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A & D Munro – Shay No.2 Under restoration to operation |
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My thanks to Jason Gundlach for this view of the repaired
bogies & frame of Lima B/No. 2097 in January 2005.
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Builder |
Lima
Locomotive Works, |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
2097 of 1908 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
A-Type (2-truck, 2 cylinders) |
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A
& D Munro built a private tramway to feed timber to their
sawmill at Palmtree and to provide a connection with the Queensland
Government Railways line at Hampton. Known as Munro's Hampton Tramway, this
line was built to 2' 6" gauge and with very steep gradients of up to
1:9. The line followed Perseverance Creek for part of its length and is
sometimes referred to as Munro's Hampton-Perseverance Tram. Shay locomotives
were ideal for work on steep logging lines and accordingly A & D Munro
ordered a small A-type Shay locomotive from the Lima Locomotive Works, Ohio.
Lima builder's number 906 of 1904 became No.1 on Munro's Hampton Tramway and
it was later joined by a virtually identical sister No.2, Lima builder's
number 2097 of 1908. The two small Munro Shay locos had 2 bogies and two
cylinders (7” diameter x 12” stroke) and were wood-fired. Munro's
Hampton Tramway closed in 1936 but the two Shay locomotives remained at the
Palmtree sawmill site, slowly slipping into dereliction. At some stage they
were scavenged for scrap metal, with damage to the boilers showing that
explosives were used to remove the cylinder assemblies. Significant
components of the two Shay locomotives survived at the Palmtree sawmill site
and these remnants were donated to the Illawarra Light Railway Society in
1974. The
surviving Munro Hampton Shay components were delivered to the Illawarra Light
Railway & Museum (ILR&M) at Albion Park in 1974, including the boiler
of No.1 and the boiler, frame and bunker of No.2. These were reassembled to
form a static display of locomotive No.2, which could be seen at the Albion
Park museum in the 1978-79 period. No.2 was then dismantled as the first step
of an intended restoration to operation; when restored it was planned to be known
as No.1 (Lima 906) with some minor parts from No.2 (Lima 2097). New main
beams were fitted to create a viable frame, and two spare 2' gauge Shay
trucks from the Mapleton Tramway Shays
were overhauled. I understand both of the original Shay boilers are beyond
repair and accordingly it was intended to use a spare Davenport locomotive
boiler. In 2006, surplus parts
from sister locomotive Munro No.1 (Lima B/No.906 of 1904) were sold by the
ILR&M to Sketches Mountain Resort at Ravensbourne, Queensland, where it
was intended to display a statically restored locomotive. This plan later faltered
with the sale of the resort, but a new group subsequently formed, the Munro
Tramway Historical Group Inc., and took over the Shay locomotive parts. I
understand these parts were subsequently augmented by further spare Shay
components ex-ILR&M and on 30 March 2019 the group completed their project
with A & D Munro Shay No.1 displayed under a weather roof at Ravensbourne
(Sports Grounds). I believe the ILR&M project will now be known as
A&D Munro Shay No.2 (B/No. 2097 of 1908) but I understand the project is
effectively on hold, pending the required significant funding for the many new
and reconditioned parts that are needed to complete an operational
locomotive. The
Illawarra Light Railway & Museum website includes a page for the A & D Munro Shay
providing a brief history and additional photos of this interesting
locomotive. Fact
sheets for the Munro Shays (Lima B/Nos. 906
& 2097) can be found at the excellent Shaylocomotives.com
website. For an indication of how Munro Shay No.2 would look if restoration is completed, refer to sister loco Munro Shay No.1. |
The frame of Shay No.2
(Lima 2097) at the ILRMS workshop on 13 October 2002.
A Davenport locomotive boiler is trial fitted, together
with an original Shay smokebox.
A restored 2' gauge Shay truck in the ILRMS loco shed at
Albion Park. 13 October 2002.
Spotted during my visit
to the Illawarra Light Railway & Museum on 3 May 2015 was this intriguing
pallet-load of Shay parts.
Among the components is the main crank shaft, complete with
eccentrics and part of the union joints.
My visit to the
Illawarra Light Railway & Museum on 3 May 2015 also found one of the two
Shay boilers placed on static display.
Damage to the outer firebox sheet is clearly visible where
explosive was used by scrappers to blast off the cylinders.
An earlier view of the same boiler as seen above, as found in
a storage area at Albion Park on 13 October 2002.
References
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a |
www.shaylocomotives.com
website, viewed 13 April 2019. |
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b |
K.
McCarthy ‘Guide to the Main Exhibits - Illawarra Light Railway Museum
Society’, published
1992 |
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c |
Information
provided via email by Chris Tait on 18 March 2019. |
Page updated: 14 April 2019
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