Made by State Rail Authority of New South Wales in Chullora, New South Wales, Australia, 1963-1975.
The Beyer Garratt 7¼-inch (18.4 cm) gauge steam locomotive model is of an all-metal construction which is half cutaway to reveal its internal operation. It is a large and complex model with a wheel configuration of 4-8-4 and 4-8-4. The design of the Beyer Garratt engines saw them split into these sections to help spread the weight over rails built for smaller, lighter and less powerful locomotives. The model comprises a tender, locomotive and then another tender, with driving wheels on the front and rear tenders. The cabin has moveable controls and two miniature seats which are removable. The model is powered by electric motors which operate the wheels though the engine itself is stationary.
By the middle of the twentieth century steam locomotives that were increasingly faster and more powerful were being produced. Mechanical stokers delivered fuel to the firebox, doing away with shovelling coal, locomotives were adapted to burn oil and pulverised coal, and every aspect of the mechanical working was improved. But across Australia railway infrastructure had often been built on the cheap and could not subsequently accommodate modern locomotive development. The rails were not strong enough to take the weight of the giant locomotives, the curves were too tight, the bridges too light and the turntables too short.
One innovative locomotive design that did not require expensive track rebuilding was the NSW Railways AD60 class Beyer Garratt. (The 'A' denoted an articulated locomotive while the 'D' referred to is four sets of driving axles.) As the wheels were located beneath the front and rear units, a larger single boiler and fire grate could be used, generating enough steam for both engines. The massive 260-ton weight of the Beyer Garratt was carried on 32 wheels so that the load was spread sufficiently to enable operation on most lines.
The Beyer Garratt was designed by Herbert W Garratt, an English engineer who worked in Australia. It was patented by the British locomotive manufacturer Beyer, Peacock & Co. The world's first Beyer Garratt locomotive was built in 1909 for the North East Dundas Tramway in Tasmania. A total of 109 locomotives were used in Australia in all States except the Northern Territory, with 42 in service in NSW from 1952. The last of the 60 class ran in NSW in 1973.
This model was made by apprentices of the New South Wales Government Railways. It was begun in 1963 when the apprentices were located in Bay 4A of the Eveleigh Railway Workshops. Work continued on the model when the apprentices were moved to the Apprentice Training School, later called the State Rail Authority Technical Training Centre, Muir Road, Chullora. The model was built under the supervision of the Apprentice School instructors as an engineering project and for demonstrations. It was used to teach casting to the pattern making apprentices and machining to the machine shop apprentices and proved to be an excellent training project as it covered a wide range of machine shop operations in miniature. Some of the smaller parts for the model were supplied by Barry Tulloch of Homebush. It took over a decade to complete and was worked on by hundreds of apprentices. Many of the parts were re-worked several times to improve the quality of the model.
From 1987 the model was on loan to the Museum from the State Rail Authority of NSW for display in the "Transport" exhibition which opened the following year. In 1993 it was formally acquired into the collection and remains a popular object.