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Australian Standard Garratt

The Australian Standard Garratt (ASG) was a Garratt articulated steam locomotive designed and built in Australia during World War II for use on the 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow-gauge railway systems owned by the Australian states of Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. After the war, ASGs operated in South Australia and at the Fyansford Cement Works railway in Victoria.

History

With the outbreak of World War II, in 1939 the federal government formed the Commonwealth Land Transport Board (CLTB) to take responsibility for the country's land transport networks. In the national interest it was empowered to over-ride decisions of the state railways. In 1942, the CLTB appointed the Commissioner of Railways in Western Australia, Joseph Ellis, to investigate the capacity of Australia's narrow gauge network and recommend what locomotives should be purchased. Ellis recommended that three variations of Garratt locomotive be purchased; heavy, medium and light.[1]

The CLTB elected to build only the light type to allow it to operate on any narrow gauge line in Australia. After an attempt to obtain drawings and licences from Beyer, Peacock and Company failed, in July 1942 the CLTB recommended to the War Cabinet that 30 locomotives be built locally. In August 1942, the War Cabinet approved the order, which was increased to 65 locomotives in November 1942. The Western Australian Government Railways' Chief Mechanical Engineer Frederick Mills was seconded to lead a team of engineers in Melbourne to design the new locomotive. The Queensland Railways were vocal opponents, stating its preference for a modified version of its C17 class.[1]

The result was the Australian Standard Garratt locomotive. The first was built in a record-breaking four months, entering service in September 1943. Only 57 ASGs were completed; assembly of the remaining eight was cancelled at the end of the war. The locomotives were built by the WAGR's Midland Railway Workshops (10), the Victorian Railways' Newport Workshops (12), the South Australian Railways' Islington Railway Workshops (13), and Clyde Engineering, Sydney (22).[2][3]

In service

Western Australian Government Railways' G26 in 1943
Western Australian Government Railways' G55 in 1952

Because of differences between the states, especially in regard to loading gauges, the sharpness of curves, and axle load, especially in Queensland, the design had to be a compromise, which went against the idea of having a standardised design.[1]

To enable the long-wheelbase engine units to negotiate sharp curves, the leading driving wheels were designed to be flangeless, but this proved to be a major flaw as it led to a tendency for the locomotives to derail on curves and points. Another key problem, which made the ASGs unpopular with locomotive crews, was the fact that the firebox door opened flat on the floor of the driving cab, maximising heat radiation into the crew compartment.[1] This resulted in them having fairly short lives with most withdrawn by the mid-1950s. Some were resold for use on the Emu Bay and Fyansford Cement Works Railways where they would have more successful careers.[3][4]

Queensland Railways

The Queensland Railways purchased 23. One was never used and another saw only two months service. In September 1945, the drivers' union placed a ban on them. Attempts to modify them proved unsuccessful, and they were written off in 1948. Three were sold to the Emu Bay Railway and six to the Tasmanian Government Railways, with the remainder scrapped in 1954/55.[5][6]

Tasmanian Government Railways

The Tasmanian Government Railways purchased 14 new and another six second-hand from the Queensland Railways. Two were sold to the Emu Bay Railway with the remainder scrapped in the late 1950s.[5][7]

Western Australian Government Railways

The Western Australian Government Railways purchased 25. They were unpopular with crews, and their use through the state's only tunnel at Swan View caused serious problems, resulting in deaths, industrial disputes,[8] and a Royal Commission.[1][9]

Six of the WAGR locomotives were sold to the South Australian Railways in 1952. The last were withdrawn from the WAGR in January 1957.[2][5]

Emu Bay Railway

The Emu Bay Railway purchased three second-hand from the Queensland Railways and two from the Tasmanian Government Railways. It would operate them successfully until the mid-1960s. One was destroyed in an accident in February 1962 with a replacement obtained from the TGR.[3][4][10]

South Australian Railways

In 1952, the South Australian Railways purchased six second-hand from the WAGR to haul lead ore between Cockburn and Port Pirie as an interim solution pending the delivery of the 400 class Garratts, with all condemned by February 1956.[3][11][12]

Fyansford Cement Works Railway

The Fyansford Cement Works Railway purchased G33 from Commonwealth Disposals in August 1945. It was withdrawn in 1957, but maintained in operational condition until the railway closed in 1966 when it was donated to the Geelong division of the Australian Railway Historical Society.[3]

