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Qunaba Mill ‘Nipper’ Australian Sugar Cane Railway, Bundaberg |
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No.3 ‘Nipper’ on duty at the Australian Sugar Cane Railway,
Bundaberg Botanic Gardens on 26 December 2004.
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Builder |
Bundaberg Foundry Engineers Ltd |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
3
of 1952 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-4-2T |
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The
Bundy Fowler locos The
well-known manufacturer John Fowler & Co, Leeds, UK built many steam
locomotives for the Australian sugar cane industry, where their locomotives
were held in high regard. In 1935, John Fowler & Co made a strategic
decision cease manufacture of steam locomotives in favour of internal
combustion locomotives, leaving a market gap in the Australian sugar industry
where there was still demand for steam locomotives. Stepping in to fill this
gap were Australian companies Perry Engineering in Adelaide, and Bundaberg
Foundry Engineers Ltd (Bundaberg Foundry) leveraging their established heavy
engineering business serving the cane mills of Queensland’s Burnett Region
and beyond. By 1948,
Bundaberg Foundry had obtained firm orders from various mills for 8 steam
locomotives based on recent John Fowler & Co designs operating at
Queensland mills, in particular 0-6-2T ‘Airdmillan’ (Fowler b/n 20763
of 1935), and with modernisations such as roller-bearing axles. It seems a
licence was eventually negotiated with John Fowler & Co, but steel supply
proved problematic in the post-war years and the first loco was not completed
until 1952. A single 0-4-2T version was among the 8 constructed. These
antipodean Fowler cousins became known as ‘Bundy Fowlers’ and were not only
among the last steam locomotives built in Australia, but also among the last
in revenue service – with all 8 Bundaberg-Fowler steam locomotives ultimately
passing into preservation. John
Browning and Brian Webber have written a comprehensive and well-illustrated
account of the various steam and diesel locomotives built and reconstructed
by Bundaberg Foundry Engineers Limited in ‘Built by Bundaberg Foundry’ as
referenced below. Rather than repeat the information provided in that
authorative work, I have sought here to provide a brief background to the
Bundy-Fowler steam locomotives and their preservation careers. Qunaba
Mill ‘Nipper’ ‘Nipper’
is the only Bundy-Fowler not built to 0-6-2T configuration. While having the
same boiler design as its sisters, it was instead devised as a 0-4-2T,
apparently because Mourilyan Mill (south of Townsville) preferred that wheel
arrangement and made this specification when placing their order with
Bundaberg Foundry. The loco was No.8 on the Mourilyan Mill roster. In the late
1960’s the loco returned to the Bundaberg area when sold to Millaquin Mill,
remaining there until the mid-1970’s. It finished its working career at
Qunaba Mill, Bundaberg, where it received the name ‘Nipper' and remained in
traffic until 1979. (The intriguing name ‘Qunaba’ is derived from Queensland
National Bank, which owned the mill at one stage.) ‘Nipper’
entered the sphere of railway preservation in 1981 when donated to the
Bundaberg Steam
Tramway Preservation Society, where it was restored to steam in November
1988. A new firebox and tubes were built and fitted by the Bundaberg Foundry
in 1991. A further overhaul has followed in more recent years, after which
Nipper was recommissioned in late 2014. The
Bundaberg Steam Tramway Preservation Society operate the Australian Sugar Cane
Railway
within the Bundaberg Botanical Gardens. I greatly enjoyed my visit there
during the heat and humidity of a Christmas holiday on 26 & 27 December
2004, receiving a warm welcome by Society volunteers who kindly showed me
around their operation and running shed. I understand the railway loop around
the Botanical Gardens has since been extended to provide visitors with a
longer journey. |
References
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a |
Light
Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Web site (Retrieved
3 November 2018): 'Preserved
Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives' list by John Browning |
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b |
Website for Bundaberg Walkers
Engineering Ltd, retrieved
12 September 2022 |
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c |
Browning J.
& Webber B. ‘Built
by Bundaberg Foundry’, published 2012 by the Australian
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society, Woodford QLD ISBN
978-0-9596009-4-0 |
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d |
Australian Sugar Cane Railway website (History
page), retrieved 3 August 2022 |
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e |
Information sheet provided by the Bundaberg Steam Tramway
Preservation Society and discussions with members during my visit of 26 &
27 December 2004. |
Page updated: 11 December 2022
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