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C17 No. 763 Stored at the Rosewood Railway |
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C17 No.763 (sans
chimney) in long-term storage at the Rosewood Railway in December 2002.
The connecting rod lies lazily on a sleeper, presumably the
big end bearing / strap was removed at some stage.
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Builder |
Walkers Limited, Maryborough |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
424 of 1927 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
4-8-0 |
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No. in class |
227 |
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No.763
is one of Queensland Railways’ highly successful C17 class 4-8-0 locomotives
of which 227 units were constructed by a variety of builders between 1920 and
1953. The C17’s were a “maid of all
work” type that were powerful enough for main line freight duties, yet with a
low axle load which permitted wide deployment and accordingly the type could
be found on everything from suburban and express passenger duties to main,
secondary and branch line freight and mixed traffic work, although the type
are perhaps best associated with the long routes through Queensland Railways’
(QR) Northern and Central Divisions.
The final C17 class members were retired from service at the very end
of QR revenue steam operations in August 1970. No
763 is of the original C17 “1920 design” which are identifiable by a straight-sided
cutaway cab, tall steam dome, cast iron chimney and a low-sided bogie tender. While many were reboilered with 1938 boiler
with low steam dome (such as 763), others retained their tall steam dome to
the end of their careers. No.763
was placed in QR service in May 1927 and written off 42 years later in June
1969 before being placed in the Playground & Recreation Association
playground in suburban Ithaca, Brisbane.
Here it appears to have eventually become an unwanted billboard for
graffiti. Fortunately the Australian
Railway Historical Society (Qld Division) stepped in, acquiring No.763 around
1996. It was subsequently transferred
to their Rosewood Railway and placed in long-term storage. Although
No.763 remains stored in a derelict condition, the Australian Railway
Historical Society have at least secured the locomotive for the future, and
hence it remains in storage as a possible restoration project, or at least a
source of spare parts. For
further information about the Queensland Railways’ C17 class locomotives,
refer to the page for C17 No.2. Next
time I’m at Rosewood I will take some high resolution digital photos of
No.763 and the other locomotives there. |
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A rear view of No.763, emphasising the low-side bogie tender supplied
with the original “1920” variant of C17 class loco.
I believe the colourful spray-on livery
dates to No.763’s time plinthed at suburban Ithaca, Brisbane.
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 |
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observation or comment |
Page updated: 4 November 2015
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