Preserved Steam Locomotives Down Under

S 549 ‘Greenmount’

The Railway Museum, Bassendean

S 549 ‘Greenmount’ on railtour duty at Dowerin on 10 December 2006.

The boiler cowling had again been truncated by this stage.

This photo was kindly contributed by Phil Melling.

Builder	WAGR Midland Workshops
Builder Year	1947
Wheel Arrangement	4-8-2

The S-class were the first locomotive type to be entirely designed and built by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR), with the design team led by Chief Mechanical Engineer Frederick Mills. Although conceived in the late 1930’s, construction of these powerful 4-8-2 locos was delayed by competing wartime priorities and material shortages, with the first three units emerging from the WAGR Midland Workshops in 1943. The class ultimately grew to 10 units, with 2 more completed in 1945 and another 5 in 1947. The firebox and boiler design was optimised for the slow-burning local Collie coal, resulting in a wide diameter boiler and large grate, contributing to the purposeful look of these imposing machines.

It is interesting to note that the competing construction priorities at Midland Workshops included ten 4-8-2+2-8-4 ASG Garratts, which were designed by the Commonwealth Land Transport Board under the leadership of F. Mills. There is a resemblance between the S-class and the contemporary ASG locomotives, including a skyline boiler cowling running from smokebox to cab – a streamlining and fashion design feature which is hard to reconcile with wartime austerity and cost constraints.

Given their 4-8-2 ‘Mountain’ wheel arrangement, the S-class appropriately received names of Western Australian mountains, carried on brass nameplates attached to the running boards. The class were intended for mixed traffic duties, although most of their career was spent on freight turns. Preserved example S 542 was the second completed and named ‘Bakewell’, being originally numbered 477 among the first three S-class locos in the WAGR numerical sequence 476 – 478 prior to the full class of 10 being reallocated into the number band 541 – 550.

The S-class locomotives suffered some teething troubles, leading to early modifications to the steam inlet, regulator and superheater arrangements. The original domeless boiler design, which incorporated an internal perforated-pipe steam collector, was replaced by a stubby steam dome and external steam pipe running to the smokebox via an anti-vacuum valve. One of the more visible consequences of these modifications was the shortening of the boiler-top cowling from full length to only half of the boiler length, with these live steam components remaining hidden under the boiler-top cowling at the smokebox end while other items – notably the safety valves – were now revealed further along the boiler top towards the cab.

Other early modifications include the replacement of exhaust steam injectors with live steam injectors, and the addition of flanges to the leading driving wheels. These modifications were also made to the ASG Garratts, again suggesting the latter’s relationship to the S-class design.

Five of the original low-sided tenders were rebuilt in the 1950’s to a high-sided design, which increased water capacity at the expense of coal capacity. S 549 retained one of the original low-sided tenders.

Adrian Gunzberg provides a full history of the S-class and the various design modification in his authorative book ‘A History of WAGR Steam Locomotives’. This book includes a fine colour photo of sister S 542 in steam on the front cover!

Nine members of the class were officially withdrawn in June 1971, with S 549 ‘Greenmount’ the exception and lasting until August 1972. Fortunately, it was saved to represent the type by the Australian Railway Historical Society (WA Division) in December 1972 and placed on display at The Railway Museum, Bassendean.

In 1985 a 10-year restoration program began, culminating in the 1995 relaunch of S 549 as an operational exhibit. An interesting feature of its restoration was the reinstatement of the boiler-top cowling to its original full length back to the cab. After some main line tours and steam-up events, S 549 was withdrawn from operation in 2025 and now requires overhaul.

My visit to Bassendean of May 2002 found S 549 displayed in wartime black livery. Later photos show S 549 was subsequently repainted to WAGR green livery.

Rowan Kinnane / Rail Media Productions has recorded this interesting video of S 549:

https://youtu.be/fGFQ5FlUBLU?si=Qcu-czHSbVwK5e1Z

I’ve also included below a series of detailed photos of S 549 by Rowan Kinnane; these views are dated 27 August 2025.

Two other S-class locomotives survive. While the WAGR scrapped most of its modern steam fleet in the early 1970’s, apparently a small reserve – perhaps 20 locos from the Pm/Pmr/S/V and W classes - was retained through the 1970’s and many were subsequently rescued for preservation, as listed elsewhere on this site. Among these were S 542 ‘Bakewell’ plinthed at East Perth Terminus Station in 1976, and S 547 ‘Lindsay’ purchased by the Bellarine Railway in 1980. The last steam locos scrapped by the WAGR were 2 W-class and 2 V-class around 1980; I’m hoping one day to obtain full details of this apparent WAGR steam reserve and the various disposal dates.

S 549 ‘Greenmount’, recently overhauled, Midland loco depot, coal conveyor, coaling tower, M Class 2840 coal box wagon.

Photo dated 31 August 1970.

Image used with permission of the Rail Heritage WA archive:

http://railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/displayimage.php?pid=28787

(Image reference T06306, original photographer – N. Pusenjak)

S 549 ‘Greenmount’ heads a good near Collie. Photo dated April 1971.

Image used with permission of the Rail Heritage WA archive:

http://railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/displayimage.php?pid=28968

(Image reference T06487, original photographer – N. Pusenjak)