Newsgroup postings provide some history for K154, which apparently arrived at the Gippsland Folk Museum, Moe after running a fan trip to Sale, then stabling overnight at Moe before shunting ,with a passenger carriage & guard van, into the museum via a temporary connection from the main line. Postings also suggest that the ashes from the final fire could be seen where they had been dropped under the firebox, and that the boiler was not emptied after this final run.

K154 in March 1989; photo kindly provided by Wes Harris.

K154 on 17 January 2004; photo kindly provided by Wes Harris

Unfortunately the wet Gippsland climate took its inevitable toll on K154 and the locomotive eventually became derelict.  There was a proposal around 2003 for the locomotive to be restored for operation on the South Gippsland Railway, and some dismantling took place in preparation for its relocation.  However this proposal did not come to fruition.  K154 was later acquired by the K154 Preservation Group and the major components (boiler, loco frames, wheels & tender frame) were transported to Newport Workshops in late 2005.

Apparently the  K154 Preservation Group plan to restore K154 as an N-class 2-8-2, which are poorly represented in preservation.  This work is expected to include extension of the K-class frames, an X-class tender axle for the trailing truck and an N-class boiler.

Newsgroups report that an N-Class boiler was purchased for the project and removed from Swan Hill during 2006.  (An N-class boiler was used to power the sawmill display at Echuca Wharf for many years but had moved by 2002; possibly the same boiler.)  I believe other N-class boilers also survive.

K154's old boiler was scrapped during 2006 and was presumably beyond repair; the boiler was said to have not been drained after K154's last trip.  The tender tank was apparently derelict and scrapped at Moe.

A set of N-class spoked wheels graced J512 at the time of its withdrawal, and are now stored at the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre. I believe these wheels are not required for the project to convert J512 to standard gauge and may be available for the K154 project.  UPDATE: During September 2007 I was informed these old J512 wheels have indeed been donated towards the N project by the SRHC.

I haven't come across any published details / plans or website for the K154 / N-class project, so further information is welcome.