THE TWO FOOTERS        

The history of the Goose Creek Railroad began on March 9, 1989 when Wiley Helton purchased a 2-foot gage homebuilt trolley car from Robert Hankla of Abingdon, Virginia.  Hankla had built the trolley in the late sixties/early seventies and had run it around his home on 271 feet of panel track.  The trolley had a 36V golf cart motor and used a forklift controller to vary the speed and direction of the motor.  Because Hankla had a fairly short railroad with only minimal grades, battery power was always sufficient.  As a matter of fact, he most often used an old 12V automobile battery for power.  However, the Heltons’ GCRR is quite a bit different.  Our railroad has grown to 2000 feet in length with most of it on a 3-4% grade.  Early on, we switched from automobile batteries to heavy truck batteries but we were always limited on available power.

 So, in March 2003 we found and purchased two identical Army surplus 28VDC gasoline powered portable generators.  Before we built a car, we decided to test the generator to make sure that it had enough power to pull our hill.  To do this, we removed the front seat from our passenger car and temporarily mounted the generator on the car.  Then, automobile booster cables were run from the generator posts to the motor controller.  After a defective circuit breaker was replaced with a 60 amp fuse, the generator pulled the trolley just fine.  Soon after our tests, work began on the generator car frame.

 By May 6, 2003, the frame and running gear were ready for a road test.  The tests showed that we needed to add some braces to the equalizing mechanism, but otherwise the car tracked well.  The next step was to mount the portable generator to the frame of the car then we used an old 12V lawnmower starter/generator to crank the engine, which is a whole lot easier than the original rope pull!

 The next step was to build the car body.  We decided that the car should have slatted sides to allow plenty of airflow for the engine and that the body should be easily removable for heavy maintenance.  Therefore, we designed the body so that two people can easily set the body off of the frame, after you remove 4 carriage bolts and some electrical plugs.  For normal maintenance and gasoline fill-ups, the top of the car is hinged like an automobile hood.

 In order to use the generator car with the trolley, we had to make a few changes to the trolley’s electrical system.  To connect the generator car to the trolley we opted to used winch motor electrical plugs.  One plug is mounted on the trolley as a jack and the other is on the end of the power cable coming from the generator.  So to connect up, just couple the generator car to the trolley and plug the power cable in.  However, since we went to the trouble to make the car easily disconnectable from the trolley, we did not want to abandon the use of batteries.  So, we used two large keyed electrical cutoff switches (mostly used on RVs and racecars) that allow you to operate the trolley on battery power or generator power.  We simply stored the key for the second switch.  So, if you want to run on generator power, put the key in the switch for generator power and turn it on.  Conversely, if you wish to run on battery power, put the key in the switch for battery power.  It works like a charm and prevents someone from trying to charge the batteries with the generator.

 After all of the mechanical and electrical work was completed, we painted the car red and black.  The car was completed just before it made its public debut during the 2003 Two-Footers Convention the first weekend in August.  We have been very satisfied and have gotten much more enjoyment from our trolley during the past year since we can ride it continuously.

The Alexandra Timber Tramway & Museum is located in Alexandra, a small town eighty miles northeast of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  The Museum’s mission is to recreate the era of the timber industry in the nearby Rubicon Forest, a mountainous area home to the world’s tallest flowering plant and Victoria’s most important commercial timber, the 300-ft high Mountain Ash.

From 1907, the Rubicon Forest was a thriving centre for the local sawmilling industry.  In 1912, the Rubicon Lumber & Tramway Company built a fifteen-mile 2-ft gauge tramway between the mills in the Rubicon Forest and the Victorian Railway’s branch line at Alexandra. The line opened in December 1912 and, until 1935, was operated by two of a trio of rather battered and well-used Krauss 0-4-0WT steam locomotives owned by the Lumber Company.  These locomotives garnered quite a reputation for starting fires and, when the lease on the line was up for renewal in 1935, the Shire of Alexandra demanded that whoever was successful in winning the lease should work the line with an internal-combustion locomotive during the summer months.  Rival Rubicon sawmillers Clarke & Pearce lodged the winning tender, and were immediately faced with the challenge of finding a suitable locomotive within a rather tight time frame.

