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No.103 ‘Spirit of Baw Baw’ Privately Owned, formerly at the Walhalla Goldfields Railway |
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No.103 preparing to depart Thompson station on the Walhalla
Goldfields Railway on 6 November 2005.
This photo was kindly contributed by Rob Ashworth.
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Builder |
Kassel, Germany |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
25427 of 1956 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-6-0T |
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This
modern industrial locomotive was built by Henschel & Sohn, Germany as
recently as 1956. Apparently, it was originally built to 750mm gauge for the
Sri Maharacha Timber & Co. at Sri Racha, Thailand as their No. 15 and
appears to be one of a batch of at least 4 identical units. By 1972 it had
moved to the Thai Sugar Corporation at Nonchak, Thailand as their No.103. In
1982, No.103 and sister No.104 were purchased for preservation in Australia
by a private owner based in Spotswood, Melbourne. I understand a change of
ownership followed in 1989 to a second private owner based in South Belgrave. No.103
arrived on the Walhalla Goldfields Railway (WGR) by 2000 and found use on
this interesting tourist line which is based on the final section of the Victorian
Railways 2’ 6” gauge developmental route from Moe to Walhalla, from the Thompson River crossing station and along Stringers Creek
gorge and traversing numerous bridges to Walhalla. No.103 was overhauled and regauged
to 762mm (2ft 6in) prior to WGR trials from July 2001. The loco carried the
name ‘Spirit of Baw Baw’ on the Walhalla Goldfields
Railway, referencing the local Shire of Baw Baw. It
seems that No.103 departed the Walhalla Goldfields Railway around 2006, and I’m
not sure where it spent the following years. An October 2022 post by the Dalby
Pioneer Park Museum on their Facebook page suggests No.103 was at a private workshop
site in Dalby, Queensland, where it has now been joined by sister No.104, presumably both locos
being owned by the same person. Further information about the status and
future intentions for these two locos is welcome! Walhalla Township Walhalla
was a favourite weekend destination for webmaster in the mid-1990’s as the
historic gold-mining town and surrounds offers the combination of bushwalking,
mining heritage and railways. At that stage the Walhalla
Goldfields Railway had yet to rebuild the final half of the route up
Stringers Creek gorge and I recall bush-bashing the railway route down to the
head-of-steel; the valley (once dominated by alluvial gold miners) was very
steep and proved impassible where some of the old bridges were down! The WGR
achieved renewal or replacement of all the missing bridges in Stringers Creek
circa 2000 to complete the magnificent section of railway from Thompson to
Walhalla. The town was also notable in those days as the largest in Victoria
that was not connected to the electricity grid, and thus the local homes and businesses
sported various bespoke solar or other generation systems which added to the town’s
heritage & frontier feel. Mains
electricity came to Walhalla around the turn of the millennium (with the
reticulation carefully hidden so as not to detract from the town’s heritage).
Another restoration achieved around this time was the recreation of The Star
Hotel in Walhalla, faithfully rebuilt on the location of the original and
providing much more comfortable accommodation than the tent I had previously
relied on! My wife and I enjoyed greatly enjoyed staying at the Star Hotel
and various local bushwalks such as the track to Mushroom Rocks and on to the
snow gums at Mt Erica. Another favourite route direct from Walhalla follows
the old timber tramlines which traversed the steep slopes and now provide easily
graded walking tracks through otherwise very tough country, with a particular
highlight being the old Poverty Point tramway bridge crossing the Thompson
River. Walhalla
Goldfields Railway Motive
power on the Walhalla Goldfields Railway is provided by diesel locos
including a wonderful old John Fowler locomotive built in 1950 for the State
Electricity Commission of Victoria, which began its preservation career with
the WGR in April 1994. The WGR
has a good presence on the Web & Facebook: Web: https://www.walhallarail.com.au/ Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/walhalla.goldfields.railway/ Sister
Henschel / Thai Sugar Corporation locos: Rob
Dickinson’s ‘International Steam Pages’ (as referenced below) lists sister Henschel
/ Thai Sugar Corporation locos 105 (b/n 29582 of 1956) and 106 (b/n 29584 of
1956) as preserved in the UK. No.103 is also listed as now preserved in the
UK, but that listing presumably is in error. |
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This photo is also provided by Rob Ashworth and shows
No.103 at Happy Creek station on the WGR during August 2004.
A scanned photo view of No.103 at rest in the loco shed at Thompson.
A second view of No.103 at rest in the loco shed at Thompson.
The shed frame rather gets in the way!
Detail view of the builder's plate.
References
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a |
'Light
Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow Gauge Railways', Number 214, August 2010 (Page 21).
Published
by the Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. |
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b |
Dalby Park
Pioneer Museum – Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dalbypioneerparkmuseum Post dated 28 October 2022. |
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c |
‘The
International Steam Pages’ website published by Rob Dickinson. Thailand page: Preserved / Extant
Steam Locos and Steam Cranes in Thailand https://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/thaipreserved.htm Retrieved 29 February 2024 |
Page updated: 11 May 2024
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