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H7 Statically displayed at the Don River Railway |
T
his view of 8 May 2003 shows H7 displayed on one of the turntable roads at the Don River Railway.H7 had recently been repainted. Sitting on the next road was Pacific M3, awaiting its turn for a tickle with the paintbrush.
This 4-8-2 freight locomotive was built by Vulcan Foundry of Lancashire in 1951 as their builder's number 5955, being the seventh of 8 locomotives of this type which became the Tasmanian Government Railways' H-class. This design was a repeat of the "248 class" locomotives previously constructed by Vulcan Foundry for the Gold Coast Railway of western Africa. a
Both the Tasmanian Government Railways M & H-class locomotives were of modern design, featuring roller bearings on all axles and throughout the motion, and were the only Australian classes to be completely fitted-out with roller bearings. These locos also had SCOA-P wheels, like the Victorian Railways' R & J classes and the Queensland Railway's BB18-1/4 class. c
The H-class originally wore emerald green livery, but four members (H2, H3, H5 & H6) were later painted in the TGR's striking Post Office Red passenger livery. b
H7 is now statically displayed at the Don River Railway's excellent heritage railway precinct and workshops at Don in Tasmania's north. H7's axle load is apparently too heavy for the Don River Railway's operating line and thus restoration to operation is not anticipated. d
References
| a | Dix, A., Beck, D., and Dix M. 'Locomotives of the Tasmanian Transport Museum Glenorchy Tasmania', published by the Tasmanian Transport Museum Society, October 1991. |
| b | Cooper, G & Goss, G 'Tasmanian Railways 1871 - 1996, 125 Years - A Pictorial History' published by C G publishing Company. |
| c | Information provided by Melanie Dennis via email dated 14 July 2004. |
| d | Webmaster's observation or comment. |
Page updated: 19 June 2013