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No.103 ‘Spirit of Baw Baw’ Privately Owned, formerly at the Walhalla Goldfields Railway |
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No.103 preparing to depart Thompson station on the Walhalla
Goldfields Railway on 6 November 2005.
This photo was kindly contributed by Rob Ashworth.
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Builder |
Kassel, Germany |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
25427 of 1956 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-6-0T |
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This modern industrial
locomotive was built by Henschel & Sohn, Germany as recently as 1956.
Apparently, it was originally built to 750mm gauge for the Sri Maharacha
Timber & Co. at Sri Racha, Thailand as their No. 15 and appears to be one
of a batch of at least 4 identical units. By 1972 it had moved to the Thai
Sugar Corporation at Nonchak, Thailand as their No.103. In 1982, No.103 and
sister No.104 were purchased for preservation in Australia by a private owner
based in Spotswood, Melbourne. I understand a change of ownership followed in
1989 to a second private owner based in South Belgrave. No.103 arrived on the
Walhalla Goldfields Railway (WGR) by 2000 and found use on this interesting
tourist line which is based on the final section of the Victorian Railways 2’
6” gauge developmental route from Moe to Walhalla, from the Thompson River
crossing station and along Stringers Creek gorge and traversing numerous
bridges to Walhalla. No.103 was overhauled and regauged to 762mm (2ft 6in)
prior to WGR trials from July 2001. The loco carried the name ‘Spirit of Baw Baw’ on the Walhalla Goldfields Railway, referencing the
name of the local Shire. Apparently, the loco was somewhat underpowered for
this steep and sharply curved line and required a second helper locomotive,
with trains operating in a ‘top and tail’ mode. It seems that No.103
departed the Walhalla Goldfields Railway around 2006, eventually moving to Queensland after periods
of storage at several sites in Victoria. An October 2022 post by the Dalby
Pioneer Park Museum on their Facebook page suggests No.103 is now at a
private workshop site in Dalby, Queensland, where it has been joined by
sister No.104; I understand both
locos are owned by the same individual. Further information about the status
of these two locos is welcome! Walhalla Township Walhalla was a favourite weekend destination for webmaster in the mid-1990’s as the historic gold-mining town and surrounds offers the combination of bushwalking, mining heritage and railways. At that stage the Walhalla Goldfields Railway had yet to rebuild the final half of the route up Stringers Creek gorge and I recall bush-bashing the railway route down to the head-of-steel; the valley (once dominated by alluvial gold miners) was very steep and proved impassible where some of the old bridges were down! The WGR achieved renewal or replacement of all the missing bridges in Stringers Creek circa 2000 to complete the magnificent section of railway from Thompson to Walhalla. The town was also notable in those days as the largest in Victoria that was not connected to the electricity grid, and thus the local homes and businesses sported various bespoke solar or other generation systems which added to the town’s heritage & frontier feel. Mains electricity came to Walhalla around the
turn of the millennium (with the reticulation carefully hidden so as not to
detract from the town’s heritage). Another restoration achieved around this
time was the recreation of The Star Hotel in Walhalla, faithfully rebuilt on
the location of the original and providing much more comfortable
accommodation than the tent I had previously relied on! My wife and I enjoyed
greatly enjoyed staying at the Star Hotel and various local bushwalks such as
the track to Mushroom Rocks and on to the snow gums at Mt Erica. Another
favourite route direct from Walhalla follows the old timber tramlines which
traversed the steep slopes and now provide easily graded walking tracks
through otherwise very tough country, with a particular highlight being the
old Poverty Point tramway bridge crossing the Thompson River. Walhalla Goldfields Railway Motive power on the Walhalla Goldfields
Railway is provided by diesel locos including a wonderful old John Fowler
locomotive built in 1950 for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria,
which began its preservation career with the WGR in April 1994. The WGR has a good presence on the Web &
Facebook: Web:
https://www.walhallarail.com.au/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/walhalla.goldfields.railway/ Sister Henschel / Thai Sugar Corporation
locos: Rob Dickinson’s ‘International Steam Pages’
(as referenced below) lists sister Henschel / Thai Sugar Corporation locos
105 (b/n 29582 of 1956) and 106 (b/n 29584 of 1956) as preserved in the UK.
No.103 is also listed as now preserved in the UK, but that listing presumably
is in error. |
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This photo is also provided by Rob Ashworth and shows
No.103 at Happy Creek station on the WGR during August 2004.
A scanned photo view of No.103 at rest in the loco shed at Thompson.
A second view of No.103 at rest in the loco shed at Thompson.
The shed frame rather gets in the way!
Detail view of the builder's plate.
References
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a |
'Light
Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow Gauge Railways', Number 214, August 2010 (Page 21). Published
by the Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. |
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b |
Dalby Park
Pioneer Museum – Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dalbypioneerparkmuseum Post dated 28 October 2022. |
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c |
‘The
International Steam Pages’ website published by Rob Dickinson. Thailand page: Preserved / Extant Steam
Locos and Steam Cranes in Thailand https://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/thaipreserved.htm Retrieved 29 February 2024 |
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d |
'Light
Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow Gauge Railways', Number 289, February 2023 (Page
45). Published
by the Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. |
Page updated: 14 December 2025
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