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Maria Island Hudson Campbelltown Steam& Machinery Museum |
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The Maria Island Hudson / Hudswell Clarke loco, seen in the
running shed at Campbelltown Steam & Machinery Museum on 17 January 2004.
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Builder |
Robert
Hudson Ltd, Leeds (Under
licence from Hudswell Clarke & Co.) |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
1423
of 1922 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-4-0WT |
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This
locomotive was manufactured by Robert Hudson Ltd at their Gildersome works,
Leeds, under a licence arrangement brokered in 1911 whereby Hudson manufactured
narrow-gauge engines designed by nearby Hudswell Clarke Ltd. Presumably this arrangement
provided a useful complement to Robert Hudson Ltd’s existing range of narrow-gauge
railway equipment, suitable for industrial and construction purposes, while
also providing Hudswell Clarke with an additional sales channel and stream of
licence fees! Robert Hudson Ltd built a total of 188 locomotives under this licence
arrangement, offering 16 standard designs (designated A to Q) ranging from
5hp 0-4-0 to 55hp 0-6-0 machines. Locomotives built by Hudson carried builder’s
numbers in the Hudswell Clarke sequence, and so this loco is often reported
as Hudswell Clarke b/n 1423 of 1922. Robert
Hudson / Hudswell Clarke b/n 1423 was originally purchased by National
Portland Cement for their tramway system linking limestone quarries with a
cement plant on Maria Island, off the east coast of Tasmania. The National
Portland Cement tramway opened in 1923 and connected a quarry at Fossil
Cliffs on the island’s east coast, and two other quarries towards the centre of
the island, with the cement works and jetty at Darlington. Maria Island seems
an unlikely place for a cement works – presumably transport was a high
overhead - and the venture did not survive the Depression, closing in July
1930. Presumably
the little Robert Hudson loco languished unused for some years until it found
a new use, being purchased by Corrimal Coal & Coke in the NSW Illawarra
region around 1944. Here it apparently replaced a similar small 0-4-0WT
locomotive (Krauss b/n 6927) working
the narrow-gauge line that traversed the escarpment, linking mine adits to a
rope haulage incline to the foot of the mountain. The little loco toiled in
this duty until its retirement in October 1961. I
understand Hudson b/n 1423 was later saved for private preservation, moving to
the southern Sydney suburb of Kirrawee in 1967. In 1972 it was relocated to
the Southern Highlands Museum at Colo Vale, where it steamed in 1976 after
rebuilding and restoration. The loco moved to a new museum site at North
Menangle in 1979, now known as the Campbelltown Steam & Machinery Museum,
where it operates on a demonstration line that has gradually extended around the
museum perimeter. The photos
on this page date from my visit to the Campbelltown Steam & Machinery Museum
(CS&MM) on 17 January 2004. Alas that visit did not coincide with
a steam running day but recall being warmly greeted by museum members and shown
the collection, including a large shed of packed with traction engines - with
one enthusiast explaining he had somewhat compulsively just bought yet another
one! I plan to visit the CS&MM again soon to photograph their Hudson loco
in steam. Maria
Island, off Tasmania’s east coast, is noted for its convict sites and is a significant
wildlife refuge. The entire island was declared a National Park in 1971 and the
cement tramway routes now form part of the walking and mountain biking trails.
The Fossil Cliffs quarry site is a popular destination for day walks; as the
name suggests many fossils of corals and shells are clearly exposed in the 300-million-year-old
limestone. Ken
Milbourne OAM has recently written a comprehensive book ‘Steam Locomotives of
Tasmania’ which provides additional historical and technical details for this
engine, together with two historical views showing it working at Maria
Island. Ken’s book provides a fascinating account of the many and varied steam
locomotives that once worked in Tasmania – recommended reading for ferroequinologists! The best history
I have found of the interesting rail operations and locomotives at Corrimal
Colliery is the detailed and well-illustrated article by Ken McCarthy in
'Light Railways’ magazine, Number 60, April 1978, as referenced below. |
A second side view, somewhat squarer to the camera. 17
January 2004
Front view of the Maria
Island Hudswell Clarke / Hudson loco, as seen on 17 January 2004.
A small Simplex rail tractor can also be seen on the left track.
The builder’s plate showing ‘Robert Hudson Ltd – Gildersome
Foundry’. 17 January 2004
Also resident at the CS&MM is this vintage Fowler loco,
b/n 16830 of 1926, which was originally a petrol-mechanical unit (now diesel-mechanical).
This machine gives context to Fowler’s strategic
decision to cease steam locomotive manufacture after 1935, instead
concentrating on internal combustion.
This photo is dated 17 January 2004.
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a |
McCarthy, K. 'Gazetteer of Industrial Steam
Locomotives, Illawarra District NSW', prepared by Ken
McCarthy for the Illawarra Environmental Heritage Committee. Published by Australian Railway Historical
Society (NSW Division), December 1983. |
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b |
Milbourne, K, ‘Steam Locomotives
of Tasmania’, published
by Ken Milbourne OAM, 2021. ISBN 1876261870 |
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c |
Wikipedia page for Robert Hudson Ltd, retrieved 15 October 2021. |
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d |
Wikipedia page for Hudswell,
Clarke & Co. Ltd, retrieved 28 November 2018. |
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e |
Wikipedia page for National Portland
Cement Limited tramway, retrieved 14 October 2021. |
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f |
'Light Railways - Australia's Magazine of
Industrial & Narrow-Gauge Railways', Number 60, April 1978. Feature article
"The Corrimal Colliery Railway" by Ken McCarthy. Published by Light
Railway Research Society of Australia. |
Page updated: 19 October
2021
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