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Magnet No.2 Frames stored at Lune River |
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Two sets of 2’ gauge 0-4-0WT locomotive frames stored on
wood-framed 4-wheel trucks at Lune River, as the webmaster found them on 4 May
2003.
For the left set of frames, details such
as the inclined cylinders and prominent front plate frames match those of
Tullah Tramway loco ‘Wee Mary’.
Similarly, the cylinder design and other
details of the right set of frames match those of Tullah Tramway O&K b/n
718.
I’m not sure how these frames came to be at Lune River –
further information on this point is welcome.
Builder |
Orenstein
& Koppel, |
Builder’s Number & Year |
718 of 1901 |
Wheel Arrangement |
0-4-0WT |
Orenstein
& Koppel builder's number 718 of 1901 was a 0-4-0WT locomotive built for
the Magnet Mine near Waratah, Tasmania, where it was known as ‘Magnet No.2’.
It moved to the North Mount Farrell Tramway at Tullah in 1910 and was in use
there until about 1928 when replaced by the new Fowler locomotive ‘Wee Mary’. Orenstein
& Koppel B/N 718 appears in this listing of Preserved
Orenstein & Koppel Steam Locomotives as still extant (frames only) at
Evandale, south of Launceston, Tasmania, and previously at the Van Diemen
Railway Society, Don. My visit
to the Ida Bay Railway at Lune River in Tasmania's south on 4 May 2003
revealed two unidentified set of locomotive frames stored in the rail
sidings, as seen in the photos on this page. I believe the frames belong to
the former North Mount Farrell Tramway (Tullah Tramway) locos ‘Wee Mary’ and
O&K 718, the former Magnet No.2, although I am unsure how these remnants
came to be at Lune River – further information on that point is welcome. Alas, more
recent visitors to Lune River report the two sets of 0-4-0WT locomotive
frames are no longer riding on small wooden 4-wheel carts, instead now being
dumped in the undergrowth. Hopefully these interesting artefacts can one day
be retrieved and placed on display, perhaps at Tullah among the artefacts
held by the Wee
Georgie Wood Steam Railway. Further
information about these rusty old relics and how they came to be at Lune
River is welcome. |
A closer view of the right set of frames, as seen at Lune
River on 4 May 2003.
Various details match to photographs of
O&K b/n 718, such as the horizontal cylinders with angled valve cover, the rail
guard across front,
the distinctive smokebox saddle support, the ‘plate’ motion
bracket and the frame step-down to the cab floor.
Amongst the bric-a-brac at Lune River was this set of
locomotive wheels, possibly from ‘Wee Mary’. 4 May 2003.
Also seen at Lune River was this old bogie wagon from the
Zeehan & North Dundas Tram, with the axle cover dated 1896.
References
a |
Preserved
Orenstein & Koppel Steam Locomotives, retrieved
28 May 2014. |
b |
‘1902 – 2002 Celebrating the
Centenary of the North Mount Farrell Tramway’, Published by Wee Georgie Wood
Steam Railway Inc, November 2002. |
Page updated: 20 November 2021
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