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Alison
was built for Neranwood Hardwood Company, a timber tramway at Mudgeeraba in
the Gold Coast hinterland. Alas the loco fell into disuse after only a few
years of service when the tramway ceased operations in 1926.
A
new lease of life came in 1931 when Alison was purchased by the Farleigh
Mill, Mackay, where it worked in sugar cane haulage until the early 1960’s.
In
1972, the management of Farleigh Mill donated Alison to the Australian
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society (ANGRMS), with the loco initially
transported to Brisbane for a period of storage before arriving at their
Woodford site in 1980. ANGRMS is based at Woodford station on the former QR
Kilcoy branch, a portion of which has been re-laid to 2’ gauge for heritage
train operations and known as the Woodford Railway. A series of storage
sidings at Woodford house Alison and other steam locomotives saved by
ANGRMS, but alas many have not received any rehabilitation as yet. ANGRMS
has recently constructed a new storage and restoration shed at Woodford,
and perhaps Alison will be a beneficiary of this investment.
Some
sources list the build year for this locomotive as 1923 rather than 1924. I
would appreciate a photograph of the builder’s plate, or excerpt from
original John Fowler & Co archive data, to confirm the correct build
year. It would also be interesting to know the background of the name
‘Alison’ and if this was first applied at Neranwood Hardwood Co, or
Farleigh Mill.
The
ANGRMS
collections page for Alison provides some useful technical information
for this loco.
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