Australian Standard Garratt

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Australian Standard Garratt
G33 at the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum in 2007
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderClyde Engineering
Islington Railway Workshops
Midland Railway Workshops
Newport Workshops
Build date1943-1945
Total produced57
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte4-8-2+2-8-4
 • UIC2′D1′+1′D2′
Gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Driver dia.48 in (1,219 mm)
Length85 ft 9+1⁄2 in (26.15 m)
Axle load8.5 long tons (8.6 t; 9.5 short tons)
Adhesive weight76.25 long tons
(77.5 t; 85.4 short tons)
Loco weight119 long tons
(120.9 t; 133.3 short tons)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity6 long tons (6.1 t; 6.7 short tons)
Water cap.4,200 imp gal
(19,094 L; 5,044 US gal)
Firebox:​
 • Grate area35 sq ft (3 m2)
Boiler pressure200 psi (1,379 kPa)
Heating surface:​
 • Firebox163 sq ft (15 m2)
 • Tubes1,535 sq ft (143 m2)
 • Total surface2,013 sq ft (187 m2)
Superheater:
​
 • Heating area315 sq ft (29 m2)
Cylinders4 outside
Cylinder size14.5 in × 24 in
(368 mm × 610 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort34,240 lbf (152.3 kN)
Factor of adh.4.4
Career
OperatorsEmu Bay Railway
Fyansford Cement Works Railway
Queensland Railways
South Australian Railways
Tasmanian Government Railways
Western Australian Government Railways
PreservedG33
Disposition1 preserved, 56 scrapped

The Australian Standard Garratt (ASG) was a Garratt locomotive designed in Australia during World War II, and used on 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway systems in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

History[edit]

With the outbreak of World War II, in 1939 the Federal Government formed the Commonwealth Land Transport Board (CLTB) to take responsibility for the country's land transport networks. It had the power to override the decisions of the State railways. In 1942, the CLTB appointed the Commissioner of Railways in Western Australia, Joseph Ellis, to investigate the capacity of Australia's narrow gauge network and recommend what locomotives should be purchased. Ellis recommended that three variations of Garratt locomotive be purchased; heavy, medium and light.[1]

The CLTB elected to build only the light type to allow it to operate on any narrow gauge line in Australia. After an attempt to obtain drawings and licenses from Beyer, Peacock and Company failed, in July 1942 the CLTB recommended to the War Cabinet that 30 locomotives be built locally. In August 1942, the War Cabinet approved the order, this was increased to 65 locomotives in November 1942. The Western Australian Government Railways' Chief Mechanical Engineer Frederick Mills was seconded to lead a team of engineers in Melbourne to design the new locomotive. The Queensland Railways were vocal opponents, stating its preference for a modified version of its C17 class.[1]

The result was the Australian Standard Garratt, with the first locomotive being built in a record breaking four months to enter service in September 1943. Only 57 ASGs were completed, with assembly of the remaining eight cancelled at the end of the war. The locomotives were built by the WAGR's Midland Railway Workshops (10), the Victorian Railways' Newport Workshops (12), the South Australian Railways' Islington Railway Workshops (13), and Clyde Engineering, Sydney (22).[2][3]

In service[edit]

Western Australian Government Railways' G26 in 1943
Western Australian Government Railways' G55 in 1952

Because of differences between the states, especially in regard to loading gauges, the sharpness of curves, and axle load, especially in Queensland, the design had to be a compromise, which went against the idea of having a standardised design.[1]

To enable the long-wheelbase engine units to negotiate sharp curves, the leading driving wheels were designed to be flangeless, but this proved to be a major flaw as it led to a tendency for the locomotives to derail on curves and points. Another key problem, which made the ASGs unpopular with locomotive crews, was the fact that the firebox door opened flat on the floor of the driving cab, maximising heat radiation into the crew compartment.[1] This resulted in them having fairly short lives with most withdrawn by the mid-1950s. Some were resold for use on the Emu Bay and Fyansford Cement Works Railways where they would have more successful careers.[3][4]

Queensland Railways[edit]

The Queensland Railways purchased 23. One was never used and another saw only two months service. In September 1945, the drivers' union placed a ban on them. Attempts to modify them proved unsuccessful, and they were written off in 1948. Three were sold to the Emu Bay Railway and six to the Tasmanian Government Railways, with the remainder scrapped in 1954/55.[5][6]

Tasmanian Government Railways[edit]

The Tasmanian Government Railways purchased 14 new and another six second-hand from the Queensland Railways. Two were sold to the Emu Bay Railway with the remainder scrapped in the late 1950s.[5][7]

Western Australian Government Railways[edit]

The Western Australian Government Railways purchased 25. They were unpopular with crews, and their use through the state's only tunnel at Swan View caused serious problems, resulting in deaths, industrial disputes,[8] and a Royal Commission.[1][9]

