Australian Standard Garratt

With the outbreak of World War II, in 1939 the federal government formed the Commonwealth Land Transport Board (CLTB) to take responsibility for the country's land transport networks. In the national interest it was empowered to over-ride decisions of the state railways. In 1942, the CLTB appointed the Commissioner of Railways in Western Australia, Joseph Ellis, to investigate the capacity of Australia's narrow gauge network and recommend what locomotives should be purchased. Ellis recommended that three variations of Garratt locomotive be purchased; heavy, medium and light.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110315192720/http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/Report%2Bof%2Bthe%2BRoyal%2BCommission%2Bappointed%2Bto%2Binquire%2Binto%2BAustralian%2BStandard%2BGarratt%2BLocomotive/%24FILE/Garratt%2BLocomotive.pdf Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Australian Standard Garratt Locomotive] Royal Commissioner Albert Wolff 29 August 1946

The CLTB elected to build only the light type to allow it to operate on any narrow gauge line in Australia. After an attempt to obtain drawings and licences from Beyer, Peacock and Company failed, in July 1942 the CLTB recommended to the War Cabinet that 30 locomotives be built locally. In August 1942, the War Cabinet approved the order, which was increased to 65 locomotives in November 1942. The Western Australian Government Railways' Chief Mechanical Engineer Frederick Mills was seconded to lead a team of engineers in Melbourne to design the new locomotive. The Queensland Railways were vocal opponents, stating its preference for a modified version of its C17 class.

The result was the Australian Standard Garratt locomotive. The first was built in a record-breaking four months, entering service in September 1943. Only 57 ASGs were completed; assembly of the remaining eight was cancelled at the end of the war. The locomotives were built by the WAGR's Midland Railway Workshops (10), the Victorian Railways' Newport Workshops (12), the South Australian Railways' Islington Railway Workshops (13), and Clyde Engineering, Sydney (22).{{cite book|last=Gunzburg|first=Adrian|title=A History of WAGR Steam Locomotives|date=1984|publisher=Australian Railway Historical Society|location=Perth|isbn=0-9599690-3-9|pages=121–124}}{{cite book|last=Oberg|first=Leon|title=Locomotives of Australia 1850s-2010|year=2010|publisher=Rosenberg Publishing|location=Dural|isbn=9781921719011|pages=225–227}}

File:ASG WA G26.jpg' G26 in 1943]]

File:ASG55, Swan View, 1952.jpg' G55 in 1952]]

Because of differences between the states, especially in regard to loading gauges, the sharpness of curves, and axle load, especially in Queensland, the design had to be a compromise, which went against the idea of having a standardised design.

To enable the long-wheelbase engine units to negotiate sharp curves, the leading driving wheels were designed to be flangeless, but this proved to be a major flaw as it led to a tendency for the locomotives to derail on curves and points. Another key problem, which made the ASGs unpopular with locomotive crews, was the fact that the firebox door opened flat on the floor of the driving cab, maximising heat radiation into the crew compartment. This resulted in them having fairly short lives with most withdrawn by the mid-1950s. Some were resold for use on the Emu Bay and Fyansford Cement Works Railways where they would have more successful careers.{{cite book|last1=Rae|first1=Lou|title=The Emu Bay Railway|date=1997|publisher=Lou Rae|location=Sandy Bay|isbn=0-9592098-6-7|pages=200–203, 208, 218}}

The Queensland Railways purchased 23. One was never used and another saw only two months service. In September 1945, the drivers' union placed a ban on them. Attempts to modify them proved unsuccessful, and they were written off in 1948. Three were sold to the Emu Bay Railway and six to the Tasmanian Government Railways, with the remainder scrapped in 1954/55.{{cite book|last=Turner|first=Jim|title=Australian Steam Locomotives 1896-1958|year=1997|publisher=Kangaroo Press|location=Kenthurst|isbn=086417778X|pages=130, 134, 138}}[http://www.qrig.org/motive-power/locomotives/steam/australian-standard-garratt Australian Standard Garratt] Queensland's Rail Interest Group

The Tasmanian Government Railways purchased 14 new and another six second-hand from the Queensland Railways. Two were sold to the Emu Bay Railway with the remainder scrapped in the late 1950s."Steam Locomotives of the Tasmanian Government Railways and its Constituents" Australian Railway History issue 917 March 2014 page 13

The Western Australian Government Railways purchased 25. They were unpopular with crews, and their use through the state's only tunnel at Swan View caused serious problems, resulting in deaths, industrial disputes,{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75932458|title='Now What Has She Got That 400 Others Haven't Got?'|newspaper=The Mirror |location=Perth|date=4 March 1944|access-date=13 October 2012|page=18|publisher=National Library of Australia}} and a Royal Commission.Some Aspects of the Australian Standard Garratt Locomotive Minchin, R.S. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, April 1979 pp. 69–77

Six of the WAGR locomotives were sold to the South Australian Railways in 1952. The last were withdrawn from the WAGR in January 1957.

