Don River Railway
| Don River Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Don River Railway Museum in 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Devonport, Tasmania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°10′52″S 146°19′05″E / 41.18103°S 146.31814°E | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | Western Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial operations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Don River Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Original gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preserved operations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Van Diemen Light Railway Society | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operated by | Van Diemen Light Railway Society | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3.1 km (1.9 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preserved gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 10 April 1916 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 16 October 1963 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| www.donriverrailway.com.au | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Don River Railway is a volunteer-run vintage railway and museum in Don, a suburb of Devonport, Tasmania. It provides a passenger train ride from Don to Coles Beach (operationally known as Don Junction) and return. The current line follows a reconstructed section of the former Melrose line that ran between Don Junction and Paloona.
The Don River Railway is open seven days a week, closing only for Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Anzac Day. Train services operate from Thursday to Sunday, using either either a 1940s ex-Tasmanian Government Railways DP rail car, or a heritage carriage set hauled by either a steam locomotive or a vintage diesel locomotive.
History
[edit]![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2023) |
The heritage operations consist of the northernmost stretch of the Melrose Line. The Melrose Line ran from Don Junction (now Coles Beach) to Melrose and Paloona. In the 1920s, the line was extended to Barrington, but this closed in 1928. Occasional trains ran on the closed section on Devonport Cup and Show days, but this ceased in 1935. The Melrose-Paloona section closed around this time, and following the 1948 closure of the Broken Hill Propiertary company's limestone facilities at Melrose, which had been the mainstay of operations on the line ever since it opened, the line was largely redundant. In 1963, the railway was fully closed, and ripped up between Melrose and Don Village, however the remaining section of the track remained in situ. In 1973 the Van Dieman Light Rail Society began pushing to restore heritage operation, which it did three years later. Ever since the VDLRS had operated on the line, under the trading name Don River Railway. The company used to run mainline heritage operations from Don Village and their Inveresk workshops prior to the 2004 removal of all T&H services from Tasmania's mainline. The service survived throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, opening the Two Tracks function centre in 2020. On 4 April 2023, a fire destroyed a carriage shed and some carriages.[1][2]
Steam locomotives
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A former Tasmanian Government Railways Pacific-type locomotive, M4, is the Don River Railway's primary operational steam locomotive. CCS 25 was reactivated in January 2023, but awaits approval to return to revenue operations. Fowler no.5268 is currently non-operational following the expiry of its boiler ticket, but there are plans for its reactivation following CCS 25's return to operations.
Future plans include an overhaul of M4, including potential for refurbishment or replacement of its boiler, or the return to service of MA2 or No.8 Heemskirk.
| Builder | Builder's number and year |
Class | Configuration (Whyte notation) | Original number |
Final number/name |
Previous owner | Condition | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyer Peacock | 3392 of 1892 | Tasmanian Government Railways A class | 4-4-0 | A 4 | Launceston City Council | Dismantled | ||
| Beyer Peacock | 4415 of 1902 | Tasmanian Government Railways C class | 2-6-0 | C 23 | CCS 23 | AN Tasrail | Cosmetic restoration only | Rebuilt 1928 by Tasmanian Government Railways |