Class list

Number Builder Builders Number Operator Entered Service Withdrawn Scrapped Notes
G1 Newport Workshops Queensland Railways September 1943 September 1945 1955
G2 Newport Workshops Queensland Railways November 1943 September 1945 1955
G3 Newport Workshops Queensland Railways December 1943 September 1945 1955
G4 Newport Workshops Queensland Railways December 1943 September 1945 1955
G5 Newport Workshops Queensland Railways February 1944 September 1945 1955
G6 Newport Workshops Tasmanian Government Railways
G7 Newport Workshops Tasmanian Government Railways
G8 Newport Workshops Tasmanian Government Railways
G9 Newport Workshops Tasmanian Government Railways Delivered to Queensland Railways but did not enter service, sold to Tasmanian Government Railways in December 1948[7]
G10 Newport Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 3 April 1945 14 February 1952
G11 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways

Tasmanian Government Railways		 December 1943 Sold to Tasmanian Government Railways in June 1946[7]
G12 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways

Tasmanian Government Railways

Emu Bay Railway		 December 1943 Sold to Tasmanian Government Railways in February 1950, sold to Emu Bay Railway 1962 as 20a as replacement for G25[7]
G13 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways February 1944 September 1945 1955
G14 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways June 1944 September 1945 1955
G15 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways May 1944 September 1945 1955
G16 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways

Emu Bay Railway		 August 1944 September 1945 1955 Sold to Emu Bay Railway, delivered July 1950, entered service July 1952 as 16[4][7]
G17 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways

Emu Bay Railway		 August 1944 September 1945 1955 Sold to Emu Bay Railway, delivered March 1954, entered service October 1956 as 18[4][7]
G18 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways

Tasmanian Government Railways		 July 1945 September 1945 1955 Sold to Tasmanian Government Railways in February 1950[7]
G19 Islington Railway Workshops Queensland Railways

Tasmanian Government Railways		 April 1945 September 1945 1955 Sold to Tasmanian Government Railways in December 1948[7]
G20 Islington Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 23 March 1945 17 April 1956 August 1959 Converted to oil firing 29 March 1951
G21 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways January 1944
G22 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways February 1944
G23 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways

Emu Bay Railway		 June 1944 Sold to Emu Bay Railway, delivered September 1950, entered service September 1953 as 17[4]
G24 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways May 1944
G25 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways

Tasmanian Government Railways

Emu Bay Railway		 May 1944 February 1962 Sold to Tasmanian Government Railways in June 1946 as 20, resold to Emu Bay Railway destroyed in accident February 1962[4][7]
G26 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways

South Australian Railways		 22 November 1943 7 November 1951 Sold to South Australian Railways 1952 and renumbered 305[12]
G27 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 16 December 1943 30 July 1953
G28 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 8 February 1944 10 January 1957 August 1959 Converted to oil firing 6 February 1048, converted back to coal 19 December 1950
G29 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways

South Australian Railways		 10 March 1944 6 February 1951 Sold to South Australian Railways 1952 and renumbered 302[12]
G30 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways

South Australian Railways		 5 April 1944 7 November 1951 Sold to South Australian Railways 1952 and renumbered 304[12]
G31 Newport Workshops Western Australian Government Railways

South Australian Railways		 2 March 1945 6 February 1951 Converted to oil firing 13 February 1948, sold to South Australian Railways 1952 and renumbered 303[12]
G32 Newport Workshops Western Australian Government Railways

South Australian Railways		 1 June 1945 31 October 1951 Converted to oil firing 5 Mach 1948, converted back to coal, sold to South Australian Railways 1952 and renumbered 300[12]
G33 Islington Railway Workshops Fyansford Cement Works Railway 1946 1957 Donated to Australian Railway Historical Society Museum in 1966, transferred to Bellarine Railway in 2013[13]
G34 Not assembled
G35 Not assembled
G36 Not assembled
G37 Clyde Engineering Tasmanian Government Railways
G38 Clyde Engineering Tasmanian Government Railways
G39 Not assembled
G40 Not assembled
G41 Not assembled
G42 Not assembled
G43 Not assembled
G44 Islington Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 8 March 1945 17 April 1956 July 1959 Converted to oil firing 17 February 1948, converted back to coal 18 April 1952
G45 Islington Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 23 April 1945 17 April 1956 July 1959
G46 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 14 July 1944 10 January 1957 August 1959 Converted to oil firing 29 May 1951
G47 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 18 August 1944 10 January 1957 1964 Converted to oil firing 6 July 1951
G48 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 22 September 1944 6 February 1951
G49 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways

