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R 761 Maintained by Steamrail Victoria |
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This photo is kindly provided by Trevor
Staats and shows R 761 and R 707 doubleheading near Maryborough on 17 May
2003.
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Builder |
North British
Locomotive Co, Glasgow |
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Builder’s
Number & Year |
27051 of
1951 |
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Designer |
Victorian
Railways |
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Wheel
Arrangement |
4-6-4 “Hudson” |
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Entered
Service |
9 April
1952 |
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Withdrawn
from Service |
6 July
1964 |
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R 761 was commissioned
in 1952 as one of 70 members of the Victorian Railway's R-class 4-6-4
"Hudson" main line passenger locomotives. These locomotives were
designed by Victorian Railways and were urgently required by the post World War 2 period, however construction was delayed
by competing priorities. Eventually
construction was outsourced to the North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow
but, as with so many post-war steam locomotives orders, delivery ultimately
came many years after the demand required. The
R-class superseded the A2-class 4-6-0 locomotives on fast passenger turns
however the simultaneous arrival of first-generation diesels reduced their
usefulness and the R-class was destined for relatively short lives and low
mileages. R 761 was withdrawn
as early as 1964 and placed in storage at Newport Workshops. It outlived most other steam locomotives withdrawn
around this time, eventually passing into the care of Steamrail Victoria. R 761 has
been immaculately maintained by Steamrail Victoria at their Newport Workshops
base for many years. It wears
authentic black livery with red running boards and “blinker” smoke
deflectors. R 761 has delighted both
rail fans
and the public with many fast main-line excursions over several decades of Steamrail
Victoria excursions, often double-heading with either R 707, R 711 or R 766. Wikipedia
provides further information about the Victorian
Railways R-class locomotives. YouTube
has several videos of R 761 in railtour service, including this fine example “Snow Train 2013
with Hudson Steam Engine R761: Australian Trains” showing R 761 on
high-speed run pasts during the Snow Train II tour of 2013. In addition, John Hurst has many images of
R 761 in railtour duty in his excellent collection of railway
photographs. |
My thanks to John Hurst for
this slide view captioned "R 761 waits at Pakenham for clearance",
taken on 10 April 1994
The SCOAP wheel centres are prominent in this view.
The North British
builder's plate centrally mounted on the German-style "blinker" smoke
deflectors.
This view was taken as R 761 awaited departure from Bendigo
during an Easter 1995 railtour.
References
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a |
"A
brief history of Preserved Rolling Stock of Victoria" by Norm Bray,
Peter J Vincent and Daryl M Gregory. Published
by Brief History Books, PO Box 437, Sunbury, Vic 3429. |
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b |
ARHS
(Victorian Division) 'North Williamstown Railway Museum', Third Edition 1968,
Revised
1977, Reprinted 1980. |
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c |
"Locomotives
of Australia - 1985 to 2010" (Fifth Edition), by Leon Oberg, published
2010 by Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd. |
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Page updated: 5 March 2015
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