6029 is a four-cylinder, simple, non-condensing, superheated, articulated 4-8-4+4-8-4 Garratt steam locomotive, of the AD60 class, built by Beyer, Peacock & Company, Manchester, England, for the New South Wales Government Railways.
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Service
edit6029 entered service in 1954 on the Main North line also working on the Main South and later Main Western line. On 17 February 1959 the locomotive was converted to dual control and had an extension to the coal bunker, increasing its coal capacity.[1]
It was withdrawn in September 1972 and condemned on 4 January 1973. In 1974, the National Museum of Australia acquired the locomotive and placed it in the custody of the Australian Railway Historical Society's Canberra Railway Museum. It worked from Sydney to Goulburn in December 1974 before hauling a special charter to Canberra on 5 January 1975.[2][3]
It was restored to operational condition and operated heritage trains for the Canberra Railway Museum. 6029 became the only locomotive of its class to operate interstate when it visited Victoria in 1980, participating in a parallel run to Wangaratta with Victorian Railways locomotive K153.[4] Heritage tours continued over several years until boiler problems caused the locomotive to be withdrawn from service in 1981.[1][5]
In 1994, a feasibility study determined what was needed to get 6029 back in steam.[6] In February 1998, ownership passed to the Canberra Railway Museum.[7]
A replacement boiler was obtained from a Victorian sawmill. Restoration commenced in 2007, being completed in July 2014. After mainline trials, 6029 received official mainline accreditation in December 2014, with the first public trips taking place on 28 February 2015.[1][8][9][10]
On 23 February 2015, the locomotive was named City of Canberra by Shane Rattenbury, the Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly.[1][11][12] In 2017, it was put up for sale by the liquidator of the Canberra Railway Museum when the museum went into liquidation and was purchased by Phillip Davis and David Sommerville and moved to the NSW Rail Museum.[13][14][15][16]
Due to the locomotive no longer being based in Canberra, its City of Canberra nameplates were removed in late 2017, and given to two unnamed people.[citation needed] This was due to the locomotive no longer based in Canberra and for historic reasons as the AD60s were barred from travelling though single line tunnels during their service, of which three exist between Bungendore and Queanbeyan on the Bombala railway line.
On 7 May 2022, Transport Heritage NSW announced that it had purchased 6029.[17][18]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Preserved Steam Locomotives Down Under - 6029". australiansteam.com. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- ^ 6029 Steams to Canberra, will be a National Museum Exhibit The Recorder January 1975 page 31
- ^ Garratt's Last Fling The Railway Magazine issue 894 October 1975 page 493
- ^ 6029 tour Continental Railway Journal issue 45 March 1981 page 249
- ^ 6029 set to steam again Railway Digest February 2008 page 54
- ^ AD60 Class Beyer Garatt Locomotives of the New South Wales Railways Locomotives International issue 24 June 1994 page 18
- ^ Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 726 April 1998 page 154
- ^ Gul, Jonathon; Nairn, Jessica (25 July 2014). "Massive restored steam train completes first test run". ABC News. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- ^ Project 6029 Project 6029 blog
- ^ Beyer-Garratt 6029 Inaugural Trip Archived 5 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine Canberra Railway Museum
- ^ Whitford, Richard, ed. (2015), Federal City Express, Canberra: ARHS(ACT div), p. 1
- ^ Largest steam loco in southern hemisphere returns to action The Railway Magazine issue 1374 September 2015 page 118
- ^ Walmsley, Hannah (13 July 2017). "Canberra Railway Museum forced to sell off historic train carriages". ABC News. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- ^ 1953 Beyer Garrett AD60 Class 4-8-4 + 4-8-4 Articulated Steam Locomotive Slattery Auctions Archived 4 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ New owners for Beyer-Garratt 6029 Railway Digest January 2018 page 54
- ^ Australian Garratt saved and back on main line The Railway Magazine issue 1407 June 2018 page 94
- ^ "Full steam ahead for Beyer-Garratt 6029". Transport Heritage NSW. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ UK built Garratt recruited to museum fleet in bargain buy Heritage Railway issue 294 10 June 2022 page 28
External links
edit
Media related to AD6029 at Wikimedia Commons