One of Queensland’s most historic steam engines – Locomotive 45 – celebrated a centenary at historic Gympie Station with a large crowd of locals and enthusiasts present to view the grand old iron horse blow off steam to mark its anniversary.
To mark the milestone, the Mary Valley Rattler team positioned another C17 steam engine, the Spirit of the Mary Valley Locomotive 967, alongside Locomotive 45.
A commemorative birthday cake was cut and a framed photograph of Locomotive 45 was presented to Gympie and District Historical Society’s John Stark in honour of his work to rescue the engine from the potential scrap heap and lead the restoration campaign.
Locomotive No. 45 started service in January 1923 for Queensland Government Railways and was in operation until 1967. Transferred in 1972 to Andrew Fisher Park in Gympie, the engine was faced with being turned into scrap until concerned locals – led by John Stark – came to the rescue.
Their intervention saw the locomotive transferred to the nearby Gympie and District Historical Society Museum in January 1984, where it was gradually restored to operation by a team of local volunteers.
The labour of love was rewarded, when on 10 October 1992, No.45 was officially recommissioned and became available for steaming over a short length of track at the museum.
On 17 September 1996, No.45 was transferred to the newly-formed Mary Valley Heritage Railway depot and running shed in the former Queensland Railways loco shed at Gympie. It subsequently hauled the first Valley Rattler train on 23 May 1998, becoming the flagship locomotive of the Mary Valley Heritage railway fleet.
Since the locomotive’s retirement in 2003, No. 45 was stored in the Gympie yard, and shifted to its current location in 2022 to be restored as a static display at the Historic Gympie Station.
General manager of Mary Valley Rattler, Linda Barry, said that the public celebration was fitting given the vast amount of work undertaken by volunteers and the Rattler team to preserve such an important part of Queensland’s heritage.
“The railways opened up Gympie and Mary Valley to the rest of the state and beyond, and to preserve such heritage is one of the fundamental goals of the Mary Valley Rattler operation,” Ms Barry said.
“While Locomotive No. 45 no longer operates, its contribution in the past and its legacy for future generations is something the whole Gympie community can be proud of. It is fitting that we were able to pair Locomotive 45 with its C17 cousin, The Spirit of Mary Valley, as that has maintained the reputation for this outstanding class of steam engines.”
