Re: Steam speed in Australia

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

Roderick Smith (rodsmith@werple.net.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
> Driver Padgett (VR) claimed 86 mph (138 km/h) on a scheduled Spirit of
> Progress (S-class Pacific).

There have also been claims of 90mph.

> A railway-enthusiast tour in NSW in the late 1960s or early 1970s, with a
> soon-to-be withdrawn 28 claimed 90 mph (145 km/h) on a long-distance
> mainline all-day tour.

I assume you mean a 38. I think this was a NSW schools model railway
association trip to Goulburn. 

There was another fast run to Goulburn with a 38 not long before the
Newcastle speed run which also got to or close to 90mph. I forget which
loco it was, but it was one of the better steamers of the class. There was
a suggestion that the same loco should run to Newcastle and attempt to
reach 100mph, but NSWGR insisted on 3801.

There was one fast run where the line speed was officially raised from
70mph to "whatever the driver considers reasonably safe". The driver on
the day was the late Jack Sparkes.

> Flying Scotsman touched 130 km/h on a fantrip returning from Albury to
> Melbourne.

So did 3801 and R761 on the parallel run on 16/10/88.

R761-R707 touched just over 130km/h on a regular Geelong pass in 1991. The
best guess off R707's speed recorder was 131km/h.

Cheers
David