Australia: Garratts hard at it
Posted: 05 Nov 2009, 15:41
Posted for the photographer, Dennis Mitchell:
1. Almost the end of an era. I think at this stage Broadmeadow was down to only 3 Garratts and 1 class 59 as its total steam fleet; that being 5910, 6037, 6039, 6042. Although some of Port Waratah's standard goods 2-8-0 s could occassionally run on the short north.
No 6018 had recently been withdrawn with a burnt boiler, so to see 2 on a Newstan coalie by this stage was extremely lucky.
Nos 6039 + 6042 are probably going past at about 25 m.p.h. [40 km/h] but the next mile or so of 1 in 40 will reduce them to a snail's pace as they shout to the sky: "We are doing a job your diesels cannot".
The late, great Dusty Durrant said the only place he had seen steam worked harder than it was in South Africa, was on the Newstan coalies in Australia.