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C17 No. 819 Mary Valley Heritage Railway |
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My visit to Gympie on 26 September 2009 found this
dismantled C17 stored near the MVHR’s Gympie workshops.
I have subsequently been informed this is No.819.
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Builder |
Sir W
G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd, Newcastle
upon Tyne |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
867 of 1927 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
4-8-0 |
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No. in class |
227 |
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No.819 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. According
to ‘Locomotives in the Tropics’, No.819 was written off the Queensland
Railways books in December 1968 and transferred to Cloncurry for the
Cloncurry Historical Society. Here it was plinthed in Mary Kathleen Park and
Museum, together with an antique rail-mounted crane and some rollingstock. (A
second C17 No.779 was also plinthed
at a different location in Cloncurry; there is some conjecture that it was
actually No.819 wearing No.779’s plates and later moved to Mary Kathleen Park
where it assumed the correct identity of No.819; further information on this
point is welcome.) In the
mid-1990’s, No.819 was acquired by the Mary Valley Heritage Railway, Gympie
for intended restoration as a second locomotive for their Mary Valley Rattler
operation on the branch line to Imbil. No.819 was road-hauled to Gympie,
arriving on 11 September 1996. It was intended that No.819 would follow the
Mary Valley Heritage Railway custom of being named after the town in which it
had been plinthed, and accordingly it was to be named 'Cloncurry' upon return
to service. The
webmaster enjoyed a ride on the Mary Valley Rattler on 28 January 2004 and during this
visit I found No.819 stripped down for assessment; in conversation with depot
staff it was understood that in the short term its boiler was planned to be
swapped into sister C17 No. 45. (Many components were found to be stamped
with the number ‘819’ during dismantling, confirming that it is not actually
No.779.) I understand No.819 has since remained dismantled; indeed my later visit to Gympie on 26 September 2009 found
the boiler placed back in the frames, but the loco otherwise remaining completely
stripped. For
further information about the Queensland Railways’ C17 class locomotives,
refer to the page for C17 No.2. |
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This magnificent old rail-mounted
crane remains plinthed at Mary Kathleen Park & Museum, Cloncurry.
Looking forward from the crane,
No.819’s former location at Cloncurry is clearly visible.
My thanks to Ken McHugh for
contributing these two views dated 27 April 2009.
C17 No.819’s various components at the Mary Valley Heritage
Railway workshop, Gympie on 28 January 2004.
A second view of No.819 stored near
the MVHR’s Gympie workshops on 26 September 2009.
No.819’s wheels stored near the
MVHR’s Gympie workshops. 26 September 2009.
References
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a |
‘Locomotives of Australia’ by Leon Oberg, published by J. W. Books Pty Ltd |
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b |
Stark, R. J., 'The Return of Steam Locomotive C17, No. 45', published
2000 by The Degener Timms Publications, Gympie, Queensland. |
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c |
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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d |
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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