation, "N" denotes narrow gauge, and "T" denotes "Tulloch".)

The initial order of three units were delivered in 1965 on standard gauge bogies to Broken Hill where their narrow gauge bogies were fitted. From there they worked to Quorn via Peterborough, and then ran down through the Pichi Richi Pass to Port Augusta.

In 1966 an additional ten locomotives were ordered, and during 1966 to 1968 they too were delivered via the Pichi Richi Pass. It was believed that when NT77, the last of the order, travelled through the Pass in September 1968 it constituted the final movement over the line as shortly after the line was severed when the Saltia bridge was damaged.

The NTs initially served on the Central Australia Railway between Marree and Alice Springs. The NT class could operate as multiple units with the NSU class that had been in service since 1954-1955.

All members of the NT class were subsequently transferred to the North Australia Railway, which extended from Darwin south to Birdum, where they were used for iron ore haulage from the Frances Creek mine. Several of the class were written off due to a major accident in 1972. Following the closure of the North Australia Railway in 1976, the remaining NT locomotives were transferred back to the Central Australia Raiilway that year.

The narrow gauge Central Australia Railway was closed by Australian National Railways in 1980. Several NTs were then withdrawn and scrapped; the remainder were transferred to work on the Gladstone to Wilmington line, the Peterborough to Orroroo line, and later several were transferred to the Port Lincoln Division.

With the exception of NT76 all had been scrapped by 1990.

Technical specifications

Representatives in the Pichi Richi Railway collection

NT76

NT76 entered service in 1968 on the Central Australia Railway. Within three months it was transferred to the North Australia Railway, and was then returned to the Central Australia Railway in 1976. Following the closure of the Marree–Alice Springs Central Australia Railway narrow gauge in 1980, Australian National Railways then used NT76 at Gladstone on the Wilmington branch line and also at Peterborough.

NT76 is the only surviving member of the class, and was purchased by PRRPS from Australian National in 1989 in operational condition.

In the late 1920s thirty-five J.G. Brill Company (Philadelphia, USA) model 75 railcars and a number of trailers were introduced onto the South Australian Railways (SAR) by Commissioner Webb following the successful operation of twelve smaller model 55 railcars. These cars had already achieved acclaim by speeding up branchline services formerly operated by steam hauled mixed trains. In deference to the politics of the day, and no doubt helped by the unusual sound of their air hooter, they were dubbed "Barwell's Bulls". Sir Henry Barwell was the State Premier directly responsible for the appointment of Webb, an eminently qualified American railwayman, whose task was to rehabilitate the SAR system.

A pattern car, broad gauge No. 30, was fully imported but subsequent cars were assembled at the SAR's Islington Workshops on imported frames. Seven cars, 100 to 106 were built on narrow frames for narrow gauge workings.

A firm favourite with rail fans, the railcars could be found on both broad and narrow gauge lines in most parts of the State. Generations of high school students used them to travel to and from school (Crystal Brook and Booleroo Centre areas in the north for example) in the days before proliferation of school buses. To the farmers they were the means of sending eggs and cream away from the farm, when the railway was still a common carrier and a community service. Country people travelled to the city in them for dental appointments, or just for a shopping outing, in the days before the private motor car became a ubiquitous means of travel.

In 1936 car 103 and trailer 303 on the Port Lincoln division received a new cream and green colour scheme in association with the State Centenary celebrations. Subsequently all of the cars had their red-brown scheme upgraded to the new scheme.

Technical specifications (powered railcars)

Representatives in the Pichi Richi Railway collection

Power cars

106

Railcar 106 entered service on 17 March 1928 on the then narrow gauge lines of the SAR's South-East Division.

It was transferred to Peterborough in the mid 1930s, where it spent much of its time between Terowie and Quorn until the railcar service ceased on 31 January 1969. During the gauge conversion between Peterborough and Terowie it saw some service and was then transferred to Islington before being condemned on 17 August 1976.

With its original power plant—a 186 hp (138 kW) six cylinder Winton petrol engine—it clocked up 1,138,658 miles (1,833,227 km). After the fitting of a Cummins NHS-6b diesel engine in 1960 it travelled another 278,511 miles (448,499 km), giving a grand total of 1,417,221 miles (2,281,726 km) in 48 years of service.

Back in 1977 the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society (PRRPS) discovered that railcar 106 was still in existence, stored out of the way at Islington. Although lacking an engine, it was the last remaining potentially serviceable Brill railcar and immediate steps were taken to ensure its preservation. It was purchased by PRRPS on 23 March 1977 and eventually reached Quorn in February 1978.

Railcar 106 entered service with PRRPS in 1990 following its restoration. The project was supported by The Savings Bank of South Australia (now BankSA) with a donation of $7,000.

Trailer cars

219

This is a trailer car of the same body type as the 75 class railcars. Built to narrow gauge specifications by the South Australian Railway (supplied by J.G. Brill and Co. in kit form), the car was required for use on the broad gauge. The bodies being almost identical, the only change needed was to fit broad gauge bogies.

