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Kiama Fowler Public Works Department No.35 / Wollondilly |
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PWD 35 / The Kiama Fowler is seen in storage at
the Illawarra Light Railway & Museum on 19 March 2006.
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Builder |
John
Fowler & Co, Leeds |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
16089
of 1923 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-4-0T |
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This
locomotive was originally Public Works Department (PWD) No.35 (the second PWD
locomotive to carry this number), having been purchased for use on the State
Metal Quarries at Kiama. It is
sometimes referred to as 'Wollondilly' and is also known as “The Kiama
Fowler”. PWD
35 entered preservation as early as 1958 when it moved to the Marsden Museum
of Historic Engines at Goulburn. Here
it was initially used as a stationary boiler for the magnificent Appleby Beam
Engine which pumped fresh water to the City of Goulburn and is the
centrepiece of the Marsden Museum. PWD
35 later joined the growing collection of 2’ gauge steam locomotives at the
Marsden Museum, with photographs showing that it was used on the 2’ gauge
tourist line which was once a feature of that site. In 1974 the locomotive was purchased for
private preservation and dispatched to a Sydney location. Around
1985 there was a proposal to rebuild a portion of the Kiama quarry railway as
a tourist attraction, with the Kiama Fowler central to the proposal. The locomotive was displayed at Kiama for a
period during 1986 & 1987 prior to being placed in storage at the
Illawarra Light Railway & Museum Society (ILRMS), Albion Park. Alas the proposal for a tourist railway at
Kiama did not achieve Council approval and the Kiama Fowler remained stored
for many years in the loco shed at Albion Park. It was donated to the ILRMS in 1998. My
visit to the ILRMS Albion Park on 3 May 2015 found restoration and repair
work on the Kiama Fowler now underway, with a return to service anticipated
in a few years. Among the work to be
undertaken is replacement of the heavily pitted smokebox door. The
Illawarra Light Railway & Museum Society website includes a page for Kiama Fowler
providing a brief history and additional photos of this interesting industrial
locomotive. A large
and diverse range of steam locomotives once served the various industrial
operations situated in the Illawarra; each of these have been documented in
Ken McCarthy’s book “'Gazetteer of Industrial Steam
Locomotives, Illawarra District NSW'” which makes for interesting reading for
ferroequinologists. |
An earlier photo of the
Kiama Fowler in storage at Albion Park.
13 October 2002
The lower portion of the smokebox door shows heavy pitting and distortion and will be replaced.
References
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a |
K.
McCarthy "Guide to the Main Exhibits - Illawarra Light Railway Museum
Society", published 1992. |
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b |
McCarthy, K. 'Gazetteer of
Industrial Steam Locomotives, Illawarra District NSW', prepared by
Ken McCarthy for the Illawarra Environmental Heritage Committee. Published by the Australian Railway Historical Society
(NSW Division) December 1983. |
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c |
Webmaster's
observation or comment |
Page updated: 4 June 2015
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