The four Emu Bay 11 Class in Townsville are now up for sale on Gumtree. They're listed as being in working order and as mainline freight locomotives. They've spent the last six years soaking up the tropical salt air near the Townsville Port.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-view-details.html?adId=1056814641

You saved me writing a bit of extra text posting this first!

It'll be interesting to see if they go to another cane railway, as shunters for some little comapny on NG (Doubt it, it doesn't look like there'll be any of those any time soon) scrap or even one or two to a heritage mob.

I remember someone saying that the transmition in them would be worth more than the loco's themselves and at $12,500 they're probably right.

As they say on Ebay, happy bidding!

You saved me writing a bit of extra text posting this first!

It'll be interesting to see if they go to another cane railway, as shunters for some little comapny on NG (Doubt it, it doesn't look like there'll be any of those any time soon) scrap or even one or two to a heritage mob.

I remember someone saying that the transmition in them would be worth more than the loco's themselves and at $12,500 they're probably right.

As they say on Ebay, happy bidding!

I am not sure if it is $50,000 for the lot of 4 locos, or $50,000 for each loco.
The listee does not specify!!!

You would think that the people who list this sort of stuff have at least some basic eBay experience where you learn this very early on and know that when you list multiple items that you specify an "each" or "lot" price when you list. Doh!!!

That was a lesson I learned years and years ago on ebay when selling some N scale Peco 4 wheel wagons!!
I am blown away to see 12" to the foot scale locos sold with the same details left out of the listing.

Nowadays, modellers (and even sellers who don't know model trains) include more details of the model that they are selling than they would think normally necessary.

Getting back to this particular sale, my personal observation is that the brake hose indicates to me that these 4 locos are still fitted with Vacuum brakes (better front end detail in the photos please to confirm if this 'minor' observation is correct or not).

Vacuum brake hoses are about twice the size of air brake hoses (the 'pressure' brake invented by George Westinghouse as distinct from the vacuum brake). Tasmania (and EBR) made this great leap in brake technology post steam, so their first gen diesels were fitted for vacuum brakes and the 10/11 Class were no different and had to be fitted for vacuum brake stock.

[By way of simple explanation, steam locomotives lent themselves more easily to vacuum brake systems because of the vacuum created in the smokebox. The air in the brake line was sucked out of the whole train through the steam locomotives smokebox. All the driver had to do to apply the brakes was let air back in to the train line via a valve on the drivers side of the cab]

So while most folk would observe that these are modern auto couple fitted locos (with the buffers long gone, and then think that they would readily run anywhere in Qld) the vacuum brake fittings are a sign that these engines need to be fitted for air brakes to work in Qld (unless on a cane line - gauge conversion notwithstanding).

I am prepared to be corrected on this point, but someone please confirm that the brake hose on the loco end plate in photo 2 is either a vacuum hose or an air brake (pressure) hose.

PS
The other giveaway is that there is no air brake 'shutoff tap' on the hose outlet.
Vacuum brake hoses do not need a 'shutoff' tap as they usually sit on an (airtight) stub housing that they latch (or more to the point 'suck' onto). The vacuum is 'destroyed' by pulling the hose off the stub dummy and letting air into the vacuum line.

All corrections/additions welcome!!
Stopblock

I am prepared to be corrected on this point, but someone please confirm that the brake hose on the loco end plate in photo 2 is either a vacuum hose or an air brake (pressure) hose.

I believe when they were taken there they were still fitted with vacuum brakes as the original idea was to rebuild/gauge convert them for cane train running which never happened. I think the EMU bay and Tasrail never converted them over to westinghouse style systems either as they were left runnign some of the last vacuum braked stock there.

I'm happy to be corrected too

And it seems the Gumtree listing has been taken down already, either they've already sold or the seller has decided to hang onto them

They were sold off still vacuum braked.

I believe when they were taken there they were still fitted with vacuum brakes as the original idea was to rebuild/gauge convert them for cane train running which never happened. I think the EMU bay and Tasrail never converted them over to westinghouse style systems either as they were left runnign some of the last vacuum braked stock there.

I'm happy to be corrected too

And it seems the Gumtree listing has been taken down already, either they've already sold or the seller has decided to hang onto them

EBR was vacuum braked. Tasrail P/L owned by yanks in late 90's removed the vacuum trains and DH's after Hellyer Mine closed in 2000 (50% of traffic) and upgraded the wagons to air brake and brought in the DEL C0-CO locos.

The DH locos sat around for years with no buyer apart from the few sold off to CKSR and those donated/sold to the heritage railways like Don River Railway and Beaudesert Rail. Typically I treat something for sale but no sold after a period of time to indicate the price is too high.

The EBR diesel hydraulics were all fitted with heavy duty bevel drives on the axles. These are too large to fit anything narrower than metre gauge.

I guess that explains why the 10 class at Walhalla has been fitted with coupling rods.

The EBR diesel hydraulics were all fitted with heavy duty bevel drives on the axles. These are too large to fit anything narrower than metre gauge.

A photo tells a thousand words:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93013338@N04/9380339817


by: ebr1 in the pilbara

(edit, apparently Railpage's flickr integration has stoppped working)

Vacuum brakes are a positive pressure brake. The same principle as air brake, positive pressure on one side of the piston moves the piston to apply the brakes.

The negative pressure created to release and hold off brakes on a vacuum braked train does not occur in the smoke box. With the regulator shut and no blower applied, there is little to no negative pressure in the smoke box, brakes would apply now wouldn't they?

On a steam locomotive, a steam ejector is fitted to create the negative pressure in the vacuum brake pipe and brake cylinders. The ejector usually has two parts, a large ejector and a small ejector. The large ejector creates the initial negative pressure and then is a good tight brake pipe, fittings and cylinders the small ejector should be able to maintain the negative pressure to keep the brakes released. The small ejector of course economises in steam use in maintaining the negative pressure.

The steam ejectors are controlled by the driver as required to maintain the negative pressure regardless of smoke box vacuum.

Some steam ejectors exhaust into the smoke box (WAGR W Class), which more so muffles the sound than anything else. Some ejectors exhaust directly via a small muffler (WAGR G Class).

On a diesel loco, it usually also has an air compressor even if vacuum braked, and the positive pressure is reduced to negative pressure via an exhauster on the air compressor inlet side, to which the driver usually has no input.

A photo tells a thousand words:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93013338@N04/9380339817

by: ebr1 in the pilbara

(edit, apparently Railpage's flickr integration has stoppped working)

Great pic, surprised they cannot be reduced in gauge further as there appears room on the axles.

If they cannot, then their future must be limited. What commercial operator would want such low powered and low speed locos? QR dumped theirs and so did NSW.

Great pic, surprised they cannot be reduced in gauge further as there appears room on the axles.

If they cannot, then their future must be limited. What commercial operator would want such low powered and low speed locos? QR dumped theirs and so did NSW.

There may be a potential niche for the 11s in the developing terminal-style operations now being operated by CKS in Cairns (already using 11s) and MVHR/Downer in Maryborough. Glencore's multiple rail needs in Townsville, Bowen and Mt Isa is one example where shunting could be undertaken by a terminal-style operator. Mackay Sugar and Wilmar's operations may be another. However beyond these hypotheticals there's probably not much commercial need for them.