The Emu Bay Railway purchased three second-hand from the Queensland Railways and two from the Tasmanian Government Railways. It would operate them successfully until the mid-1960s. One was destroyed in an accident in February 1962 with a replacement obtained from the TGR."The Australian Standard Garratt on the Emu Bay Railway" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin March 1995 pp. 59–66

In 1952, the South Australian Railways purchased six second-hand from the WAGR to haul lead ore between Cockburn and Port Pirie as an interim solution pending the delivery of the 400 class Garratts, with all condemned by February 1956.{{cite book|last=Fluck|first=Ronald|title=Steam Locomotives and Railcars of the South Australian Railways|year=1986|publisher=Mile End Railway Museum|location=Adelaide|isbn=0-9595073-3-7}}[http://www.comrails.com/sar_locos/r_c_300.html Narrow Gauge 300 class] Chris' Commonwealth Railways Information

The Fyansford Cement Works Railway purchased G33 from Commonwealth Disposals in August 1945. It was withdrawn in 1957, but maintained in operational condition until the railway closed in 1966 when it was donated to the Geelong division of the Australian Railway Historical Society.

The only surviving complete ASG is G33, which ran on the Fyansford Cement Works Railway until 1957. It was on static display at the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum in North Williamstown until 2013, when it was moved by road (together with a spare boiler) to the Bellarine Railway, Queenscliff, with the aim of full restoration.{{cite web|url=http://bellarinerailway.com.au/get-g33-moving|title=Get G33 Moving|publisher=Bellarine Railway|access-date=2012-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116102732/http://bellarinerailway.com.au/get-g33-moving|archive-date=2013-01-16|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.australiansteam.com/ASG.htm|title=G33|website=Australian Steam}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.queenscliffeherald.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/June-2013.pdf|title=War-child Steam Locomotive makes a come-back|website=Queenscliffe Herald|date=June 2013}}{{Update inline|date=July 2024}}

Many front water tanks of ASGs have survived: one at Yatina, South Australia, two on a farm south of Peterborough, South Australia, one at the Workshops Rail Museum in Queensland, two at the Don River Railway in Tasmania, and several dotted around that state. They were used as water tanks for steam and fire-fighting until the early 1980s. Another also survives with the Launceston & North East Railway in Launceston, Tasmania. It was used as a waste oil tank by TasRail until the closure of the Hobart railway yard in 2014, possibly being the last steam engine component used by TasRail.{{Citation needed |date=July 2024}}

{{portal|Trains|Australia}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Citation | author1=Barry, Kevin | title=Labour divided: the Garratt strike of 1946 | journal=Papers in Labour History | publication-date=December 1996 | issue=17 | pages=46–67 | issn=1030-6218 }}
• {{Citation | author1=Butrims, Robert | author2=Australian Railway Historical Society. Victorian Division | author3=Geelong Steam Preservation Society | title=Australia's Garratt | publication-date=1975 | publisher=Geelong Steam Preservation Society in conjunction with Australian Railway Historical Society, Victorian Division | isbn=978-0-9598322-0-4 }}
• {{Durrant-AustralianSteam | pages=73–79}}
• {{Durrant-Garratt-Rev}}
• {{Gunzburg-WAGR Locomotives|pages=10–12, 47}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite book|last1=Whiting|first1=Alan|title=Engine of Destruction - The Australian Standard Garratt Scandal|date=1988|publisher=A. Whiting |isbn=0-7316-1466-6}}

{{commons category|Australian Standard Garratt}}

• [http://athra.asn.au/library/ASG60.pdf Operating Manual for Australian Standard Garratt]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726071737/http://www.railsa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1880&start=150 Forum discussion of whereabouts of former ASG tanks]

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Category:Clyde Engineering locomotives

Category:Islington Railway Workshops locomotives

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Category:Garratt locomotives

Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1943

Garatt

Category:Steam locomotives of Queensland

Category:Steam locomotives of Tasmania

Category:Steam locomotives of Western Australia

Category:3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia

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