No.71 ‘Menzies’

Stored dismantled at Pinjarra

 

No.71 ‘Menzies’ at Yarloop prior to its donation for preservation; large brass numbers attached to the cabside declare its identity.

The loco has a beautiful tapered chimney with copper cap, while the tender has hungry boards to allow for a tall load of timber fuel.

This photograph was kindly provided by Lindsay Watson.

Builder

Dubs & Co.

Glasgow, Scotland

Builder’s Number & Year

3495 of 1897

Wheel Arrangement

4-6-0

 

This locomotive was built for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR), receiving the road number G 111. The WAGR G-class comprised both 2-6-0 and 4-6-0 versions of this classic Beyer Peacock & Company design, G 111 being one of the 4-6-0 version and entering service in October 1897.

G 111 and sister G 112 were sold on 29 October 1897 - brand new - to railway contractors Smith & Timms for construction duties on the Kalgoorlie to Menzies & Kanowna lines, with G 111 receiving the name ‘Menzies’ and G 112 ‘Kanowna’. Both passed into the ownership of Millars’ Karri & Jarrah Forests Ltd before 1900 and were transferred to their mill and forest railway operations at Yarloop, where ‘Menzies’ became No.71 and ‘Kanowna’ became No.70. (Interestingly, a second loco numbered G 111 subsequently entered the WAGR roster in 1898, this loco (James Martin b/n 172 of 1898) being of the 2-6-0 variety.)

No.71 ‘Menzies’ had a long working life with Millars at Yarloop before finally being retired in 1973. It was donated by Millars to the Hotham Valley Railway Society in 1977 and transferred to their Pinjarra locomotive depot. No.71 has yet to operate in preservation; my visit to Pinjarra on 12 May 2002 found No.71 fully dismantled for restoration for intended use on the Etmilyn Forest Explorer, which operates from Dwellingup into the nearby forests.

Update:

Alas the years have not been kind to No.71 ‘Menzies’ since I last saw her in 2002. I understand its restoration was abandoned and the loco remains dismantled, with the various components shunted to a remote siding away from public sight. Presumably it was found that expensive repairs were required; hopefully resources can be found to at least reassemble this handsome veteran for static display, rather than it be left to rust in pieces.

As a webmaster’s suggestion of a possible future home for this historic locomotive – the lack of a WAGR G-class loco is somewhat of a gap in the locomotive display at The Railway Museum, Bassendean, although their collection does include two former South Australian Railways Y-class locos (2-6-0’s Y 71 and superheated Yx 86) both veterans of the WA timber Industry. Perhaps G 71 / G111 would make a useful static exhibit at Bassendean, not only demonstrating the 4-6-0 version of this popular Beyer Peacock & Co design, but also telling the story of the rapid expansion of the WAGR network in the 1890’s.

An undated view of G 233 (2-6-0) on a tour train passing No.71 ’Menzies’ (4-6-0) at Yarloop.

G 233 is loaded with coal cobbles while No.71’s tender is stacked high with timber offcuts.

Image used with permission of the Rail Heritage WA archive:

http://railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/displayimage.php?pid=12038

(Image reference T03429, original photographer – R. Moss.)

References

a

A. Gunzburg 'A history of WAGR steam locomotives',

published by ARHS (Western Australian Division) 1984.

b

A Gunzburg & J Austin,

‘Rails Through The Bush’, 2nd Ed

published by Rail Heritage WA., 2008

c

Information provided by Brent Luscombe via email,

18 August 2009.

Page updated: 26 November 2023

Government Railways:

NSWGR

QGR

CR

WAGR

VR

TGR

SAR

 

Contributions

Home

Private & Industrial Railways:

NSW

QLD

Sugar

WA

Vic

Tas

SA

 

Copyright