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Magnet No.3 Originally from the Magnet Silver Mining Co. |
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Russell Dunn kindly contributed this view showing the
reconditioned chassis of Magnet No.3 at the Bennett Brook Railway.
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Builder |
Orenstein
& Koppel, |
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Builder’s Number & Year |
2609 of 1907 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
0-4-4-0T |
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This interesting machine is the survivor of
two ‘Mallet’ locomotives built by Orenstein & Koppel (O&K) and
delivered to the Magnet Silver Mining Company for use on their Magnet Tramway
in Tasmania. The Magnet Tramway was a 2’ gauge line around 10 miles long,
linking the silver / lead mine near Mt Bischoff in the west of Tasmania with the Emu Bay Railway near Waratah. It was a
difficult line with 1:25 gradients and many sharp curves of only 2 chains
radius. Duties on this demanding route were shared by three O&K
locomotives: Magnet No.1: O&K b/n
882 of 1901, a 0-4-4-0T loco producing 100hp Magnet No.2: O&K b/n
718 of 1901, a 0-4-0WT loco producing 30hp (the frames of which still exist) Magnet No.3: O&K b/n
2609 of 1907, a 0-4-4-0T loco producing 100hp The
Magnet Tramway closed around 1932, with Magnet No.3 having the melancholy
duty of assisting with line dismantling around 1940. It was stored until 1946
when No.1 and No.3 were sold to Great Boulder Gold Mines Pty Ltd of
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Magnet No.1 apparently never worked at
Kalgoorlie, instead being used only as a source of spares for Magnet No.3
which soldiered on with gold ore haulage duties until 1962. Fortunately
No.3 was purchased for private preservation by WA steam enthusiast Ken Whiteman
and moved to his property ‘Whiteman Park’ at Mussel Pool, where it acted as a
gate guardian (together with Krauss 2181). This site later became part of the
public parkland ‘Whiteman Park’ created in 1978. In 1984, No.3 and Krauss
2181 were gifted by Ken Whiteman to the WA Light Railway Preservation
Association, operators of the Bennet Brook Railway at Whiteman Park. Magnet No.3 is gradually being restored to
operation at the Bennett
Brook Railway. The chassis has been fully overhauled and the boiler is
generally sound, but replacement side tanks, cab and bunker await
fabrication. The Bennett Brook Railway website features a complete
history and restoration summary for this interesting
locomotive. In recognition of the significance of Magnet No.3, the National Trust
of Australia (WA) presented the WALRPA with a certificate of classification
for the Mallet in June 2007. The Wikipedia article describing the
patented Mallet locomotive design provides a good explanation of
the concept and early designs of the inventor, Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet,
together with a history of the type world-wide from prototypes through to the
huge US examples. The original Mallet design used compounding, with two
high-pressure cylinders attached to the main (rigid) loco frame at the rear,
and two larger-diameter low-pressure cylinders powering a swivelling bogie at
the front; this design provided a powerful yet economical locomotive that
could negotiate sharp curves. By applying the low pressure (second-stage
steam expansion) to the pivoted front bogie, the problems of maintain a seal
through flexible steam pipe joints was minimised. US railroads were notable
users of the compound Mallet type, but most later
examples (such as the well-known Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 ‘Big Boy’ and Chesapeake
& Ohio Railroad 2-6-6-6 ‘Allegheny’ types) used only simple expansion and
thus were not true Mallets. Magnet No.3 represents an early Mallet locomotive
with compound expansion, but is unusual in that the rear (high-pressure)
cylinders are situated behind the rear driving wheels, rather than in front. Only three Mallets worked in Australia; the
two examples for the Magnet Tramway, and a third (O&K b/n 943 of 1902)
which worked at Port Douglas in the tropical north of Queensland. In more
recent years, a fourth Mallet (O&K
b/n 3770 of 1909) was purchased from an Indonesian sugar
mill for
private preservation in Melbourne, and I
believe similar locomotives survive on other Indonesian sugar mill railways. For more information about the various Orenstein & Koppel
steam locomotives sold to Australia, refer to ‘Light Railways’ magazine of
December 2015 (Number 246) which details all 33 O&K locos which operated
here. |
Russell Dunn also provided this view of the boiler, with
the chassis in the foreground.
References
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a |
Light
Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Web site 'Preserved
Australian Sugar Cane Locomotives' list |
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b |
Wikipedia
page for Orenstein & Koppel, |
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c |
'Light
Railways - Australia's Magazine of Industrial & Narrow Gauge Railways', Number 246, December 2015, published by Light Railway Research Society
of Australia Inc. Feature article ‘Orenstein & Koppel
steam locomotives in Australia’ By John Browning (pages 3 – 15). |
Page updated: 25 March 2018
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