Mount Bauple Mill Krauss

Remains stored at Woodhouselee

The remains of the Mount Bauple Mill Krauss 0-4-0WT locomotive stored at Woodhouselee, NSW.

This photograph is dated 16th May 2016 and was kindly contributed by Joel Turner.

Builder	Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co, Munich, Germany
Builder’s Number & Year	6611 of 1912
Wheel Arrangement	0-4-0WT

Small German-built locomotives such as this Krauss example were popular for mining, industrial and construction duties until the outbreak of World War 1. Others found employment in the Sugar industry, such as this 0-4-0WT example supplied to the Mount Bauple Central Mill Co. Ltd in 1913 to replace horse haulage on their short tramline connecting to local cane growers. The Mount Bauple mill had a rather turbulent history, opening as a private venture in 1896 but falling into receivership and government control in 1904. The mill was transferred to a grower’s cooperative under the ‘Mount Bauple Co-operative Milling Association’ in 1926 but variable cane supply was always an issue, and the mill finally closed in 1951. Their little Krauss locomotive was abandoned by 1950, presumably life-expired and no longer worthy of further investment in repair.

In 1972 the Krauss loco’s remains were obtained for preservation by a Sydney enthusiast / collector and initially stored at the Marsden Museum of Historic Engines, Goulburn NSW. In 1975 the remains were transferred to a private site in the Sydney suburb of Gymea, in company with Krauss 2589, Krauss 6927 & Maffei 3677. More recently these Krauss locomotive remains have moved to a rural property at Woodhouselee, near Crookwell, NSW.

Today the Mount Bauple mill is remembered by a local historical group, which has created a display featuring a John Fowler locomotive (b/n 11165 of 1907) cosmetically restored to represent the Mount Bauple Mill Krauss loco. Perhaps one day that group might also arrange for the remains of Krauss b/n 6611 of 1912 to return to Mount Bauple and reassembled for display?

References

a	'Light Railways', Number 69, July 1980. Published by Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Article pp10-22 ‘Marsden Museum of Historic Engines - Goulburn Steam Museum’ compiled by K. McCarthy.
b	Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. website, 'Preserved Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives' list by John Browning: (www.lrrsa.org.au/LRR_SGRc.htm) Retrieved 1 September 2021.
c	'Light Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow-Gauge Railways', Number 153, June 2000. Article ‘Krauss Locomotives in Australia – A close look at their characteristics and an overview of their migrations’ by Bruce Macdonald. Published by Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. pp.10-18. (This article is also available online.)
d	Wikipedia page for Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co / George Krauss, retrieved 31 August 2021.

Page updated: 8 September 2021

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