South Australian Railways		 20 October 1944 14 November 1951 Sold to South Australian Railways 1952 and renumbered 301[12]
G50 Midland Railway Workshops Western Australian Government Railways 8 December 1944 14 February 1952
G51 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways July 1944 1955
G52 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways August 1944 1955
G53 Clyde Engineering Queensland Railways September 1944 1955
G54 Clyde Engineering 480 Western Australian Government Railways 9 June 1945 14 February 1952
G55 Clyde Engineering 481 Western Australian Government Railways 31 May 1945 10 January 1957 August 1959 Converted to oil firing 13 February 1952
G56 Clyde Engineering 482 Western Australian Government Railways 11 May 1945 10 January 1957 August 1959
G57 Clyde Engineering 483 Western Australian Government Railways 24 April 1945 10 January 1957 July 1959
G58 Clyde Engineering 484 Western Australian Government Railways 21 March 1945 6 February 1951
G59 Clyde Engineering 485 Western Australian Government Railways 9 April 1945 10 January 1957 1964
G60 Clyde Engineering Tasmanian Government Railways
G61 Clyde Engineering Tasmanian Government Railways
G62 Clyde Engineering Tasmanian Government Railways
G63 Clyde Engineering 489 Western Australian Government Railways 16 June 1945 14 February 1952
G64 Clyde Engineering 490 Western Australian Government Railways 14 July 1945 6 February 1951 Converted to oil firing 15 March 1948
G65 Clyde Engineering 491 Western Australian Government Railways 4 August 1945 10 January 1957 1961

Preservation

The only surviving complete ASG is G33, which ran on the Fyansford Cement Works Railway until 1957. It was on static display at the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum in North Williamstown until 2013, when it was moved by road (together with a spare boiler) to the Bellarine Railway, Queenscliff, with the aim of full restoration.[13][14][15][needs update]

Many front water tanks of ASGs have survived: one at Yatina, South Australia, two on a farm south of Peterborough, South Australia, one at the Workshops Rail Museum in Queensland, two at the Don River Railway in Tasmania, and several dotted around that state. They were used as water tanks for steam and fire-fighting until the early 1980s. Another also survives with the Launceston & North East Railway in Launceston, Tasmania. It was used as a waste oil tank by TasRail until the closure of the Hobart railway yard in 2014, possibly being the last steam engine component used by TasRail.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Australian Standard Garratt Locomotive Royal Commissioner Albert Wolff 29 August 1946
  2. ^ a b Gunzburg, Adrian (1984). A History of WAGR Steam Locomotives. Perth: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 121–124. ISBN 0-9599690-3-9.
  3. ^ a b c d e Oberg, Leon (2010). Locomotives of Australia 1850s-2010. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 225–227. ISBN 9781921719011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rae, Lou (1997). The Emu Bay Railway. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. pp. 200–203, 208, 218. ISBN 0-9592098-6-7.
  5. ^ a b c Turner, Jim (1997). Australian Steam Locomotives 1896-1958. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. pp. 130, 134, 138. ISBN 086417778X.
  6. ^ Australian Standard Garratt Queensland's Rail Interest Group
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Steam Locomotives of the Tasmanian Government Railways and its Constituents" Australian Railway History issue 917 March 2014 page 13
  8. ^ "'Now What Has She Got That 400 Others Haven't Got?'". The Mirror. Perth: National Library of Australia. 4 March 1944. p. 18. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  9. ^ Some Aspects of the Australian Standard Garratt Locomotive Minchin, R.S. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, April 1979 pp. 69–77
  10. ^ "The Australian Standard Garratt on the Emu Bay Railway" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin March 1995 pp. 59–66
  11. ^ Fluck, Ronald (1986). Steam Locomotives and Railcars of the South Australian Railways. Adelaide: Mile End Railway Museum. ISBN 0-9595073-3-7.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Narrow Gauge 300 class Chris' Commonwealth Railways Information
  13. ^ a b "Get G33 Moving". Bellarine Railway. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  14. ^ "G33". Australian Steam.
  15. ^ "War-child Steam Locomotive makes a come-back" (PDF). Queenscliffe Herald. June 2013.

Bibliography

  • Barry, Kevin (December 1996), "Labour divided: the Garratt strike of 1946", Papers in Labour History (17): 46–67, ISSN 1030-6218
  • Butrims, Robert; Australian Railway Historical Society. Victorian Division; Geelong Steam Preservation Society (1975), Australia's Garratt, Geelong Steam Preservation Society in conjunction with Australian Railway Historical Society, Victorian Division, ISBN 978-0-9598322-0-4
  • Durrant, A E (1978). Australian Steam. Newton Abbot, Devon, UK; North Pomfret, Vt, USA: David & Charles. pp. 73–79. ISBN 0715376055.
  • Durrant, A E (1981). Garratt Locomotives of the World (rev. and enl. ed.). Newton Abbot, England: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7641-1. OCLC 9326294.
  • Gunzburg, Adrian (1968). WAGR Locomotives 1940–1968. Perth: Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division). pp. 10–12, 47. OCLC 219836193.

Further reading

  • Whiting, Alan (1988). Engine of Destruction - The Australian Standard Garratt Scandal. A. Whiting. ISBN 0-7316-1466-6.