Geo. W. Kelly & Lewis Pty Ltd, an engineering firm located at Springvale, Melbourne, built a neat 0-6-0 diesel locomotive for Clark & Pearce.  The locomotive weighed ten tons, had a rigid wheelbase of five feet, and had flangeless centre driving wheels.  The four-cylinder Dorman-Ricardo diesel engine drove a Vulcan-Sinclair fluid flywheel coupled to a Wilson preselecting gearbox.  From the gearbox, the drive passed to a Kelly & Lewis right-angled reduction gearbox which also housed the reversing mechanism.  This gearbox drove a jackshaft, which transmitted the power to all wheels of the locomotive by coupling rods.  The cranks on the jackshaft and on the wheels were fitted with weights to balance the drive rods.  Cast-iron brake blocks working on the outer wheel sets were actuated by a screw mechanism in the cab.  Sanders operating at each end of the locomotive, headlights, taillights and a horn were fitted.  The only instruments were an ammeter, an engine oil-pressure gauge, and a sight glass for the twenty-five gallon fuel tank.  The engine was started electrically, although decompression levers and a crank handle were fitted so that manual starting was also possible.  The cab was fitted with a pair of cushioned seats, and the locomotive was capable of a top speed of a little over seventeen miles per hour at the maximum allowable engine revolutions.  It was painted green, and carried the builder's job number 4271 on brass plates on the cab sides.  It was the first diesel locomotive to be built in Victoria, and cost £2750.  Terms of payment were half cash on delivery and half on time-payment.  The new diesel locomotive was transported to Alexandra by special train on Saturday 1 December.  Along with the diesel locomotive, Kelly & Lewis supplied twenty trucks (“disconnects”) at a cost of £33 each (to make up ten truck loads of timber, one load to each two trucks).  The locomotive entered service on Monday 3 December 1935.  It proved very satisfactory despite some problems caused by the poor state of the track. A special ceremony was held at Rubicon on Saturday 14 December to name the new diesel “The Pioneer”.

With the annual output of the Rubicon Forest rapidly increasing as the Depression of the 1930s eased, Clark and Pearce ordered a second diesel locomotive from Kelly & Lewis on 28 January 1936.  The new locomotive carried the builder's number 5957, was painted maroon, and cost £2600.  The first diesel had proved so successful that few changes were made: the second loco had slightly different wheel profiles, cab windows which opened to improve the ventilation and three round holes on each side of the buffer beams for re-railing purposes instead the single square holes on the first locomotive.  The locomotives worked the line until August 1947 when the line closed in the face of economic pressures caused by an upsurge in more flexible road transport.  The two Kelly & Lewis locomotives remained in use for shunting duties around the Alexandra sawmill until even this requirement was lost.  Locomotive 5957 had been gradually cannibalized to keep 4271 going, so 4271 was kept inside the loco shed while 5957 lingered outside in the long grass.

When it became clear that the locomotives would never be needed again, Kelly & Lewis 4271 was donated to the Alexandra & District Historical Society, eventually passing to its successor, the Alexandra Timber Tramway & Museum Inc.  Kelly & Lewis 5957 was sold to railway enthusiast Paul Simpson in 1975.  Paul transported what remained of the locomotive to his home in Sydney, New South Wales.  The diesel engine had to be totally rebuilt from a collection of parts, and many new items had to be made for the locomotive including a complete new set of axle boxes.  Paul’s mammoth task concluded when 5957 finally moved again under its own power on 20 August 1989, and he then threw his energies behind assisting the Alexandra Timber Tramway in restoring 4271, a task completed with its official recommissioning on 12 December 1993.  The happy result was that, by 1994, both locomotives survived in operational condition, albeit many hundreds of miles apart. That situation was to persist for a decade.

Paul Simpson passed away on 23 June 2003 after a short and unexpected illness.  As a friend and long-time member of the Alexandra Timber Tramway he will be sadly missed. The Alexandra Timber Tramway purchased Kelly & Lewis 5957 from his estate with the aid of funds from a Commonwealth “Regional Partnerships” grant, a grant from the local Shire, and transport donated by J. L Gould Sawmills Pty Ltd.  The locomotive arrived in Alexandra on 16 July 2004 and, that evening, was put away under cover for the first time for at least thirty years.  The locomotive required little in the way of a mechanical overhaul, so thorough had Paul’s restoration job been.  However, it was in a poor state cosmetically due to having been stored in the open for so long.  The volunteers at Alexandra set about sanding back the locomotive to either sound primer or bare metal, and patiently added successive coats of fresh paint in the color scheme last worn in service.  New builder’s plates were cast, the electrics were refurbished, and items such as headlights repaired and reinstalled.  New cab handrails were manufactured in the style of the originals.  By the beginning of November 2004, the locomotive was back in a state close to that in which it entered service.      

