Corrimal Colliery Krauss

Remains stored at Woodhouselee

The remains of Corrimal Colliery's 0-4-0WT Krauss 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	6927 of 1914
Wheel Arrangement	0-4-0WT

This locomotive was built for the Corrimal-Balgownie Coal Company and was the last Krauss locomotive imported to Australia. Small German-built locomotives such as this example had been popular for mining, industrial and construction duties until the outbreak of World War 1, after which British manufactured machines were favoured.

The Corrimal-Balgownie Coal Company operated a complex and interesting railway system at their Corrimal Colliery, including a 2’-gauge railway which traversed the mountainside linking mine adits with an inclined haulage to the coastal plain below. Along this route worked several small locomotives including Krauss b/n 2859 and b/n 6927. Ken McCarthy has written an authorative account on these railways and locomotives in his article ‘The Corrimal Colliery Railway’ in which he states this locomotive was stored around 1944, having been replaced by the newly arrived Hudswell Clarke b/n 1423 of 1922. Krauss b/n 6927 subsequently spent many years on an isolated siding which eventually became undermined by landslip, causing the locomotive to list and by 1964 it had completely fallen on its side and toppled down the hillside. During this period of neglect and decay it lost many parts, with the boiler and cab scavenged by scrap collectors.

The chassis of Krauss b/n 6927 was retrieved from Corrimal Colliery for preservation by a Sydney enthusiast / collector in 1971 and initially stored at the Marsden Museum of Historic Engines, Goulburn NSW from December 1971 to March 1974. I believe these remains later resided at a private site in Gymea, in company with Krauss 2589, Krauss 6611 & Maffei 3677. More recently these Krauss locomotive remains have moved to a rural property at Woodhouselee, near Crookwell, NSW.

My thanks to Joel Turner for providing updated information and a photograph for these locomotive remains.

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 Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow-Gauge Railways', Number 60, April 1978. Feature article "The Corrimal Colliery Railway" by K. McCarthy. Published by Light Railway Research Society of Australia.
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: 31 August 2021

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