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Macknade Mill No.1 Richmond Light Railway, UK |
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Photo required
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Builder |
Hudswell,
Clarke & Co. Ltd, Leeds |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
1653
of 1935 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-6-0 |
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This
locomotive was built by Hudswell, Clarke & Co. Ltd of Leeds to a 0-6-0
tender design that was popular with Australian sugar interests. It was originally
No.7 at Hambledon Mill, Edmonton, near Cairns, moving to Macknade Mill near Ingham
in 1955 where it became No.1 on their locomotive roster. Its service career
ended by 1968. Ian
Stocks, David Mewes and John Browning provide an excellent source of
information on the various Hudswell Clarke steam locomotives employed by the
Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd (CSR) and other interests in Australia and
Fiji in their book ‘Salute to the Hudswells’. According to this source
Macknade Mill No.1 was originally donated to the Australian Railway
Historical Society (Queensland Division) and placed in an Ingham park, where
it resided until 1980 when relocated to a local engineering works for
storage. In 1983 it was privately purchased and moved to Trinity Beach,
Cairns where it was dismantled and a start made on overhaul. Alas this
initiative apparently stalled and by 1996 the components had been transferred
to the owner’s private site at Jungara (near Cairns) where they remained in
storage. UPDATE: The
March-April 2024 edition of ‘Narrow Gauge World’ magazine revealed that
Macknade Mill No.1 was now among the collection of the private Richmond Light
Railway (RLR) at Headcorn, Kent in the UK – who were now offering the
unrestored loco for sale! The article described the loco as “…essentially
complete but in a fully stripped condition and will require a complete new
tender.” It seems the loco was one of several awaiting its turn for restoration
but given other locos in the RLR restoration queue the decision was taken to give
another party an opportunity to take on the project. I don’t
know when this loco was exported to the UK but presumably the dismantled
components were loaded into an anonymous shipping container and transported
with little knowledge or visibility to the heritage community. Many
interesting and historic narrow-gauge locos have been imported to the UK from
various worldwide sources and ultimately restored from dereliction, so
hopefully Macknade Mill No.1 can now join that cohort after its long years dismantled
and out of public sight. Contributions
of photographs or further information for this loco would be welcome! |
References
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a |
Light
Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Web site (Retrieved
23 June 2024): 'Preserved
Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives' list by John Browning |
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b |
Wikipedia page for Hudswell, Clarke & Co. Ltd, retrieved 23
June 2024 |
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c |
‘Salute to
the Hudswells’ by Ian Stocks, David Mewes and John Browning Published
by Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society, 2014. |
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d |
Information
provided by John Browning via emails dated 23
March 2005 & 17 April 2005. |
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e |
Information
provided by Tony Smith via email dated 31
May 2024. |
Page updated: 23 June 2024
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