H4 frames

Catamaran Colliery walking track

A side view of the derelict Krauss locomotive frame at Evorall’s Point in southern Tasmania.

Photo courtesy of Tristan Verhoeff and dated December 2024.

Builder	Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co, Germany
Builder’s Number & Year	4080 of 1899 & 4526 of 1901 combined
Wheel Arrangement	0-4-0WT

I am indebted to Tristan Verhoeff for emailing me the following description and photographs of the remains of a small 0-4-0WT Krauss locomotive at the Catamaran Colliery site in far southern Tasmania, following his visit there in December 2024. Tristan’s findings also formed a ‘field report’ article in Light Railways magazine No.306 of December 2025.

These remains are of Krauss 0-4-0WT, B/N 4080 of 1899, which was originally Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) 'H4', a 7.5-ton loco purchased new by the TGR for use on their 2ft gauge routes around Zeehan. In 1927 it was sold to the Catamaran Coal Co. for their Catamaran Colliery in southern Tasmania. Circa 1930 it was rebuilt with parts from Krauss B/N 4526 of 1901, which the company had acquired in 1922. The composite loco was abandoned in 1939 when Catamaran Colliery closed and the composite loco was scrapped soon afterwards, but apparently the frame was left behind.

Tristan advises that Scott Clennett's book on southern Tasmanian tramways includes a photo of the loco frame and indicates that it is from Krauss B/N 4080 (TGR No. H4), rather than B/N 4526, but there isn't anything on the frame to be certain.

Tristan has provided a map (below) showing where the loco frame is located. There is also an old vertical boiler laying along the roadside, marking the spot where the tramway once intersected the road. A nearby track heading out to Evoralls Pt. follows the old coal mine tramway to the headland, where the coal loading point for ships was located. The loco frame is about half-way between the road and the end of Evoralls Point.

These rusty remains are an interesting reminder the many little old engines that ended their days toiling in the bush.

Front view of the Krauss loco frame, missing almost everything including wheels and cylinders.

Photo courtesy of Tristan Verhoeff and dated December 2024.

Rear view of the derelict frame lying near Catamaran Bay.

Photo courtesy of Tristan Verhoeff and dated December 2024.

This derelict old vertical boiler sits alongside the road.

Photo courtesy of Tristan Verhoeff and dated December 2024.

Tristan has provided this handy guide to the location of these remnants.

The Catamaran Colliery was in the far south of Tasmania, an area with magnificent forests and some great walking tracks.

References

a	'Light Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow-Gauge Railways', Number 153, June 2000. Article ‘Krauss Locomotives in Australia – A close look at their characteristics and an overview of their migrations’ by Bruce Macdonald. Published by Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. pp.10-18. (This article is also available online.)
b	'Light Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow-Gauge Railways', Number 306, December 2025. ‘Field Reports – Krauss remains, Evoralls Point, southern Tasmania’ Published by Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. pp.36-37.
c	Wikipedia page for Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co / George Krauss, retrieved 20 February 2026.
d	Milbourne, K, ‘Steam Locomotives of Tasmania’, pp. 151-152. published by Ken Milbourne OAM, 2021. ISBN 1876261870
e	Scott Clennett, 2016, Engaging the Giants, a history of sawmills and tramways of Tasmania's southern forests, Light Railways Research Society of Australia, p. 48-49.

Page updated: 20 February 2026

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