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Racecourse Mill No.1 Port Milang Historic Railway Museum |
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Racecourse Mill No.1 stored at Kallangur / Murrumba Downs
on 12 April 2003, with Triffids slowly encroaching!
The ‘Thomas’ blue livery acquired while plinthed in a
Mackay Outer Harbour park is slowly fading.
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Builder |
John
Fowler & Co, Leeds |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
17683 of 1927 (loco) 17684 of 1927 (tender) |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-4-2 |
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This
locomotive was built by John Fowler & Co. Ltd, the famous Leeds builder
of traction engines and small industrial locomotives, becoming No.1 on the
roster at Racecourse Mill, near West Mackay. It was an unusual Fowler product
as most of their 0-4-2 locos had a side tank configuration whereas this
example was built with a tender, with its own builder’s number! Photos of Racecourse
Mill No.1 in service show the loco wore a handsome livery of unlined bottle
green. It received a replacement boiler in 1953 before being withdrawn from
service in 1965, after which it was stored at the mill for some years. In
1971 the loco was plinthed (sans tender) in Mulherin Park at Mackay Outer Harbour,
ostensibly as playground equipment. A change
of circumstances came in 1993 when Racecourse No.1 was acquired by a private collector
and stored at his industrial estate at Kallangur / Murrumba Downs, together
with several other locos at that site. Meanwhile, the original tender also
remained in existence, privately owned by a second party, and kept in the
vicinity of Marian Mill. A change
in ownership for Racecourse No.1 came around 2007, following the passing of its
previous owner. At this stage the loco moved to a recycled building materials
site in Virginia, Brisbane, where it could be glimpsed sitting just inside
the gates. Apparently,
the loco was sold again, and in October 2018, Racecourse No.1 was spotted in
an industrial storage site at Kingswood in Sydney’s West, keeping company
with ‘Sydney’ (Hudswell Clarke 1838 of 1950). Would it be too much to
hope this latest move is the first step towards Racecourse No.1 being
reunited with its tender and restored? In May 2021, Racecourse No.1 moved to the Port Milang
Historic Railway Museum in South Australia, who have since purchased the
locomotive following fund raising. The Port Milang Historic Railway Museum website
provides further information for Racecourse No.1 including original Fowler
engineering drawings and a selection of very good photos showing the loco in
operation at Racecourse Mill. According to their website, the locomotive is
intended for cosmetic restoration - while it is missing many parts, loco restorers
have proven anything can be replaced if sufficient labour and money can be
found! Note - Builder’s
Number: The
builder’s number for this locomotive is recorded as Fowler b/n 17693 on the Light
Railway Research Society of Australia web site 'Preserved Australian Sugar
Cane Locomotives' list, as referenced below – and I had it listed as such on
this site until October 2021 - but other references show the loco as Fowler b/n
17683, which is also recorded on the Leeds Engine Builders website &
database. Therefore, I have now adjusted this site to also show b/n 17683. |
Racecourse Mill No.1’s original tender (b/n 17684) also
still exists in private ownership, and is stored in the vicinity of Marian
Mill.
As can be seen, the original tender was a
well-proportioned riveted job with attractive rolled edges, but corrosion has
taken its toll.
This photo is dated March 2006 and was kindly contributed
by Brett Geraghty.
Racecourse Mill No.1 as a park plaything at Mackay Outer
Harbour (with the ugly forward sandboxes removed).
The loco has been painted in ‘Thomas the
Tank Engine’ inspired blue livery with red highlights and yellow ‘1’ on the cabside.
The cab doesn’t look like a Fowler
original, but rather a more modern welded replacement.
This undated view was kindly contributed
by Tom Badger.
References
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a |
Light
Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Web site (Retrieved
1 October 2021): 'Preserved
Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives' list by John Browning |
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b |
Wikipedia page for John Fowler & Co, retrieved
15 September 2018 |
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c |
Port
Milang Historic Railway Museum website, retrieved 1 October 2021 |
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d |
Leeds Engine
Builders website &
database, John Fowler &
Co search
page, retrieved 1 October 2021 |
Page updated: 5 October 2021
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