2706

["David Martin" <d_martin@mountains.net.au>]

Hennessy, Mason <masda@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
a4YZ2.10103$116.15314@news2.ozemail.com.au">news:a4YZ2.10103$116.15314@news2.ozemail.com.au...
> I can't believe how casually the references to 2706 have been slipped into
> this thread. How and where did it survive in secrecy all this time? Will
it
> doublehead with the RTMs 2705? What's next to turn up - 3802? 3643? 5712?
> Better still, maybe the same operators have got a fleet of 15, 16, 34 and
58
> class and are currently converting a VR S class to standard gauge in
> unstreamlined form?
>

2706 was actually stolen from a railway yard before it could be scrapped.
The railway authorities at the time hushed it up out of embarrassment, as it
had no real value anyhow.

The perpetrator was one Gregory Haig, owner of a heavy machinery company,
assisted by some mates. Haig concealed the locomotive in a large shed in his
suburban backyard in Granville, where they restored it.

Due to the illegality of the whole thing, Haig & his friends never got up
the courage to tell anyone what they had!

After his death recently, Haig's property passed on to his grandchildren.
There had been some speculation in the family about what the shed actually
contained - the truth proving to be less exciting than some of the theories.

Haig's will states that the locomotive must remain in the family. The eldest
grandchild, Tiffany Yates, says that the loco is apparently in working
condition, and they hope to get it onto a line & running in the next couple
of years. Currently, there are legal matters to attend to. They are looking
at ways of gaining finance to get the loco certified for use, transported
off the property, etc.

David.