Moreton

The Ginger Factory, Yandina

The webmaster visited The Ginger Factory, Yandina on 27 January 2004 together with my wife and our 4-month old son.

Our visit allowed just enough time for a trip on the railway that loops around the plantation, together with the purchase of much chocolate-coated ginger.

Alas my photography skills and early digital camera let me down somewhat, but this unfocussed view captures a sense of the tourist railway at The Ginger Factory.

Builder	Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co, Germany
Builder’s Number & Year	4687 of 1901
Wheel Arrangement	0-6-0T

Small German-built locomotives were popular for mining, industrial and construction duties until the outbreak of World War 1, after which British manufactured machines were favoured. A number also found use in the sugar industry, such as this example which started work at the Moreton Central Sugar Mill, Nambour in 1905 and was known as ‘Moreton’. (I’m not aware of a prior owner for this locomotive, but it seems odd that a machine constructed in 1901 was first used in 1905.)

‘Moreton’ spent its entire working life at Moreton Central Sugar Mill. It had been retired by 1967 and in that year was plinthed in Currie Park, Nambour. It was acquired for private ownership in 1972 and displayed at the Brisbane Exhibition grounds in 1978.

In 1988 ‘Moreton’ found a new and innovative operational role at The Ginger Factory, Yandina. This tourist destination is located north of Brisbane and owned by Buderim Ginger, showcasing their ginger plantation and products in a family-friendly theme park. Various attractions have been added over the years including a rainforest walk. ‘Moreton’ now heads a tourist train of open toast-rack cars around The Ginger Factory site - with propulsion provided by a diesel engine placed in a tender! The photos on this page date from my visit to Yandina on a somewhat overcast day in January 2004 – alas I struggled to get a decent photo of the loco and train given my rather basic digital camera, and time constraints imposed by our 4-month-old son! Fortunately, we were able to stay long enough to buy plenty of chocolate-coated ginger and enjoy their train.

The diesel-propelled adaptation of ‘Moreton’ / Krauss b/n 4687 is an innovative way of making use of this historic locomotive, while preserving its fabric and greatly reducing labour costs. The arrangements certainly extend boiler life!

‘Moreton’ awaiting its next departure at the Ginger Factory, Yandina on 27 January 2004.

The number ‘1901’ on the smokebox is presumably a reference to the locomotive’s year of manufacture.

The smokebox door is sealed tight by four dogs on the circumference, but draught isn’t a problem and the smokebox won’t need cleaning very often!

An interesting feature is the red rail guard / lifeguard visible under the front buffer beam, slung from cylinder mountings.

The quick-growing tropical plants in the gardens at The Ginger Factory rather conspired against good photography angles during my visit!

This view does illustrate the loco’s short wheelbase and outside Stephenson valve gear.

A second view of Moreton as she awaits the next departure; this view better reveals the cylinder and valve chest details.

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 Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Web site (as at 6/1/2015): 'Preserved Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives' list by John Browning (www.lrrsa.org.au/LRR_SGRc.htm)
c	Wikipedia page for Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co / George Krauss, retrieved 10 September 2021.

Page updated: 20 September 2021

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