The car entered service in December 1928, and was used on broad gauge for its entire service under the SAR, and ran with the road number 219.

On 17 March 1972, the car was converted for use as a workmans' sleeping car, and issued the road number PWS26. It remained in that configuration until purchased by PRR, and restoration commenced.

PRRPS returned trailer 219 to service on 6 October 2001. The car was renumbered to 305 by PRRPS (this vehicle never carried the number 305 in SAR service), being the next number for a narrow gauge trailer (although the number 304 was not actually used). It is the first Brill trailer to be restored to service by an Australian railway preservation society.

Internally, the car has the same seating arrangement other narrow gauge trailers, finished with 42 seats and a baggage compartment. For PRRPS service the baggage compartment has been fitted out with a servery, to allow refreshments and souvenirs to be sold during the journey.

301

Trailer car 301 entered service on 16 November 1928 on the narrow gauge Peterborough Division of the South Australian Railways. In August 1930 it was converted to broad gauge trailer 220.

It was converted to permanent way vehicle PWS30 in 1969 for use as accommodation for track maintenance gangs.

302

302 was also initially issued to the SAR's Peterborough Division. It entered service on 28 November 1928. Its seating arrangement was altered in 1932 to give it a back-to-back seating configuration.

It was converted to permanent way vehicle PWS31 circa 1970.

The "Coffee Pot" is one of the most historic vehicles in the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society (PRRPS) collection. It is a direct link with the old South Australian Railways (SAR) days of early last century.

The vehicle consists of two main parts: an engine unit and a passenger coach. The rear section pivots on a point beneath the firebox on the engine frame, and the cab floor is part of the coach frame.

The engine unit consists of a small saturated locomotive-type boiler and a cab fitted on a four wheel underframe. Two outside cylinders drive the rear axle only; the leading axle is not driven. Walschaerts valve gear is used.

The coach was finished in dark oak stained and varnished timber. The interior features seating framed in stained timber and upholstered with mock leather. The first class compartment has elaborate pressed ceiling patterns and carpeted floor, while second class has linoleum floor covering and plain ceiling. Seating is provided for nine first and thirteen second class passengers in separate compartments (the fitting of an auxiliary water tank reduced the number of passengers in second class by four).

The engine unit was built by Kitson & Co of Leeds, England in 1905, and the coach was built by Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Co of Birmingham. The vehicle was introduced by the SAR in August 1906 for the Great Northern Division, while a similar unit went to the South East Division.

Under SAR ownership it was known as "Steam Motor Coach No. 1" and its regular duty was a weekly trip to Hawker, hauling a four-wheel van to carry parcels and mail. Because of its limited range it was necessary to take water at Gordon. The vehicle was also available for charter on weekends and was often used for transport by tennis and football clubs. Trips to Port Augusta, Hammond, Carrieton, Orroroo and on one occasion as far as Parachilna were made.

When taken over by the Commonwealth Railways it was re-classified as NJAB1. It spent its entire working life at the Quorn Depot from 1906 to 1932.

It was nicknamed the "Coffee Pot" after railwaymen chalked "Coffee" and "Cocoa" on two water barrels that had been placed on the running boards at the front on either side as a spare water supply.

With its performance deteriorating in its later years, it was withdrawn from service in 1932 and stored under cover at Quorn until the depot was dismantled in the mid-1950s. It was then restored externally at Port Augusta prior to transfer to Alice Springs in 1960, where it was placed as a static display near the railway station, under the care of the National Trust. During 1975 the National Trust kindly relinquished control so that it could be returned to Quorn for restoration to working order by PRRPS.

The Coffee Pot returned to service in 1984 following an extensive restoration project led by PRRPS member Hayden Hart. The Coffee Pot is the only example of its type operating in the world.

Technical specifications

The prototype engine, No. 180, was built at the Islington Workshops to the design of T.S. Roberts, and entered service on the Northern Railway (now Peterborough Division) in December 1903. Over the years seventy-eight T class locomotives were built for the SAR, nos. 23, 24, 44 to 48, 50, 51, 180 to 186, 197 to 258. Four were built at the Islington Workshops, thirty-four by James Martin and Co. at Gawler, including T186, and forty by Walkers at Maryborough, Queensland.

These simple, yet rugged and purposeful, locomotives were principally built to supersede the Y class hauling the heavy ore traffic between the mines of Broken Hill and the smelters at Port Pirie. The design of the T was traditionally British but there was nothing in England quite like it. Colonial independence asserted itself from the beginning, and over the years the engine's initial good looks were dramatically modified. Electric headlight and turbogenerator were fitted; adhesion blocks, re-railing jacks, compressor silencer and blowdown muffler decorated the running plate and boiler. The smokebox actually grew in two stages; the first lengthening occurred when the superheated boilers were fitted, and the second extension was the result of the 'Cyclone' spark arrestor equipment fitted inside the smokebox. In the meantime the tender grew in size, eventually dominating the cab as the sides extended upward to increase coal and water capacity. More recently the oil fired conversions, which included T186, had a large oil tank dropped over the coal space. When built they must have seemed sleek and dashing in comparison to the dainty Y class, and in modern times their inner charm shone through their work-a-day guise to strike a chord in those who beheld them. The T class soldiered on in profusion until the 1960s, when dieselisation, standardisation and age took their inevitable toll. It is from this latter period that many railway enthusiasts have their fondest memories of the T's exploits: shifting the wheat and produce of the day.