The day set for the official return to service, Sunday 14 November, dawned fine but overcast. A large number of volunteers were up and about early lighting-up, starting-up and washing-down locomotives, and oiling-up rolling stock.  Two sets of bogies loaded with timber the day before were sitting ready on the siding next to the goods shed ready for later in the day.  By 10.00am, various rehearsals had been completed and all was ready for the big ceremony at 11.00am.  At the appointed time, ATT President Bryan Slader welcomed the special guests on a packed station platform, and introduced Peter Evans to speak about the project.  After thanking all those who supported and worked so hard on the project, Peter introduced “The Star of the Show” – Kelly & Lewis 5957.  As the locomotive drew to a halt, Peter announced that Kelly & Lewis 5957 would be named in service in tribute to a fine gentleman of the railway preservation movement, the late Paul Simpson.  Peter then introduced the Honorable Fran Bailey MHR, Minister for Small Business and Tourism, to officially recommission the locomotive.  Fran spoke at length about the efforts of the ATT to establish an organization that not only conserved the heritage of the district, but which had the practical purpose of assisting to boost tourism in the region.  She then unveiled the “Paul Simpson” nameplates and broke a bottle of champagne over the front buffer beam to officially re-commission the locomotive.  Bryan thanked Fran for her time and kind words, and invited our volunteers and special guests to board the first official train.  This train was followed by one with double-headed Kelly & Lewis locomotives.  Following this train (and some rather involved shunting), both diesel locomotives made their way across the road crossing and onto the tramway extension hauling loads of sawn timber on restored ex-Rubicon Tramway trucks.  This proved very popular with photographers!  John Fowler 0-6-0T 11885 of 1909 was then put back onto the passenger cars, and steam running for the normal running day was resumed.  Invited guests retired to join those volunteers not involved with train operations in refreshments in the Visitors Centre.  Kelly & Lewis 5957 is finally back home where it belongs, fully restored and ready to play its part in a 25% increase in the number of running days planned for 2005. 

In heritage terms, the two Kelly & Lewis diesel locomotives represent the pinnacle of timber tramway locomotive development in Victoria.  In addition to this, they were the first diesel locomotives produced in Victoria at a time when steam still ruled the railway industry.  The combination of fluid-flywheel and epicyclic gearbox in locomotive practice had only been pioneered by English firm Hudswell Clarke in 1930, so they represent what was then the latest in drive-train technology.  Both locomotives are therefore rare survivors, technically innovative and essentially intact.  As engineering artifacts of the sawmilling industry, they are unique in their originality.  They are considered to be of State Significance in Victorian engineering and forest history. These locomotives represent the first and second diesel locomotives built in Victoria and were retired at a time when the Victorian Railways was purchasing its first diesel locomotives.  The two locomotives are also the oldest extant Australian-built diesel locomotives and can therefore claim to be of National Significance.

K1 (build 1909, 0-4-0+0-4-0)

Cass NGG 16 No. 143 (built 1958, 2-6-2+2-6-2, 60 tons, 18 000lb of tractive effort)

Two Garratts on a long mixed passenger / freight train – September 2004

There will not be a Two Footers Railroad Convention in 2005.  Based on the feedback from the membership, there was not enough interest to warrant a convention.  Just like the newsletter, involvement is necessary for a successful venture.  Our goal for the next convention will be a trip to Maine in 2007.

As of now, we have a limited number of articles for Issue 20 of the newsletter.   Be so kind as to drop us a note and include a picture of what you have been doing with your railroad.  Just like the write-up for the Railroad in Welsh, “pictures are worth a thousand words”.

The Two Footers
534 Armory Road
St. Marys, PA  15857

tpbauer@alltel.net
or
tom@thetwofooters.com

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