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J & A Brown No.24 Stored for the Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum |
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The two ROD locomotives stored on the former ‘potato
siding’ in the Dorrigo station yard.
I believe the nearer loco is No.24, with No.20 behind. This view is courtesy of Mark Newton & dates from 1999.
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Builder |
Great Central Railway, Gorton
works |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
Built 1919 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
2-8-0 |
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No. in class |
521 built for ROD 13 purchased as war surplus by J
& A Brown |
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When J & A Brown needed additional motive
power for their private railway linking Pelaw Main and Richmond Main
collieries to Hunter River loading staithes at Hexham, their eyes turned to
British Army ‘Railway Operating Division’ (ROD) 2-8-0 locomotives stored in
the UK as war surplus, with the first three (Nos. 12 – 14) purchased in 1925.
Entering J & A Brown service in 1926, they proved successful in heavy
coal traffic over their main route through the Sugarloaf Range and across
Hexham swamp – a line approximately 16km long and including several trestle
bridges and three tunnels. Ten more ROD locos were subsequently purchased via
several transactions to 1927. J & A Brown also operated a fleet of ’60
miler’ coastal steamers for ferrying coal from Hexham to customers in Sydney
Harbour and took advantage of the delivery run of their new ship the SS Minmi
to transport the 10 additional ROD locos from the UK as deck cargo. Colliery output declined during the
Depression years and so the 10 additional ROD locomotive were progressively
reassembled and placed in service as rail traffic demanded, with the last
(No.24) not being reactivated until 1933. In practice a maximum of 10 were in
service at any one time, with others awaiting repair or providing spares.
(For further background to J & A Brown’s fleet of ROD locomotives, refer
to the page for No.21 / 23.) J & A Brown No.24 was originally ROD 2003,
one of 369 built by North British locomotive Company to government contracts
for service during World War 1. As ROD 2003 this loco worked in France for a
short time after the Armistice prior to returning to the UK in 1919. It was
loaned to the Great Central Railway for a while before being placed in
storage, and then purchased by J & A Brown in 1927. In addition to being the last of J & A
Brown’s 13 ROD locomotives to enter service, it also became the last in
service, dropping its fire for the last time on 28 June 1973. It then joined
the queue of withdrawn J &A Brown locos stored at Hexham awaiting
disposal outside the Hexham running shed. Coal & Allied Industries (successors
to J & A Brown) generously donated one ROD locomotive for local
preservation in 1973 (No.21 but apparently numbered 23 at the time) while
inviting tenders to dispose of the other machines, prompting enthusiasts to
scramble to save as many as possible. While the oldest and most historic of J
& A Brown’s remaining steam locos were saved, including Avonside No.2,
No.3, No.4, Mersey Tank No.5 and ROD Nos.20 & 24, alas seven ROD locos
were sold to scrap merchants Sims Metal. These seven ROD locos were crudely
cut at Hexham in September 1973 with the butchered remains loaded to bogie
wagons and railed to Mascot for further reduction. I understand No.20 & No.24 may have been
purchased by, or on behalf of, UK-based preservation groups, but the cost of
transport proved too great, and the Hunter Valley Steam Railway & Museum
(HVSR&M) ultimately took ownership. The two locos were stored at
Broadmeadow circa 1978, later moving to the HVSR&M storage site at
Rhondda Colliery. In late 1983 they were rail hauled to Glenreagh before
being towed to Dorrigo in 1986 along the reopened branch line. Here they have
remained in storage on the ‘potato siding’ in the Dorrigo Station yard,
together with other locos in the Dorrigo collection. When the
webmaster first started the Australian Steam site, internet connection was
much slower than today – I had a ‘fast’ 28.8 KBps modem! – and accordingly
early photos (such as the 1999 image on this page) were presented with a small
file size to provide an adequate download speed. Writing now in 2021 during a
COVID lockdown, I dream of the day I will be able to visit regional NSW once
again, and Dorrigo will be high on my destination list so I can take (if
granted the owner’s permission) a series of high-quality digital photos of J
& A Brown Nos.20 & 24 – and indeed the entire Dorrigo collection. I have a
particular fascination with J & A Brown’s locomotives as I have childhood
memories of these machines during their period of storage at Hexham. I would
greatly appreciate contribution of photos showing the J &A Brown locos in
action, or during their forlorn years of rusty storage at Hexham. |
References
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a |
Preston, R.
G. ‘The Richmond Vale Railway’ published
by the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum, 1989. |
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b |
Oberg, L.
‘Locomotives of Australia - 1985 to 2010’ (Fifth Edition), published
2010 by Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd |
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c |
Andrews, B. R. ‘Coal, Railways & Mines –
The story of the Railways and Collieries of J & A Brown’, published
by the Iron Horse Press, 2004. |
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d |
Kramer, J.
'The Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum - an Illustrated Guide', published by the Dorrigo Steam Railway &
Museum, 1987. |
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e |
Wikipedia
entry for ROD
2-8-0 locomotives, retrieved 22 August 2021. |
Page updated: 23 August 2021
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