|
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North Eton Mill No.1 Privately owned at Echuca |
|
My thanks to Scott Jesser for contributing this 1976 view
of North Eton Mill No.1 plinthed at Rockhampton.
The wheel spacing and frame design suggests it may have
been converted from 0-4-2ST to 0-6-0ST.
|
Builder |
Hudswell,
Clarke & Co. Ltd, Leeds |
|
Builder’s Number & Year |
853
of 1898 |
|
Wheel Arrangement |
0-6-0ST |
|
This
locomotive was ordered for the Double Peak Central Sugar Co. Ltd, North Eton,
near Mackay, where it was known as ‘Warrego’. In 1912 it passed to the roster
of the North Eton Mill and was renamed ‘Ironside’. I believe it was converted
from an original 0-4-2ST design to 0-6-0ST configuration at some stage in its
career. By 1964
North Eton No.1 was out of service and the old loco was plinthed in Curtin
Park, Port Curtis Junction by Rockhampton City Council. Presumably
maintenance became an issue and in 1986 it was removed and stored at the
Rockhampton City Council bus depot, prior to being sold in 1987 to an
individual at Mt Etna in the Rockhampton district. A further change of
ownership came in 1994 when the loco was auctioned and relocated to a private
site near Echuca, Victoria. The North
Eton Mill closed in 1988 after 100 years of operation, following merger with
Farleigh, Racecourse, Marian and Cattle Creek Mills to form the Mackay Sugar
Co-operative Association Limited. Glen Hall provides a good history of the North Eton Mill on his Mackay History website. An
excellent source of information on the various Hudswell Clarke steam
locomotives employed by the Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd (CSR) in Australia
and Fiji is ‘Salute to the Hudswells’ by Ian Stocks, David Mewes and John
Browning. Page 132 of this book provides some history for this locomotive and
other Hudswell Clarke products supplied to the non-CSR mills in Queensland. I would
appreciate the contribution of further updates or photographs for North Eton
Mill No.1, either during its service career or more recent preservation
years. |
References
|
a |
Light
Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Web site (Retrieved
3 November 2018): 'Preserved
Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives' list by John Browning |
|
b |
Wikipedia page for Hudswell, Clarke & Co. Ltd, retrieved
28 November 2018 |
|
c |
Information provided by Scott Jesser via email dated 2 May 2012 |
|
d |
‘Salute
to the Hudswells’ by Ian Stocks, David Mewes & John Browning Published
by Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society, 2014. |
Page updated: 12 May 2021
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