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Gin Gin Mill No.5 Alexandra Timber Tramway & Museum, Victoria |
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No.5 is seen in steam at Alexandra on 1 April 2002 in this
old, scanned photo view.
The welded water tanks are apparently
smaller than the originals and date from the loco’s restoration at Goulburn
around 1975.
The moniker ‘ATT&M’ on the cylinder cladding references
the Alexandra Timber Tramway & Museum.
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Builder |
John
Fowler & Co, Leeds |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
11885
of 1909 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-6-0T |
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The city
of Leeds in West Yorkshire became something of a centre of excellence in the
manufacture of narrow-gauge and industrial steam locomotives, notably due to
builders John
Fowler & Co,
Hunslet
Engine Company Ltd and Hudswell,
Clarke & Co. Ltd. Many Leeds locomotive products graced Australian
rails, from the narrow-gauge units supplied to the sugar cane tramways of
Queensland, through to various timber getting and construction project
machines, standard gauge shunting locos and even a batch of 2-6-0 locos supplied
to the NSW Public Works Department, later becoming the NSW Government
Railways Z(27) class. Today this
manufacturing heritage is celebrated by the Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills, and the website Leeds
Engine Builders provides a fascinating deep dive for ferroequinologists! Among the many
fine Leeds products to come to Australia was this loco, built by John Fowler
& Co in 1909. Like many industrial locomotives, it moved between several
different owners and locations through the years, with its first resale to
Johnston Mill in 1913. A third ownership came in 1925 when the loco became
No.5 at the Isis Central Mill. In 1966 it moved to the Gin Gin Mill, inland
from Bundaberg, where it retained its identity as No.5. No.5 was
preserved for the Goulburn Museum of Historic Engines, located at the Marsden
Weir pumphouse on the Mulwaree River, Goulburn NSW, joining the significant
collection of railway and other steam equipment at that site. Arriving in
1972, it was restored to operation in 1975 including new welded water tanks
(apparently somewhat smaller than the originals). In those days the Goulburn
Museum of Historic Engines also featured a demonstration tramway extending
from the pumphouse alongside the access road to the entrance gates, with a
steep grade and sharp curves providing a fun steam train ride for museum
visitors - including the webmaster in his younger days! The
Goulburn collection was thinned in the late 1970’s and No.5 was sold to a
tourist attraction in Canberra, ACT in 1978. That venture did not survive and
in 1980, No.5 was sold at auction to the Alexandra Timber Tramway &
Museum in Victoria, where it arrived in 1981. After a period of repair, No.5
was introduced to service in 1988 and became the regular operating locomotive
at the Alexandra Timber Tramway & Museum, where it runs over a lengthy
loop track ringing the site and routed through the platform road of the
former Victorian Railways station, which has also been fully restored! A
number of John Fowler & Co locomotives operated on the forestry railways
of Victoria and today No.5 represents those capable and robust old machines. The Alexandra
Timber Tramway & Museum website contains some additional information
& photographs for this handsome Fowler locomotive. |
A second view of No.5 at Alexandra on 1 April 2002.
References
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a |
Light
Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. web site (retrieved 11 February 2026): 'Preserved Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives'
list by John Browning |
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b |
Alexandra
Timber Tramway & Museum website Locomotives/ Steam page, retrieved 19 August 2026. |
Page updated: 10 September 2026
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