| Beyer Peacock | 4417 of 1902 | Tasmanian Government Railways C class | 2-6-0 | C 25 | CCS 25 | AN Tasrail | Mechanical overhaul | Rebuilt 1926 by Tasmanian Government Railways |
| Dübs and Company | 1415 of 1880 | Queensland Railways 4D9 class | 2-4-2T | Queensland Railways no.131 | Tasmanian Transport Commission | Dismantled | ||
| Dübs and Company | 3855 of 1900 | 2-8-0 | No.8 'Heemskirk' | Emu Bay Railway | Mechanical overhaul | |||
| John Fowler and Company | 5265 of 1886 | 0-6-0T | Tasmanian Transport Commission | Mechanical overhaul | ||||
| Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns | 7422 of 1951 | Tasmanian Government Railways M class (1952) | 4-6-2 | M 2 | MA 4 | Tasmanian Government Railways | Static | Modified and renumbered 1958 |
| Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns | 7423 of 1951 | Tasmanian Government Railways M class (1952) | 4-6-2 | M 3 | AN Tasrail | Static | ||
| Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns | 7424 of 1951 | Tasmanian Government Railways M class (1952) | 4-6-2 | M 4 | AN Tasrail | Mechanical overhaul | ||
| Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns | 7428 of 1951 | Tasmanian Government Railways M class (1952) | 4-6-2 | M 1 | MA 2 | Tasmanian Government Railways | Cosmetic restoration only | Modified and renumbered 1957 |
| Vulcan Foundry | 5955 of 1951 | Tasmanian Government Railways H class (1951) | 4-8-2 | H 7 | Tasmanian Government Railways | Static |
Diesel locomotives
[edit]| Builder | Builder's number |
Class | Configuration (UIC) | Original number |
Final number |
Previous owner | Condition | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruston & Hornsby, Boultham Works | 279571 | 40DL | B | Cornwall Coal Company | Operational | Inveresk shunter | ||
| Ruston & Hornsby, Boultham Works | 187072 | 48DL | B | Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company | Operational | |||
| A. E. Goodwin under licence from American Locomotive Company | 84712 | South Australian Railways 830 class | Co'Co' | 866 | AN Tasrail | Operational | ||
| Walkers Limited | 577 | Emu Bay Railway 10 class | B'B' | 1002 | Australian Transport Network | Operational | ||
| Malcolm Moore | Tasmanian Government Railways U class | B | U6 | AN Tasrail | Operational | Rebuilt by TGR Launceston workshop | ||
| Vulcan Foundry | 22288 / D61 | Tasmanian Government Railways V class | C | V2 | AN Tasrail | Operational | ||
| English Electric, Vulcan Foundry | 1799 / D91 | Tasmanian Government Railways X class | Bo'Bo' | X4 | AN Tasrail | Mechanical overhaul | ||
| Tasmanian Government Railways, Inveresk | Tasmanian Government Railways Y class | Bo'Bo' | Y6 | AN Tasrail | Operational | |||
| Tasmanian Government Railways, Inveresk | Tasmanian Government Railways Y Class | Bo'Bo' | Y8 | AN Tasrail | Static | |||
| English Electric, Rocklea | A.250 | Tasmanian Government Railways Z class | Co'Co' | Z2 | 2111 | TasRail | Static | |
| English Electric, Rocklea | A.251 | Tasmanian Government Railways Z class | Co'Co' | Z3 | 2112 | TasRail | Mechanical overhaul | |
| English Electric, Rocklea | A.259 | Tasmanian Government Railways Za class | Co'Co' | ZA1 | 2114 | TasRail | Mechanical overhaul | |
| English Electric, Rocklea | A.275 | Queensland Railways 2370 class | Co'Co' | 2371 | 2128 | TasRail | Mechanical overhaul | Ex ZB14 |
| English Electric, Rocklea | A.264 | Queensland Railways 2350 class | Co'Co' | 2358 | 2100 | TasRail | Static | Ex ZB9 / ZR1 / ZP1
Rebuilt by Australian National Railways, Port Augusta |
References
[edit]- ^ "Fire that destroyed workshop at heritage railway accidentally lit, investigation finds". ABC News. 4 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "Fire destroys parts of heritage Don River Railway". 4 April 2023. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
Further reading
[edit]- "Don River Railway". heritage.gov.au. AHPI. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- Cooper, Greg (ca.2002) The History of the Don River Railway's Locomotives, Railcars & Carriages, published by the Don River Railway, ISBN 0-9580006-0-3
- McKillop, Robert (2010) Australian Railway Heritage Guide, 2010 Edition, Australian Railway Historical Society (New South Wales Division), ISBN 978-0-9807721-1-1
External links
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Media related to Don River Railway at Wikimedia Commons