Six were sold to the South Australian Railways in 1952 with the last withdrawn from the WAGR in January 1957.[2][5]

Emu Bay Railway[edit]

The Emu Bay Railway purchased three second-hand from the Queensland Railways and two from the Tasmanian Government Railways. It would operate them successfully until the mid-1960s. One was destroyed in an accident in February 1962 with a replacement obtained from the TGR.[3][4][10]

South Australian Railways[edit]

In 1952, the South Australian Railways purchased six second-hand from the WAGR to haul lead ore between Cockburn and Port Pirie as an interim solution pending the delivery of the 400 class Garratts, with all condemned by February 1956.[3][11][12]

Fyansford Cement Works Railway[edit]

The Fyansford Cement Works Railway purchased G33 from Commonwealth Disposals in August 1945. It was withdrawn in 1957, but maintained in operational condition until the railway closed in 1966 when it was donated to the Geelong division of the Australian Railway Historical Society.[3]

Class list[edit]

Preservation[edit]

The only surviving complete ASG is G33, which ran on the Fyansford Cement Works Railway until 1957. It was on static display at the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum in North Williamstown until May 2013, when (along with a spare boiler) it was moved by road to the Bellarine Railway, Queenscliff, with the aim of full restoration.[13][14][15]

Many front ASG water tanks have survived: one at Yatina, South Australia, two on a farm south of Peterborough, South Australia, one at the Workshops Rail Museum in Queensland, two at the Don River Railway in Tasmania, and several dotted around that state. They were used as water tanks for steam and fire fighting until the early 1980s. Another also survives with the Launceston & North East Railway in Launceston, Tasmania. It was used as a waste oil tank by TasRail until the closure of the Hobart railway yard in 2014, possibly being the last steam engine component used by TasRail.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Australian Standard Garratt Locomotive Royal Commissioner Albert Wolff 29 August 1946
  2. ^ a b Gunzburg, Adrian (1984). A History of WAGR Steam Locomotives. Perth: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 121–124. ISBN 0 9599690 3 9.
  3. ^ a b c d e Oberg, Leon (2010). Locomotives of Australia 1850s-2010. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 225–227. ISBN 9781921719011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rae, Lou (1997). The Emu Bay Railway. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. pp. 200–203, 208, 218. ISBN 0 9592098 6 7.
  5. ^ a b c Turner, Jim (1997). Australian Steam Locomotives 1896-1958. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. pp. 130, 134, 138. ISBN 086417778X.
  6. ^ Australian Standard Garratt Queensland's Rail Interest Group
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Steam Locomotives of the Tasmanian Government Railways and its Constituents" Australian Railway History issue 917 March 2014 page 13
  8. ^ "'Now What Has She Got That 400 Others Haven't Got?'". The Mirror. Perth: National Library of Australia. 4 March 1944. p. 18. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  9. ^ Some Aspects of the Australian Standard Garratt Locomotive Minchin, R.S. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, April 1979 pp. 69–77
  10. ^ "The Australian Standard Garratt on the Emu Bay Railway" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin March 1995 pp. 59–66
  11. ^ Fluck, Ronald (1986). Steam Locomotives and Railcars of the South Australian Railways. Adelaide: Mile End Railway Museum. ISBN 0 9595073 3 7.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Narrow Gauge 300 class Chris' Commonwealth Railways Information
  13. ^ a b "Get G33 Moving". Bellarine Railway. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  14. ^ "G33". Australian Steam.
  15. ^ "War-child Steam Locomotive makes a come-back" (PDF). Queenscliffe Herald. June 2013.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Barry, Kevin (December 1996), "Labour divided: the Garratt strike of 1946", Papers in Labour History (17): 46–67, ISSN 1030-6218
  • Butrims, Robert; Australian Railway Historical Society. Victorian Division; Geelong Steam Preservation Society (1975), Australia's Garratt, Geelong Steam Preservation Society in conjunction with Australian Railway Historical Society, Victorian Division, ISBN 978-0-9598322-0-4
  • Durrant, A E (1978). Australian Steam. Newton Abbot, Devon, UK; North Pomfret, Vt, USA: David & Charles. pp. 73–79. ISBN 0715376055.
  • Durrant, A E (1981). Garratt Locomotives of the World (rev. and enl. ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon, UK; North Pomfret, Vt, USA: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7641-1. OCLC 9326294.
  • Gunzburg, Adrian (1968). WAGR Locomotives 1940–1968. Perth: Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division). pp. 10–12, 47. OCLC 219836193.

Further reading[edit]

  • Whiting, Alan (1988). Engine of Destruction - The Australian Standard Garratt Scandal. ISBN 0 7316 1466 6.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australian Standard Garratt.
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