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Pmr 720 Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre, Peterborough |
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Pmr 720 and W 901 displayed in the roundhouse at Steamtown,
Peterborough on 7 June 2007.
Pmr 720 is sans boiler clothing, which helps preserve the boiler barrel even if a rather unauthentic look.
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Pmr 720 represents
the final WAGR development of the Pacific locomotive – the fine Pm/Pmr class
built by North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow in the post-war years. 35
Pm / Pmr class locomotives were built, the first 18 as Pm-class while the
final 17 locos were further enhanced with roller-bearings on the driving
wheels, hence Pmr class. Although designed for passenger service, the
Pm/Pmr-class proved better suited to fast freight duties and lasted in that
capacity until the end of WAGR steam. (For more information about the Pm/Pmr-class
locomotives, refer to class leader Pm 701.) Pmr 720
entered WAGR service on 29 June 1950 and was officially withdrawn on 14 August
1972, giving a working life of 22 years. Several modern WAGR steam
locomotives remained in storage through the 1970’s which provided an
opportunity for their preservation. Pmr 720 was among these lucky machines,
finding a home at Steamtown Peterborough in 1979 where it was restored to
operation in the 1980's and ran tourist trains to Oorroroo and Quorn. Unfortunately, heritage railway operations at Steamtown Peterborough finished around 2000 but the site now hosts a very worthwhile railway museum based on the roundhouse and workshop buildings. Pmr 720 was displayed in one of the roundhouse stalls at the time of my visit in 2007 (per photographs on this page) in company with other steam locomotives in the collection W 901, W 907 and T 199. Peterborough
has an interesting railway history as an important railway junction, locomotive
depot and workshop supporting the broad-gauge railway to Adelaide via Burra,
plus narrow-gauge lines to Broken Hill, Crystal Brook and Oorroroo / Quorn. A
complex arrangement of multi-gauge track and bogie change apparatus was
required at various stages over the years, but ultimately the standard-gauge
East-West route opened in 1971 became all that remains following closure of
the broad gauge line south via Burra and the narrow gauge line north to
Oorroroo and Quorn. On a trip to Adelaide on the Indian Pacific in May 1987 I
recall watching grain being transhipped from narrow gauge to standard gauge wagons
in the Peterborough yards as various employees milled around; the
inefficiency of this arrangement an example of the break-of-gauge dilemma at various
Australian locations. Oorroroo is the site of large grain silos but alas the
line was not converted to standard gauge, instead being closed and lifted around
2009. |
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Pmr 720 slumbers in a
roundhouse stall at Steamtown, Peterborough. Photo dated 7 June 2007.
W 901 is in the adjacent stall.
Happy days for Pmr 720 ‘Keith Smith’ in steam at
Peterborough; I believe this view dates from the 1980’s.
A more recent photo of Pmr 720 under repair in the workshop
at Peterborough, which is part of the museum complex.
The clothing has been stripped from the boiler barrel.
Pmr 720 ‘Keith Smith’ at Peterborough shortly after its
initial restoration to steam; photo kindly contributed by Nic Doncaster.
You can feel the steam energy in this
shot, with the safety valves lifting.
Pmr 720 is wearing lined black livery but in WAGR service
the Pm/Pmr-class locos were painted Larch Green.
Pmr 720 departing Peterborough towards Oorroroo circa 1988;
photo kindly contributed by Nic Doncaster.
Alas the branch line to Oorroroo and Quorn was lifted in
2009 or thereabouts.
Pmr 720 heads a sombre
queue of stored Pm/Pmr and W-class locos at Narrogin, dated 11 October 1970.
The
siding is strewn with ash and coal fines, typical of a busy steam loco depot!
Image
used with permission of the Rail Heritage WA
archive:
http://railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/displayimage.php?pid=18557
(Image reference T04384,
original photographer – R. Minchin.)
References
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a |
A. Gunzburg
'A history of WAGR steam locomotives', published
by ARHS (Western Australian Division) 1984. |
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b |
Gray. W.
K., 'Guide
to Rail Transport Museum, Bassendean, Western Australia', Australian
Railway Historical Society W. A. Division, First
Edition November 1999. |
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c |
Rail
Heritage WA website, Exhibits page: ‘Pm Class Steam Locomotive’: https://www.railheritagewa.org.au/museum/locos/pages/pm_steam.php retrieved 24
December 2023 |
Page updated: 24 December 2023
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