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C17 No.253 Mary Valley Heritage Railway |
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The chassis of C17 No.253 stored within the MVHR workshops
at Gympie on 18 December 2020.
My thanks to MVHR volunteer Declan Goggan for contributing
this image.
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Builder |
Evans,
Anderson, Phelan & Co, Kangaroo
Point, Brisbane |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
158 of 1921 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
4-8-0 |
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No. in class |
227 |
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No.253 is
one of Queensland Railways’ highly successful C17 class ‘maid of all work’
4-8-0 locomotives, with 227 units constructed by a variety of builders
between 1920 and 1953. The ‘C17’ classification follows Queensland Railways’
nomenclature whereby ‘C’ denotes an 8-coupled locomotive and ‘17’ references
the cylinder diameter (in inches). The C17 design featured a superheated
boiler and was developed from the earlier saturated steam C16 type. The final
C17 class members were retired from service at the very end of Queensland
Railways revenue steam operations in August 1970. No.253 is
one of the older C17’s, built to the original ‘1920 design’ with a
straight-sided cutaway cab, tall steam dome, cast iron chimney and a
low-sided bogie tender, but at some stage it received the more modern ‘1938
design’ boiler with low steam dome and stovepipe chimney. It was placed in
service by the Queensland Government Railways in June 1921 and written off in
June 1967 after 46 years of work and 1.58 million kilometres travelled. Upon
retirement, No.253 was plinthed in a park at Mundubbera (inland from
Bundaberg) on behalf of the Mundubbera Junior Chamber of Commerce. This particular C17 locomotive is unusual in that it carries a
second sand dome; the normal one at the fore of the steam dome, and a second
dome to the aft. The second sand dome had been fitted to assist working on
the Yandaran line, which did not have a turntable and hence allocated loco
No.253 had to work tender-first on the return trip from Yandaran. After many
years at Mundubbera, a change in circumstances came in March 2003 when No.253
was acquired by the Mary
Valley Heritage Railway (MVHR) in a swap with C17 965. Apparently, No.253
was in good condition despite its years as a park locomotive, having received
a heavy rebuild less than 12 months prior to retirement. No.253 was reported
as being under restoration at the time of my visit to the MVHR in 2004,
however a return to steam in the foreseeable future seems unlikely given
their substantial stable of three operable C17’s (Nos.45, 802 and 967) and
recent challenges at the MVHR. It is intended that No.253 will follow the
MVHR custom of being named after the town it which it was formerly plinthed
and will hence carry the name 'Mundubbera' upon recommissioning. Hopefully one
day restoration will be completed and No.253 will find use on the MVHR
‘Valley Rattler’ operation on the branch line from Gympie. Further news
of recent progress with No.253’s overhaul at Gympie would be appreciated. For
further information about the Queensland Railways’ C17 class locomotives,
refer to the page for C17 No.2. |
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References
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a |
‘Locomotives of Australia’ by Leon Oberg, published by J. W. Books Pty Ltd |
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b |
Armstrong,
J. 'Locomotives in the Tropics - Volume 2 (Queensland
Railways 1910 – 1958 and beyond)’, published
by the ARHS Queensland Division, 1994. |
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c |
Locomotive information sheet provided by the Mary Valley Heritage Railway, 28 January 2004. |
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d |
Information
provided by Graham Watkins via email dated 25
May 2003. |
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e |
Information
provided by Declan Coggan via email, 20 January
2021 |
Page updated: 11 April 2021
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Government Railways: |
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Private & Industrial Railways: |
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