Re: [NSW] Whatever happened to 7920?

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

Hugh McGuinness (hughm@lucent.com) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
> When I was a nipper (in 1971 or so) I used to catch trains from the
> Blue Mountains to the city every day.  I vaguely remember seeing the
> old black shunter 7920 pottering around the yards.  It was a 39 ton
> variant of the famous GE '44 tonner' (build at Schenectady if I recall
> the place and spelling correctly).  

> IIRC, there were originally 4 of these: 7920 - 7923 inclusive, bought
> in the early 50's. 7922 and 7923 were sold to the Commonwealth
> Railways sometime, and 7920 and 7921 were sold in the the early 70's,
> also to CR (IIRC again).  What happened then?

7920 went to Christmas Island in 1974.
7921 went to Woomera in 1948, then CR in 1950 as DE90, then back to NSW.
   Preserved operational at Thirlmere.
7922 went to Woomers in 1948, to CR in 1950 as DE91. Preserved static at
   Port Dock museum.
7923 went to Christmas Island in 1974.

The two on Christmas Island were still working up until a few years ago.

Cheers
David