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No.4 Powerhouse Museum – Castle Hill |
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No.4 displayed at the Powerhouse Museum – Castle Hill
Discovery Centre on 14 July 2007.
An external water gauge can be seen
mounted on the side of the saddle tank.
The wooden front buffer beam shows the effects of many
years of age and service.
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Builder |
Leeds,
England |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
1781
of 1911 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-4-0ST |
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This locomotive was built by Manning Wardle & Co to their
‘H-Class’ standard design of industrial & construction locomotive and was
imported with sister B/N 1780 for railway construction on the NSW North
Coast. It later worked at the Potts Hill reservoir construction in Sydney.
Its last user was the Metropolitan Water Sewerage & Drainage Board, where
it transferred coal from the NSW Government Railways (NSWGR) sidings to feed
the boilers at the Ryde Pumping Station, Sydney. No.4
escaped scrapping at the end of its working life when donated in 1961 by the
Water Board to the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Sydney, forerunner
to today’s Powerhouse Museum. During 1985, No.4 was restored to operation under contract at the NSW Rail Transport Museum, Thirlmere. Since then, it has been kept at the Powerhouse Museum's workshop and storage facility at Castle Hill in the Sydney suburbs. The Powerhouse Museum subsequently expanded their Castle Hill site to provide limited opening to the public. At the time of my visit is 2007 it was known as the ‘Discovery Centre’ but seems to now go by the name ‘Powerhouse Museum – Castle Hill’. A sister
Manning Wardle H-Class loco preserved in Australia is NSWGR 1021 displayed at the NSW Rail Museum,
Thirlmere. |
This old information sheet – labelled ‘Museum of Applied
Arts & Sciences’ - was displayed alongside the locomotive. 14 July 2007
A visit to the NSW Rail Transport Museum, Thirlmere in 1985
found No.4 under contract restoration within the workshops area.
The loco is seen here mounted on blocks
and the wheels removed, revealing the frame details.
An inspection port on the boiler is open.
References
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a |
Information
sheet displayed with No.4 Powerhouse
Discovery Centre Photographed
14 July 2007 |
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b |
Wikipedia
page for Manning, Wardle & Co Ltd Retrieved 2
June 2026. |
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c |
Webmaster’s
observation or comment |
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Page updated: 12 June 2026
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