Problem of axle loading decreasing with water usage is common to any tank loco. And as for bridge loadings, it was not safe to take a fully coaled and watered Garratt across the Burnett River bridge at Bundaberg. Garratts had to be emptied and hauled across the Burnett "as a vehicle". This, as well as the availability of Blair Athol coal, is why the Garratts were used mostly in the Central Division.
Impressive looking locomotive. We had almost exactly the same type in our home state many years ago, the SAR 400 class garratt - built by Beyer Peacock. Dark green to blackish but instead of coal was oil-fired. Now only two are left. One in museum and no.402 on display at zig zag railways.
@EpicureMammon The problem with the Garratt and all tank engine designs is that the axle loading decreases as the water is used up, reducing adhesion and traction. This is not a problem over relatively short runs. QGR Garratts were frequently used on the Rockhamption to Blair Athol for the high grade steaming coal. Total of perhaps 400 km with watering points along the way. Low capacity bridges on the central line in the early 1950s needed light axle loadings, Garratts offered this.
I lived in Emerald, at the junction of the cental rly and the Blair Athol line, so I saw plenty of them My father was a railwayman and most of the men I knew were too. Emerals was a railway town.
Yes that is Brisbane, Out to Fishermans Is back again, Its an Old Video as the Garret was restored back in the 90s. The Flying Scotmans trip through Brisbane started the love affair of steam trains again
Unfortunately it is rather unlikely unless a generous benefactor comes along. I believe the cost of returning this locomotive to service has been estimated at $3-4 million...
Update on my previous post.... I went Queensland and to my dismay, the Garrett is now just on static display at the Ipswich Workshop Museum... I was informed that they have no plans to put her back in steam.... What a waste.... I settled for a trip on the Mary Valley Rattler instead....a C17steamer that runs from Gympie to Imbil....it was great.
@pyrofella yeah, she has been static display since something went bung a number of years ago. there is an increase in rumors that she may be restored to operation for 2015 but so far nothing has started to be done.
@granskare I think that Garratts are better around tighter corners and the trade offs to achieve that benefit weren't worth it or even necessary on US railways. Maybe they would have been very useful on some lines, I don't know. They definitely are neat looking.
Should be standard gauge, but it's a magnificent engine. But I was wrong Queensland Rail is narrow gauge, 3 ft 6in. Typical Australian, they run all 3 gauges in different parts of the country.
Charles Damery The reason for the different gauges is your fault. We imported an Irishman as CME of railways in Victoria so he set the gauge at 5ft 3 inch like in Ireland then NSW imported an Englishman as CME he set it at Standard gauge like in England the rest was set at 3ft 6in because of the great dividing range of mountains. BUT it is now standard gauge to all major cities and large parts of Victoria and Sth Australia 🇦🇺 and has been for many years
@@michaelnaisbitt1639, no, not so. there was an irishman, a scotsman and an englishman involved, as the old jokes go. it seems an irishman recommended broad gauge and all states agreed. then the irishman was out and someone else took over and convinced nsw to change to sg. then some states changed to ng to save money. i found a fabulous well researched article on this subject. i'll see if i can find a reference for you.
where is this loco running? At first I thought it was running in south Africa after reading the description it turns out its in my home state of QLD. I'm guessing some where up north, because thats not Brisbane (I don't thing could be wrong) and can't be the Gold Coast because the line stops mid Coast at Varsity Lakes + there are not a lot of switches that far south after Brisbane and the line is a bit more modern)
They always seemed to me to be awfully complicated... overthought. Too many parts to go wrong. Also, the 'pulling power' jus' don't seem to be there. A big thing: It doesn't have the grace and presence of the behemoths it shares the rails with. (Side-by-side with 'The Red Devil'... which has stance?)
