Puffing Billy's Big Brother, G42, Returned to service on Saturday 17th April
2004.
THE G42 STORY
by Peter Medlin
Beyer Peacock 6268 of 1926
G42 is a unique steam locomotive. In fact, many say it is a `two-in-one' steam locomotive as it is really two engines joined together with a common boiler. Together with its classmate, G41, it was built in 1926 in Manchester (U.K.) by the renown locomotive building company, Beyer Peacock, to a design developed from an idea by H.W. Garratt.
This
famous design has close links with Australia, as it is believed that H.W.
Garratt was working in New South Wales when he had the idea to articulate two
engine units under the one common boiler and the first locomotive of its type (K
1) was built to run in Tasmania, which is now being restored with the
Ffestiniog Railway in Wales.
G41 and G42 were built for the Victorian Railways, to haul heavy trains on two of their four steam operated narrow gauge branch lines Moe-Walhalla and Colac-Beech Forest-Crowes.
Three of these 2ft 6in (762mm) gauge lines were in mountainous districts and had numerous steep gradients of 1 in 30 and tight curves of 2 chain (40.2 metre) radius. The Garratt design was ideal for these conditions as it provided a locomotive which was extremely powerful, could negotiate sharp curves and spread its weight over many wheels.
Weighing some seventy tons and with a tractive effort of 27,600 pounds (12520 kg), G 41 and G42 were probably the heaviest and most powerful narrow gauge (sub 3ft 6in) Garratts of their time. G42 proved its worth on the Moe-Walhalla railway pulling longer, heavier trains than the original NA class (Puffing Billy type) locomotives, making considerable savings in operating costs. After the line closed in 1954, G42 was overhauled and joined, G41 on the Colac-Crowes railway, in 1955.
G41 was virtually worn out by then, lasting only until 1960. G42 continued to haul long trains of pulpwood and general goods until the line closed in 1962. G41 was sent to the scrapyard and G42 was returned to the Victorian Railways workshops for storage and an uncertain future.
By this time, the Puffing Billy Preservation Society had succeeded in its efforts to re-open a section of the third of the Victorian Railways narrow gauge `mountain' railways, the former Upper Ferntree Gully-Gembrook line, between Belgrave and Menzies Creek. The Society's charter is to preserve as many examples of the Victorian Railways narrow gauge rolling stock as possible. After two years in storage, G42 was purchased from the Victorian Railways for display in the Puffing Billy Steam Museum at Menzies Creek as a static exhibit.
THE RESTORATION OF G42 SO FAR ..........
Having been cast aside by the Victorian Railways in 1962 and purchased by the Society, G42 was placed on `permanent' display in the Steam Museum. However, by the mid-1970's, the idea of restoring G42 to run on Puffing Billy's line was rapidly gaining momentum.
A
number of feasibility studies were carried out with serious restoration
beginning in 1986, when the project received a 36-week Commonwealth Employment
Project Grant. Labour was supplied to dismantle the engine, clean and paint all
parts. Funding was also provided to re-tyre all wheels.
Impetus from this project set the P.B.P.S. in fundraising mode and by 1989, through appeals to the membership, special events and the now famous Great Train Race, sufficient funds were raised to enable the Railway to employ a full-time engineer/fitter to work on the restoration. Work proceeded so well that an assistant was employed four years later.
Through their skilled and devoted efforts along with the assistance of a small group of dedicated volunteers, the centre frame of the engine (the part which supports the boiler) has been restored and all components of the two engine units reconditioned or rebuilt ready for assembly.
New steel water tanks and coal bunker have been built as a result of a generous donation from a Society member.
Thirty six years of hard work and minimal maintenance whilst in V.R. service had taken their toll on the locomotive and following critical examination of the engine units main frames in 1994, it was decided that responsible restoration would require a fresh start. G42's original, worn out and cracked frames would have to be replaced.
With new steel cut to shape through the generosity of Transfield Amecon (Australia's largest shipbuilder) the project team embarked upon a task which entailed the drilling of hundreds of holes, hand closing of many rivets, the making and insertion of numerous fitted bolts. By the end of 1995, G42 was ready to take on the next century.
September, 1996 saw the engine units ready for their wheels. Cylinders, valve gear and boiler unit pivots were in place and the tanks and bunker prepared for fitting. Since then the team has installed the pony trucks, driving and coupled wheel sets. In March, 1997, work began on the fitting of the water tanks and coal bunker, G42 was beginning to look like a locomotive again!
Outstanding tasks for the project are the completion of the boiler, reconditioning the cab and fitting the whole assembly into the centre frame unit - a brief description of a major task.
When
purchased in 1964, the locomotive's boiler was only a shell. With the re-opening
of the first section of the Puffing Billy Railway in 1962 and the second section
planned for the following year, Society funds were very low and a decision had
to be made whether to pay a higher price for a (very rundown) complete
locomotive or a lower price for the locomotive with its valuable metal removed.
At that time G42 was only to be a static exhibit in the Menzies Creek Steam
Museum, and it was subsequently decided that all the brass firetubes and most of
the copper firebox be removed and the locomotive purchased at the lower price.
In 1968, the Society was donated a spare Garratt boiler and new steel firebox by the Australian Portland Cement Company, from its recently closed railway at Fyansford, near Geelong. These, being in better condition than the V.R. originals, are the basis for G42's new boiler.
Basic modifications to the Fyansford components have been undertaken by a Melbourne contractor. The balance of the work was undertaken in the Puffing Billy Railway Workshops by the project team and after many long years in March 2004 trials were undertaken with the completed locomotive along the line. On the weekend of 17th and 18th April 2004, Locomotive G42 made a triumphant return to the narrow gauge. G42 will be operating the daily "Luncheon Special" from Monday 19th April 2004.