Dulce

Stored dismantled at Narangba

 

Dulce is privately owned and was stored dismantled at Kallangur at the time of my visit on 12 April 2003.

Identification was difficult but I believe this view is Dulce’s frame, cab and side tanks, engulfed by long grass.

(The cab rear spectacle plate doesn’t match the modified ‘Dulce’ as seen below, but perhaps is a replacement.)

Builder

Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co,

Munich, Germany

Builder’s Number & Year

5869 of 1907

Wheel Arrangement

0-6-0T (originally 0-4-0WT)

 

This locomotive was built new for the NSW Department of Public Works, one of four Krauss built locos working on the Burrinjuck Dam project. The four Krauss locomotives featured prominent diamond-stack chimneys and carried handsome brass nameplates on their side tanks. The Goondah - Burrinjuck Railway was a lengthy route with steep gradients, built to ferry construction supplies to the Burrinjuck Dam site on the Murrumbidgee River, and interfacing with the NSW Main Southern Railway at Goondah, south of Yass. A sand tramway also feed the cement works near the dam face, which was worked by a Fowler 0-6-0T ‘Kate’. The five steam locomotives at Burrinjuck Dam were:

Name

 Builder

Notes & Disposal

Dulce

 Krauss b/n 5869 of 1907

Became North Eton Mill No.5.

Rebuilt to 0-6-0T in 1937.

Robin

 Krauss b/n 5870 of 1907

To NSW State Metal Quarries, Kiama in 1932.

Thought to have been buried at Pike’s Hill Quarry.

Archie

 Krauss b/n 5945 of 1907

To Fairymead Mill, Bundaberg in 1929.

Became No.7. Preserved at Burrinjuck Dam.

Jack

 Krauss b/n 6063 of 1908

To Farleigh Mill, Mackay in 1929.

Preserved at Lake Macquarie Light Railway.

Kate

 Fowler b/n 8762 of 1901

Worked the sand tramway along the Murrumbidgee River.

Disposal unknown.

The Goondah - Burrinjuck Railway operated for more than 20 years, reflecting the size and duration of the Burrinjuck Dam project, but had served its purpose at the dam’s completion in 1928 and the line was lifted in 1929. ‘Dulce’, ‘Archie’ & ’Jack’ were sold to a Sydney machinery dealer, and Dulce was on-sold in 1929 to the North Eton Mill, near Mackay, where it became No.5.

Dulce underwent a transformation in 1937 when converted from 0-4-0WT to 0-6-0T configuration by North Eton Mill. The rebuilt locomotive seems to have had an additional driving axle added to extended main frames, also receiving significantly larger water tanks, presumably to increase tractive effort and extend range. The cab rear was also opened out to assist backwards running while also reducing heat in the cab in the tropical environment of North Eton Mill.

By 1964 the locomotive was stored at North Eton Mill, presumably replaced in cane haulage duties by diesel motive power. It was first obtained for preservation in 1970 but has moved around a bit and not fared well in the following years. In 1972 it was plinthed at Seal Park, Tanawha, in the Sunshine Coast Region near Maroochydore. I suspect it suffered the fate of all such park engines and became a maintenance burden to counter rust and deterioration. In 1982, Dulce was acquired for private preservation at Kin Kin, near Gympie. A further change of ownership occurred in 1988 when it moved to Kallangur to join the growing private collection there. By this stage I believe the loco had already been dismantled for assessment, but restoration had stalled and hence ‘Dulce’ arrived at Kallangur as a kit of parts.

I first met ‘Dulce’ on 12 April 2003 when the owner kindly showed me around his collection at Kallangur. I found the loco stored dismantled and rust streaked, with the frame, cab and tanks being engulfed by the long grass which grows so quickly in Queensland’s heat and humidity. I didn’t identify the boiler, but understand it was among those stored on site.

The industrial premises at Kallangur / Murrumba Downs were sold for redevelopment around 2007, with North Eton Mill No.5 and most other steam relics at the site transferred to a new business location at Narangba. Alas the owner has since passed away and it seems the collection is slowly being sold, so hopefully ‘Dulce’ will find a benefactor who will oversee its reassembly and restoration.

An excellent reference for further reading on this railway and its locomotives is ‘The Goondah-Burrinjuck Railway’ by John R Newland, published by the Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division, 1994. A second edition was published in 1999.

Dulce was first plinthed as a park engine at Seal Park, Tanawha, as seen in this undated photo kindly provided by Anthony Winstone.

The front frame plate shows evidence of a tough life!

Comparison with the photo below highlights the extensive modifications from 0-4-0WT wheel arrangement, with much larger water tanks and an open rear cab.

A much earlier view of Dulce – in original 0-4-0WT form – taking water at Burrinjuck Dam, with the engine shed behind.

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.

(This article is also available online.)

b

Wikipedia page for Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co / George Krauss,

retrieved 10 September 2021.

c

Newland, J. R. ‘The Goondah-Burrinjuck Railway’,

published by the Australian Railway Historical Society,

New South Wales Division, 1994.

Page updated: 28 September 2021

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