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Yx 176 Yarloop Steam Workshops |
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Yx 176 displayed within the historic Yarloop Steam
Workshops. 12 May 2002
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Builder |
James
Martin & Co, Gawler |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
178
of 1898 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
2-6-0 |
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No. in class |
129 |
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This locomotive was built by James Martin & Co at their Gawler works to the north of Adelaide, receiving the South Australian Railways (SAR) road number Y 176. It was one of 129 members of the Y-class, which were introduced in 1885 and displaced the smaller W-class 2-6-0 locomotives as principal motive power on the South Australian Railways narrow gauge routes. Y 176 was
withdrawn by South Australian Railways in 1929 and condemned in December
1936. The SAR Y-class / WAGR G-class 2-6-0 design was popular with West Australian
timber concerns for use on their timber tramways, with many units obtained
second hand from the Government railway systems. Among these was Y 176 which
was sold to Bunning Bros in 1937 for use at the Donnelly River Timber Tramway.
Bunnings rebuilt Y 176 to Yx specification in 1956 by replacing the round-top
boiler with a larger, higher pitched Belpaire boiler. Yx 176 is
now located at the excellent Yarloop Steam Workshop and displayed together
with an extensive collection of static and operating steam machinery. These
workshops were a n extraordinary timepiece, appearing entirely authentic and
complete – including an extensive store of wooden patterns for the many and
varied castings needed from time to time. (At my
visit to this museum on 12 May 2002, I was intrigued to note several spare
locomotive boilers at various places around the site. These appeared to be Y
or G-class boilers, together with one larger boiler possibly from a WAGR
M-series or ASG Garratt. Another boiler was stamped 414A which probably indicates
an F class 4-8-0.) Update: Tragedy
struck the township of Yarloop and the Yarloop Steam Museum on 7 January 2016
when bushfire swept through the area destroying more that 130 buildings. Photos
on the Wikipedia entry for Yarloop Workshops shows the devastation
and ash-strewn site, with Yx 176 sitting burnt and rust-stained among the twisted
metalwork. The
Yarloop Railway Workshops Complex was included on the State Register, in
recognition of its importance as the largest privately owned railway workshop
remaining in Australia. Their social media site shows how the site looked and range of
old equipment and wooden patterns on display. In January
2022, it was announced that the Yarloop Steam Workshops would be rebuilt, with the first
stage focusing on rebuilding the steam workshops. While so much has been lost
to fire, hopefully Yx 176 can also rise from the ashes. In the meantime it is
sitting in a fenced compound at the museum site, together with other artefacts
recovered from the debris. |
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 |
Webmaster's
observation or comment. |
Page updated: 2 September 2025
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