T class locomotives continued to operate to Quorn and Hawker until 1970 when the Quorn to Hawker line was closed.

Technical specifications

Representatives in the Pichi Richi Railway collection

T186

Peterborough (then Petersburg) was the home base of T186 from its introduction to service on 9 December 1909 until condemned on 18 May 1970 after having run 2,068,430 km (1,284,739 miles). In earlier years T186 was frequently seen at the head of the Quorn Limited Mixed.

T186 was worked for the last time by the SAR on 16-17 May 1970 on an Australian Railway Historical Society tour train, when it was double-headed with T199 to Quorn and into the Pass as far as Summit. T186 was condemned next day and later purchased by Sims Metals for scrap. However there was a reprieve! Dean Harvey of the ARHS Tours Committee had obtained an option on a potential purchase, and when the Pichi Richi Railway was formed it was seen that there could be a new home for old T186. The option was quickly transferred to the PRR, together with a $500 donation from the ARHS, and new hope was kindled. A young lady donated another $1,000, and it eventually cost $2,000 to buy the remains from the scrap merchant.

At the time the South Australian Railways still had the expertise and capacity to attempt a restoration. PRR had the enthusiasm, so arrangements were made to obtain a quote from the Islington Railway Workshops. Preliminary indications suggested that $9,000 would get 186 back on the line, and representations to the government secured a National Estate grant of $9,000. The final bill was $35,000, and at the end of a gruelling publicity campaign fuelled by donations, souvenir sales and a lottery, the figure was met.

Eighteen months after entering the Islington Workshops T186 emerged and was transferred to Peterborough for final fitting and painting by members, under the supervision of Bob Yates. In the meantime a completely new all-welded tender body had been manufactured at the Whyalla workshops of Transfield and this was concurrently secured to the original tender frame at Peterborough. Following successful steam trials during the previous week, T186 took some of the elated and enthusiastic members on a delivery trip to Quorn on 18 September 1976. Before settling down at Quorn T186 returned to Peterborough the next month to take a leading part in the centenary celebrations of that railway town.

Locomotive T186 is one of the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society's prized possessions. It is our only working representative of one of the original SAR narrow gauge steam locomotive classes.

The first locomotives used on the Port Augusta and Government Gums Railway were known as the W Class. They were built in England at the Gorton Foundry of Beyer, Peacock and Co. They were of the 2-6-0 wheel arrangement and generally similar to the earlier U Class locomotives built by the same firm. An innovation was the sloping arrangement of the cylinders that permitted a redesigned leading pony truck to swing freely. The South Australian Railways (SAR) owned eight U Class locomotives and thirty-five W Class locomotives.

It is believed that thirteen W Class locomotives were landed at Port Augusta wharf over the years 1878-80, however this has been difficult to confirm as a number were immediately sold to the contractors Barry, Brookes and Fraser for use on construction trains. The first three of these were not numbered by the SAR until they were repurchased from the contractors in 1882 and became 53, 54 and 55. Also the contractors later purchased W22 and 23, and when they were repurchased by the SAR in 1882 W22 had to be renumbered W56 as in meantime the number 22 had been re-applied to a second locomotive. (This second W22 was later sold to another railway contractor in 1886 and the number was again applied to a new locomotive; this time a Y Class.)

When the railway was opened to Quorn in December 1879 two locomotives, W19 and 23, were in use by the SAR, and eventually W19 to 23 and 25 to 28 were at work on the Great Northern Division. They were frequently double-headed through the Pass on the heavier trains, and sometimes piloted (double-headed) with the American X Class locomotives.

When the larger Y Class became available, the W Class locomotives were reduced to shunting tasks and standby duties, one being kept at William Creek for many years. By the turn of the century they were no longer seen on the Great Northern Division, as they were all transferred to other divisions.

The W Class remained in use elsewhere on the SAR system for many years however. Three of the locomotives seen on the Great Northern Division, W21, 53 and 54, appeared on the Northern Territory Railway, W21 as early as 1888. Others worked variously on the Eyre Peninsula, Port Pirie, Port Wakefield and South-East lines. Eventually when the Commonwealth took over the Northern Territory Railway, a total of seven locomotives were accumulated in Darwin, three being purchased from contractors. The CR designated them as the NF Class.

The useful life of sixteen of the original locomotives was extended by rebuilding them with higher pressure boilers, and they were designated Wx Class. Wx56 and Wx18 saw their last days of service on the Naracoorte to Kingston line in the South-East as recently as 1959.

Technical specifications

W Class

Wx Class

Representatives in the Pichi Richi Railway collection

Wx18

Wx18 arrived in Australia on the ship Dosford.

It worked the last narrow gauge good train from Kingston to Naracoorte on the SAR's South-East Division on 12 March 1959 after which it was condemned.