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520 SteamRanger Heritage Railway |
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520 and end-platform cars pass Pinera station with an
enthusiast special train during the late 1970's.
The (rather dented) shroud over the front
couplers is evident.
The webmaster enjoyed a similar trip with
520 and end-platform cars through the Adelaide Hills in 1987.
My thanks to John Hurst for this view, used with permission from his
collection of railway photographs.
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Builder |
South
Australian Railways, Islington
Workshops |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
1943
(No builder’s number) |
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Wheel Arrangement |
4-8-4 |
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The 520
class were designed and built by the South Australian Railways to provide a
powerful passenger locomotive capable of use on secondary lines; although
large and heavy engines, the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement and 12-wheel bogie
tender spread the weight and hence provided a low axle-load. Class leader
No.520 was completed in 1943 and a total of twelve had been commissioned by
the end of 1947. A notable
feature of the 520-class was the classic ‘shark-nose’ streamlining which
appears to be based on the work of industrial designer Raymond
Loewy and similar to his streamline design for the famous Pennsylvania
Railroad T1 Duplex locomotives. The first three locomotives No.520, 521
& 522 featured a somewhat rounded shark-nose including a shroud around
the front buffer beam, whereas the streamlining fitted to No.523 -531 was of
a sharper design more like the contemporary T1's with a grill near the
chimney and the practical advantage of leaving the front buffers and
auto-coupler exposed. (Reference to photos for sister loco No.523 makes for interesting visual
comparison of the two streamlining designs.) Class
leader No.520 was built at Islington Workshops in 1943 and received the name ‘Sir
Malcolm Barclay-Harvey’. It was among the last 520-class engines in service
when condemned in August 1969. While most of the remaining 520-class engines
were scrapped in 1969, No.520 and 526 were retained for enthusiast &
historical train duties and No.523 went to the Mile End Railway Museum. Alas
No.526 was scrapped in 1971 (with some
heavy spares retained) but No.520 was returned to service in 1972 wearing an
attractive green livery with gold lining. It was extensively used by the
Australian Railway Historical Society (South Australian Division) on tour
train duties throughout South Australia during the 1970's and 1980's. The ARHS (SA) railtour operations have since come under the SteamRanger brand. The SteamRanger organisation maintained 520 for many years at their Dry Creek, Adelaide depot, from where it was available for railtour duties around the broad-gauge network. Standardisation of the key interstate routes led to SteamRanger transferring their operations in 1996 to the now-isolated broad-gauge line between Mt Barker and Victor Harbour. The SteamRanger fleet is now based at a new workshop and depot at Mt Barker for use on the popular Cockle Train tourist services to Victor Harbour. 520 is currently stored at the Mt Barker workshop awaiting a needed extensive - and expensive - overhaul. Among the
webmaster's favourite railway recollections is a SteamRanger trip from
Adelaide (Kensington) to Victor Harbour & return behind 520 in May 1987.
520 made a sure-footed ascent through the steeply graded Adelaide Hills in
cool morning air, with a crisp exhaust beat and steam condensing on the
windows as the train passed through tunnels in the Adelaide Hills. 520 took a
spin on the Victor Harbour turntable at the destination – to the delight of passengers
and onlookers – and performed magnificently on the return run late in the
afternoon. Alas I had only a modest 35mm camera in those days, but I have
reproduced below a print from that memorable trip. Update
July 2025: SteamRanger Heritage Railway volunteers are approaching
completion of a heavy overhaul of No.520, with this exciting project detailed
on their pages ‘Fire Up 520 – Awaken the whispering giant’ - https://www.fireup520.org/ As an
aside – there is an ambitious project in the United States to create a
new-build Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Duplex loco, No.5550 – which has been
fascinating to follow progress. The boiler is part complete and the
locomotive frames have recently been assembled, with updates available via the
project website - https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/. |
520 runs past its train at Victor Harbour in May 1987, heading for the turntable.
References
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a |
Fluck
R. E., Sampson R., & Bird K. J. 'Steam locomotives and Railcars of
the South Australian Railways', published
by The Mile End Railway Museum (SA) Inc, 1986. |
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b |
Wilson,
J. 'The Mile End Railway Museum, the
first ten years', published by the Australian
Railway Historical Society (SA Division) Inc., 1974. |
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c |
SteamRanger
Heritage Railway website ‘Fire up 520’ pages - https://www.fireup520.org/ retrieved
14 July 2025. |
Page updated: 16 July 2025
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