3085

Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Inc

3085 seen in storage within the Goulburn Roundhouse on 7 January 2012.

At that stage the boiler lagging was in place, but the loco is otherwise much as it was when withdrawn – excepting for 40 years of weathering.

Builder	NSW Government Railways
Builder’s Number & Year	52 of 1912
Wheel Arrangement	4-6-4T
No. in class	145

This locomotive is one of 145 members of the (S)636 class of passenger tank engines which were the backbone of Sydney suburban services prior to electrification. It was originally numbered S 1006 and became 3085 of the (C)30 class in the NSWGR 1924 renumbering scheme.

3085 was the last (C)30 tank locomotive in service with the NSWGR when withdrawn in 1972. It was displayed for many years as an unrestored but complete exhibit at the NSWRTM Thirlmere, wearing its original but increasingly faded lined black livery. Following withdrawal of the NSWRTM's traffic locomotive 3137 in the 1990's there had been occasional proposals to overhaul 3085 in its place, with this role sometimes filled by sister 3112 when visiting Thirlmere on hire.

3085, 5916 & 5908 were relocated to the Goulburn Roundhouse Museum on 27 November 2009. Unfortunately, 3085 was damaged by the crane contractors during this move during a very poorly planned lift onto a road truck and the loco now has a severely bent footplate, running boards and piston tail rods.

For further information and historical photographs of the (C)30 class locomotives, readers are directed to Ron Preston's excellent book ‘Standards In Steam - The 30 Class’ published by the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum.

UPDATE

After nearly 15 years at the Goulburn Roundhouse Museum, 3085 moved to Oberon on 17th June 2024 for static restoration by volunteers of the Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Inc, being placed undercover in their rolling stock shed. Judging by photographs before and after the move, it seems 3085’s old boiler insulation was removed at Goulburn shortly before delivery to Oberon. I wonder if the Oberon branch line (originally the domain of elderly (Z)19 class 0-6-0 locos) is laid with sufficiently heavy rail to support the weight of this loco? It certainly would be a treat to see 3085 running one day on the restored section of line from Oberon to Hazelgrove. Too much to hope?

Front view of 3085 at Goulburn Roundhouse on 7 January 2012.

The open smokebox door reveals the rows of smoke tubes in the saturated steam boiler.

I believe the smaller pipe entering the blastpipe arm on the right is the exhaust from the steam compressor.

Horribly bent piston tail-rod and platework following the bad crane lift. 7 January 2012.

The numbering "E 376" can be seen on the air compressor.

Further platework damage sustained under the bunker, following a contractor’s poorly planned crane lift in 2009. 7 January 2012.

Detail of 3085's Belpaire firebox (sans lagging), cab and whistle. 7 January 2012.

Rear view of 3085 at Goulburn. 7 January 2012.

An earlier view of 3085 displayed unrestored at the NSWRTM Thirlmere on 17 January 2004, with the connecting rod sitting on the running board.

At that stage most lagging in place on the boiler barrel, although firebox lagging had been stripped.

The NSWGR lined black livery was in better condition at that stage, although many years of open storage were showing their toll.

3085, 5916 and a trio of Bulldogs on the turntable roads at Goulburn, 25 March 2023.

These roads were once undercover as half of a full circular roundhouse, but alas this section was demolished many years ago.

I’ve always been intrigued by these markings on the side tank, which I believe relate to 3085’s minor role in a movie scene filmed at Thirlmere during the 1980’s.

At least 2 layers of paint and lining are evident in the faded NSWGR livery, together with an instruction at bottom left:

“Firemen note (something) when taking water.” Photo date 25 March 2023.

References

a	‘Standards in Steam – the 30 Class’ by R. G. Preston, Published by the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum, 1985.
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.
c	‘Steam Locomotive Data’ July 1974 edition, compiled by J. H. Forsyth for the Public Transport Commission of NSW.
d	Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Inc website (https://othr.com.au/) Retrieved 24 July 2024

Page updated: 11 August 2024

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