After months of hard work and dedication, a team of volunteers and staff celebrated a major milestone in the restoration of locomotive 3001 today, with a reconditioned boiler fitted on its frame.
“To get to this stage we had to overhaul, test and certify the boiler. We also had to complete the majority of the undergear mechanical work to allow the boiler to be fitted,” said THNSW's Fleet Maintenance Manager, Ben Elliot.
The reunion was completed in the Museum’s workshop yard, with a mobile crane used to carefully lift and place the boiler on the frame, guided by people below.
Ben and the team are now preparing for the work ahead to return 3001 to service.
“The next step is to secure the boiler to the frame and make all the mechanical connections. We must finish the reconditioning of the super elements and fit new main steam pipes. There is quite a lot of work to do on the fit out of the engine. Not so much the large top, heavy work, but the slow, time-consuming work of putting bits and pieces together,” explained Ben.
Locomotive 3001 was originally built in 1903 by Beyer, Peacock and Company. The 30 class was one of the most extensively used classes in New South Wales railways. 3001 was originally a tank locomotive and was converted after electrification of the Sydney suburban network to a tender engine.
The boiler was initially acquired by the then NSW Rail Transport Museum in the 1970s from the NSW Railways in a semi-reconditioned state.
For more information on locomotive 3001, visit the project page.