In its January–March 2017 21-1 issue Track+Signal published a report on the rejuvenation of Australian-made locomotive 3801's boiler. To download a PDF copy of that article, follow this link: ts2101_locomotive_3801.pdf
The full text of that article is republished below.
The full text of that article is republished below.
Iconic locomotive to run in 2017
THE return to active heritage service of iconic Australian steam locomotive No 3801 is finally a step closer after Transport Heritage NSW announced it had appointed specialist Goulburn-based firm, K and H Ainsworth Engineering, to repair the engine’s old boiler.
The restoration of 3801 has been dragging on for almost a decade, having increasingly been steeped in mystery, intrigue, guarded silence, elements of official stone-walling and continuing contractual caveats, despite the vast amounts of public money going into the locomotive.
The story started in 2007 when the December 1942-built 198t glamour streamlined 3801 was withdrawn from heritage service, principally due to the poor condition of its boiler.
After a tender process in 2008 that sought a firm to construct a new welded boiler, the contract went to German manufacturer Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works, a division of Germany’s national railway Deutsche Bahn. It was awarded under the then New South Wales Labor government’s Sustainable Rail Heritage Asset Management Strategy.
But when the finished boiler arrived in Sydney during 2010 “a number of technical issues were detected,” which meant the vessel allegedly did not meet Australian standards – and even more significantly, it did it fit the locomotive.
It was returned to the builder the following year.
More years passed and in 2014 a Transport Heritage NSW/Transport for NSW steering committee decision was made to bring the new boiler back to Sydney so that further work on the unit could be “more closely managed”.
After its arrival in early 2015, specialists not only assessed that boiler’s attributes but were drawn to the old one taken out of 3801 in 2007. That boiler was originally built for loco No 3819 in 1947 and had seen use in five separate 38-class engines during its commercial career.
Additionally, it had enjoyed its past 20 years in heritage operations (steaming from 50 to 70 times annually) without having been removed from the locomotive’s frame.
How it was kept intact was a miracle, one well-placed source told Track+Signal, as there were plans up until 2011 to section that boiler for exhibition within the TrainWorks Museum at Thirlmere, NSW.
Dogged determination and solid argument provided in a 25 January 2011 letter to Engineering Heritage Australia from one alarmed senior independent heritage engineer (a copy of which is in this author’s hands) seemingly won the day. That letter was prophetic in the extreme: the writer said he was deeply concerned that a loss of that boiler would thwart “a commencing point for the return of 3801 should the new boiler prove unacceptable”.
The fact that it was not interfered with enabled a decision to be taken earlier this year to repair that old boiler to a standard that would “meet safety and operational requirements”.
While the new, allegedly unsuitable imported welded boiler has been quietly forwarded to Broadmeadow for
storage, the old riveted one has been transported from Chullora in western Sydney to Ainsworth Engineering’s workshop.
In announcing the contract, Transport Heritage NSW CEO Andrew Moritz said the repair work was significant and would involve manufacturing processes never attempted in Australian standard-gauge railway preservation.
“Hydraulic riveting machinery, along with hand-riveting, will be required to connect new flanged plates to the existing boiler. The correct fitting of the hundreds of components that make up the boiler requires a great deal of skill and reliance on vital technical information left to us by our predecessors in the NSW railways,” Mr Moritz said.
K and H Ainsworth Engineering managing director Ken Ainsworth said: “For more than a decade we have invested heavily in developing the traditional skills necessary to repair heritage boilers.
“We are humbled by the confidence placed in us by Transport Heritage NSW. It is without doubt the most interesting project we have been involved with.”
(As reported in Track+Signal 20-4 October-December 2016, Ainsworth Engineering recently completed the rebuild of a steam locomotive – just one of dozens of steam-driven appliances Mr Ainsworth has successfully rebuilt on behalf of clients and government agencies across the nation.)
Following the boiler contract signing, two new full-time tradesperson positions were created for the 3801 project.
Track+Signal understands the fully-fitted out 24.5t boiler is scheduled for completion in June this year.
– LEON OBERG
The restoration of 3801 has been dragging on for almost a decade, having increasingly been steeped in mystery, intrigue, guarded silence, elements of official stone-walling and continuing contractual caveats, despite the vast amounts of public money going into the locomotive.
The story started in 2007 when the December 1942-built 198t glamour streamlined 3801 was withdrawn from heritage service, principally due to the poor condition of its boiler.
After a tender process in 2008 that sought a firm to construct a new welded boiler, the contract went to German manufacturer Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works, a division of Germany’s national railway Deutsche Bahn. It was awarded under the then New South Wales Labor government’s Sustainable Rail Heritage Asset Management Strategy.
But when the finished boiler arrived in Sydney during 2010 “a number of technical issues were detected,” which meant the vessel allegedly did not meet Australian standards – and even more significantly, it did it fit the locomotive.
It was returned to the builder the following year.
More years passed and in 2014 a Transport Heritage NSW/Transport for NSW steering committee decision was made to bring the new boiler back to Sydney so that further work on the unit could be “more closely managed”.
After its arrival in early 2015, specialists not only assessed that boiler’s attributes but were drawn to the old one taken out of 3801 in 2007. That boiler was originally built for loco No 3819 in 1947 and had seen use in five separate 38-class engines during its commercial career.
Additionally, it had enjoyed its past 20 years in heritage operations (steaming from 50 to 70 times annually) without having been removed from the locomotive’s frame.
How it was kept intact was a miracle, one well-placed source told Track+Signal, as there were plans up until 2011 to section that boiler for exhibition within the TrainWorks Museum at Thirlmere, NSW.
Dogged determination and solid argument provided in a 25 January 2011 letter to Engineering Heritage Australia from one alarmed senior independent heritage engineer (a copy of which is in this author’s hands) seemingly won the day. That letter was prophetic in the extreme: the writer said he was deeply concerned that a loss of that boiler would thwart “a commencing point for the return of 3801 should the new boiler prove unacceptable”.
The fact that it was not interfered with enabled a decision to be taken earlier this year to repair that old boiler to a standard that would “meet safety and operational requirements”.
While the new, allegedly unsuitable imported welded boiler has been quietly forwarded to Broadmeadow for
storage, the old riveted one has been transported from Chullora in western Sydney to Ainsworth Engineering’s workshop.
In announcing the contract, Transport Heritage NSW CEO Andrew Moritz said the repair work was significant and would involve manufacturing processes never attempted in Australian standard-gauge railway preservation.
“Hydraulic riveting machinery, along with hand-riveting, will be required to connect new flanged plates to the existing boiler. The correct fitting of the hundreds of components that make up the boiler requires a great deal of skill and reliance on vital technical information left to us by our predecessors in the NSW railways,” Mr Moritz said.
K and H Ainsworth Engineering managing director Ken Ainsworth said: “For more than a decade we have invested heavily in developing the traditional skills necessary to repair heritage boilers.
“We are humbled by the confidence placed in us by Transport Heritage NSW. It is without doubt the most interesting project we have been involved with.”
(As reported in Track+Signal 20-4 October-December 2016, Ainsworth Engineering recently completed the rebuild of a steam locomotive – just one of dozens of steam-driven appliances Mr Ainsworth has successfully rebuilt on behalf of clients and government agencies across the nation.)
Following the boiler contract signing, two new full-time tradesperson positions were created for the 3801 project.
Track+Signal understands the fully-fitted out 24.5t boiler is scheduled for completion in June this year.
– LEON OBERG