Below is the latest from the Puffing Billy Railway and their projects to add at least one more working Beyer-Garratt to the their fleet. Some of the narrative below is now past tense as the second NG/G16 and spares have now been acquired but not yet delivered.

The (PBR) Board has determined that to meet future customer demand that we would restore "South African" Garratt locomotive NGG 129 to supplement the use of our NA locomotives and G42. Work on this project has commenced. Detailed costing of regauging and restoring NGG129 is in our current Business Plan and timed to replace G42 when it is out of traffic for maintenance.

It has come to our attention that there is a chance to salvage one of the last NGG locomotives and a raft of spare parts available for sale in South Africa.

Once these locomotives and parts are sold it is unlikely that there will be any further opportunity to purchase these locomotives. NGG129 is far from complete and the Board was faced with the prospect of having to fabricate many of the missing components as part of the restoration.

John Brady and Harry Hibgame have visited South Africa on behalf of the Board to gain an appreciation of the value of what is available.
As a result the Board is now negotiating with the owners in South Africa to purchase a complete locomotive and a container load of spare parts.

Successful negotiation will substantially reduce the cost and time taken for re-gauging and restoring NGG129 from our existing estimates and would leave us with an almost complete second NGG locomotive should that ever be required in the future. It would also result in us having many spares including cylinders, side rods and many other parts

The regauging will require all the wheelsets to be disassembled and reassembled onto new axles to suit 2'-6" gauge. The mainframes of the engine units will require dismantling and packers placed at the ends of some stretchers to spread the frames by 3" each side whilst other stretchers will require reworking to increase their overall length by 6".

As the NGG16 locos were designed for a minimum curve radius of 2.5 chains the boiler cradle will require modification to provide clearance for the hind engine unit when negotiating the 2 chain radius curves on the PBR. Modifications are not required for the front engine unit as there is already sufficient clearance.

(For 129) It is most likely a new boiler will be required.

If the project is fully funded the work should be completed within two years but unfortunately funding at present is limited. The project has received a generous donation from one of our members as well as funds from the Emerald Tourist Railway Board and the Puffing Billy Preservation Society which has enabled work to commence. Work will continue as funds are made available.