Buderim Tramway Krauss

Statically restored by Buderim Palmwoods Heritage Tramway Inc.

The Buderim Tramway Krauss loco under static restoration at Wise’s Farm; at this stage the side tanks had been removed and the loco is in red oxide undercoat paint.

Stovepipe chimney since replaced by a diamond stack version as originally fitted during the loco’s years on the Buderim Tramway.

This photo was contributed by Ken McHugh following his visit to the Wise’s Farm restoration site on 20 January 2007.

Builder	Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co, Munich, Germany
Builder’s Number & Year	6854 of 1914
Wheel Arrangement	0-6-2T

This historic locomotive was the largest Krauss locomotive to work in Australia, being built new for Maroochy Shire Council for use on the Palmwoods - Buderim Tramway linking Buderim to the Queensland Railways North Coast main line at Palmwoods. This 2’6” gauge line ran for 11.6km and was built by the Council as a development initiative to overcome poor road transport. At the time Buderim was a significant point of origin for farm produce and fruit for the Brisbane market, together with timber. The Krauss locomotive shared duties with a small A-type Shay locomotive (Lima b/n 2823 of 1915).

Improved local roads and economic downturn during the Depression years led to a downturn in traffic on the Palmwoods - Buderim Tramway and so the line was abandoned in 1935. The Krauss locomotive outlived the Shay and was used on rail recovery trains in 1936, and later that year was sold to Gibson & Howes Ltd for Bingera Sugar Mill, south-west of Bundaberg, where it was rebuilt to the narrower 2’ gauge and became known as ‘Krauss’.

'Krauss' was languishing in a scrapyard when saved by a well-known enthusiast for private preservation. The loco was stored at a number of sites over the years; I believe it was with ANGRMS at Woodford for some time. In 1992 it moved to Kallangur, north of Brisbane, for storage with another enthusiast’s collection stored at an industrial premises there (as seen in photo below). The loco’s owner passed away in 2000 and ‘Krauss’ was bequeathed to the owner of the Kallangur collection.

A change in fortunes came in October 2004 when ‘Krauss’ was acquired by the Buderim Palmwoods Heritage Tramway Inc. for restoration. It was initially taken to Wise's Farm, Buderim, where a restoration base was established. ‘Krauss’ has since been beautifully restored by volunteers and I understand it currently remains in secure storage at Wise's Farm. A permanent display and interpretation centre at Buderim is proposed – the loco would certainly make an excellent centrepiece of local history!

While much of the formation of the Buderim Tramway has been lost beneath development, a 1.6km section has been reopened as a walking track as a second project of the Buderim Palmwoods Heritage Tramway volunteers. Given the extensive development and modern roads that now exist in the area, the history of the Buderim Tramway certainly provides a contrasting historical context! The Palmwoods-Buderim Tramway was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 July 2000.

The Buderim-Palmwoods Heritage Tramway incorporated website contains excellent information and photographs for this locomotive, including a very informative YouTube slide presentation.

A second view of the Buderim Tramway Krauss in the early stages of static restoration at Wise’s Farm, Buderim.

The side tanks and running gear had been removed for repair, but the two sand boxes had been re-mounted on top of the boiler.

This photo was kindly provided by Ken McHugh and is dated 20 January 2007.

‘Krauss’ as the webmaster found her stored at Kallangur on 12 April 2003.

The loco had developed a bit of a list, and the chassis is obscured by quick-growing grasses!

A plastic drum was being used to prevent rainwater entering the stovepipe chimney, and the boiler-top sandboxes were removed.

‘Krauss’ has since been beautifully restored by volunteers of the Buderim Palmwoods Heritage Tramway Incorporated.

References

a	'Light Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow-Gauge Railways', Number 153, June 2000. Article ‘Krauss Locomotives in Australia – A close look at their characteristics and an overview of their migrations’ by Bruce Macdonald. Published by Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. (This article is also available online.)
b	Wikipedia page for Lokomotivfabrik Krauss & Co / George Krauss, retrieved 10 September 2021.
c	Buderim-Palmwoods Heritage Tramway incorporated website, retrieved 27 September 2021.
d	Wikipedia page for the Palmwoods-Buderim Tramway, retrieved 27 September 2021.

Page updated: 28 September 2021

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