Re: Tassie Garret & Penndennis Castle

[Ben Fisher <b.j.fisher@bangor.ac.uk>]

In article <389EB9E8.F062C914@enet21.com.au>,
  "chris@enet21.com.au" <chris@enet21.com.au> wrote:
> The poms don't worry much about Australian heritage just look what
they
> did to the Tassie garret (conversion to oil burning). And is running
> South African locos in Wales part of pommy history? It has as much
> historical significance as the Penndennis running in Australia.
>
> http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr/k1.htm

Pleased to see my page getting a mention (some of this got cross-posted
to uk.railway)!

I don't have a view about Pendennis Castle, but when the Tasmanian
Garratt (K1) is finally running in Wales towards the end of this year,
you'll scarcely be able to tell the difference from the original. There
will just be the top surface of the oil tank flush with the surface of
the rear tank where the coal space was, with a filler and vent on top
(that detail came to me from the man who's leading the rebuild). The
livery will be the original black lined in red. The replacement of
components such as the boiler and the platework of the tanks (most of
the original cab platework remains though) is a routine matter of
replacing materials too far gone for operation, as happens in any number
of steam (or diesel!) restorations or routine maintenance every year,
around the world. Attempts were made to reuse parts of the boiler (which
was from K2) but it was too far gone.

As for the relevance of K1 or the South African Garratts to the UK,
they're examples of locos built for export by UK industry (though I'll
admit the design of the NGG16s isn't British), and the Welsh Highland
revival is providing a line where they can work in the sort of terrain
they were conceived for, and will bring pleasure to thousands, rather
than vegetating in a museum (as K1 was) or a virtual scrapheap (the
NGG16s). As the first Garratt, there's a strong case for arguing that K1
is a loco of world significance rather than just the heritage of any one
country.

Historically, K1 has spent most of its life in the UK - arrived in
Tasmania early 1910, worked until c.1929, shipped back to UK 1947,
purchased by Ffestiniog Railway 1966, loaned to York Museum 1976,
removed 1995, under restoration since then. And... the approach to the
builders (Beyer Peacock) to ship it back to the UK in 1947 came from the
Tasmanian railwayman (Mark Gray) who assembled what he thought were the
best bits of K1 and K2 into the loco that came back to the UK.

Incidentally the Welsh Highland has plenty of supporters and members in
Australia - including at least one who's been over as a volunteer!

Ben Fisher
--
...............................................
Dr. Ben Fisher	 University of Wales, Bangor
WHR Project: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr
*** Usual disclaimers, blah, blah, blah ***


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