Re: Pimba, Woomera & Roxby Downs

[telljb@OZozemail.com.au (< Tell >)]

David Bromage <dbromage@omni.com.au> wrote:
> 
> The Department of Defence bought a pair of them (7921 and 7922) off
> NSWGR. When Woomera no longer needed them, they were bought by the
> Commonwealth Railways and became DE90 and DE91. DE90 was repatriated to
> NSW and is preserved as 7921 at RTM.
  
> 7920 and 7923 are on Christmas Island as 9401 and 9402. Interesting to
> note that they were bought second hand off the US Army in 1943, and are
> still in regular service.


Hang on, lets start from the beginning, the four GE's
were imported into Australia under the Lend-Lease
scheme by the Federal Government for use at the
munitions plant at St. Marys NSW.  
After the war they became the property of NSWGR and
7921 & 7922 were transferred back to the Feds and used
to haul wagons from Pimba to Woomera during the Rocket
Range construction and then were later transferred to
the Commonwealth Railways.

This is the first time I have heard that two of them
formerly belonged to the US Army.  I understood the
four came direct from GE in the US.
  
----Terry Burton
[clear OZ in address for email reply]