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2606 Chullora Heritage Hub |
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This view shows 2606 displayed at the NSWRTM Thirlmere on
23 November 2008.
2606 had recently been black-oiled by
volunteers of the NSWRTM Exhibit Cleaning Group.
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Builder |
Dubs
& Co. of Glasgow, Scotland |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
2795
of 1891 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
2-6-2ST |
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No. in class |
20 |
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The twenty
members of the I(17) class 2-6-2ST locomotive were essentially a saddle-tank
version of the B(55) class 2-6-0 tender design and intended for banking
duties to augment the NSWGR's fleet of 2-6-0 freight engines on haulage over
steep grades such as the Great Western Railway (Blue Mountains line). The
I(17) class did find use as bankers through the old Otford tunnel on the
South Coast line but were more commonly employed in their early years on
short-range coal and mineral trains at Waterfall and Newcastle, together with
shunting duties at Darling Harbour. They were reclassified as the Z(26) class
in the NSWGR renumbering scheme of 1924. Most of the class was out of service
by the depression years, but a change of fortune saw them overhauled for
further shunting service at Port Kembla, Lithgow, Bathurst & Orange. Preserved
locomotive 2606 was among the last in NSWGR service when 2604 and 2606 were
withdrawn from shunting duties at Bathurst in 1970, following which 2606 was set
aside to represent the class at the NSW Rail Transport Museum, Enfield.
(There was also a proposal to plinth 2604 at Lithgow but unfortunately that
fell through; while 2604 was scrapped, its round-top boiler was used to
restore 2419 to original condition as
B(55) class No.390.) Together
with other NSWRTM exhibits, 2606 was transferred from Enfield to Thirlmere in
1975. Here it was displayed in unrestored condition, with faded black livery
and old road grime, until 1988 when it was given a quick clean and repaint to
unlined black livery. It subsequently received attention from Exhibit
Cleaning Group volunteers and provided interest for those with an eye for
steam locomotive design and evolution. Alas 2606 is no longer on
public display as it moved to Broadmeadow roundhouse in 2008 for undercover
storage while the NSWRTM Thirlmere was upgraded to the ‘Trainworks’ museum. A
significant challenge for the NSWGR during rapid growth in the 1880's was handling
growing traffic over steep grades and difficult operating conditions such as
the Great Western Railway and the Illawarra Line’s old Otford tunnel. 2606
provides an example of locomotive design in response to those challenges,
while links to the B(55) / Z(24) class also provide interest for students of
steam locomotive design & evolution ("ferroequinologists"). Accordingly,
a suitable display for 2606 - should it ever return to Thirlmere - might be
to present it ‘banking’ a period freight train behind a contemporary 2-6-0
locomotive such as 2419 or 2510. (Ultimately the NSWGR solved the problem of increasing
tonnages across the Blue Mountains by importing large 2-8-0 Baldwin
locomotives based on contemporary US designs used in the Rocky Mountains of
Colorado.) For
further information about the I(17) / Z(26) class locomotives, an excellent
reference is ‘A Compendium of New South Wales Steam Locomotives’ by Alex
Grunbach and published by the Australian Railway Historical Society NSW
Division. UPDATE: 2606 was
relocated from Broadmeadow to the Chullora Heritage Hub during February 2024 for further undercover
storage and conservation. Hopefully Chullora will provide a suitable restoration
base for 2606 and the other worthy exhibits stored there. |
Jeff Mullier has contributed this view of 2606 stored
within the Broadmeadow roundhouse on 15 December 2012.
This view shows the raised bunker;
preserved sister 2605 has had the bunker restored to the original lower height.
References
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a |
‘Locomotives of Australia’ by Leon Oberg, published by J. W. Books Pty Ltd, 1982 reprint. |
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b |
‘A Compendium
of New South Wales Steam Locomotives’ compiled
by Alex Grunbach, published
by the Australian Railway Historical Society, New South
Wales Division, 1989. |
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c |
‘Steam
Locomotive Data’ July 1974 edition, compiled
by J. H. Forsyth for the Public
Transport Commission of NSW. |
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d |
Transport
Heritage NSW website, Retrieved
24 August 2024. |
Page updated: 27 August 2024
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