I live in Australia and have seen Heavy Harry in person and even got the chance to be in the cab with an info guide. Harry unfortunately may not ever be able to run again because of several issues, it's in desperate need of an overhaul to fix several issues, mainly with its firebox. It'd also be due to the city itself, Melbourne (Pronounced: Mel-burn) is currently going under an entire renovation of having over 70% of its level crossings removed and replaced with bridges, which in Harry's recorded working career he suffered the Big Boy issue in that he'd crush the tracks he was on, so getting him out of the city would be a huge challenge. It'd also be a problem of where to put him, he's a big part of Melbourne's history and it'd be a huge shame to not let it operate in the city, which as mentioned is now impossible. Huge shame. But bad ass choo choo!
Its ridiculous isnt it? The level crossing removal scheme i mean. Leaves no room for expansion, a hard load limit, and such a waste of money for not much. The whole metro area is a disaster nowdays. I was watching a video of melbourne in 1940 the other day, and noticed melb looked closer to 1940 melb in 1995 when i was a kid going to the city with my mum, than it does now compared to 1995...
You missed a really big part in it’s story, after retirement the locomotive was placed outside the railway school at Newport workshops to inspire future employees and honour past employees, incredibly the locomotive was a massive driving force behind the railways idea for a museum which first exhibits would be the H class, X class and the smaller C class.
Often the case in Australia, the equipment isn't bad, but the railway is neglected. XPT & V/Lo DMU are good examples of this, never being able to achieve the running times they are capable of. Same with the Tilt Trains
For those who don't know what they are: Load compensating brakes are equipped with a valve that basically mesures the total mass of a vehicle and regulates the force with wich the brakes apply accordingly. While standard practice these days, it was a huge deal back in the 30s/40s, as it was a fairly new technology back then. Previously, on locomotive tenders, you just had a pre-set force with which the brakes would apply. This is fine if the difference between loaded and empty is minimal (maybe a couple tonnes at most) but once you start going into double digits, the vehicle starts to behave noticeably worse when braking, increasing braking distance.
It definitely does but tragically VRs only streamlined steam locos the S class Pacifics were all scrapped the last one was supposed to be kept but it was scrapped after a mix up in paperwork
Australia's success with Heavy Harry is an example of why the 4-8-4 was the most widely used dual-service steam locomotive in the US during the same era. Many of the finest American steam locomotives were 4-8-4s. They really could do it all, from express passenger trains to fast freight.
On the Victorian Railways documents the H 220 4-8-4 wheel arrangement was called a Pocono type. One of many names for a 4-8-4. I think the term Pocono was derived from the few US roads that used that name.
@@johnd8892 It was. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western called their 4-8-4s Poconos. Being an East Coast railroad they believed it was inappropriate to call their 4-8-4s Northerns like most others did. For this reason, many other non-northern railroads in the US also adopted alternative nicknames for their 4-8-4s.
@@KeijiSuwa Just like U. S. railroads in the former Confederacy could not bring themselves to use the term "Northern" for their 4-8-4s. Chesapeake and Ohio's were Greenbriers (after a river in West Virginia they had a branch along, as well as the railroad-owned Greenbrier resort), Western Maryland's were called Potomacs (for the River), and Norfolk and Western simply referred to theirs by it's Class designation, the "J". The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac had three different groups of 4-8-4s, with a different name for each group, since they named each one (not a common U. S. practice in the mid-20th Century). "Generals" were named for Generals of the Civil War Confederacy (like Robert E. Lee and A. P. Hill), "Governors" for Governors of Virginia (Patrick Henry, James Monroe), and the last group were "Statesmen" (George Washington, John Marshall). Many of them were also Presidents of the U. S., and practically all of them were also slave holders. The Baltimore and Ohio named their last class of Pacifics (P7) for the first 20 Presidents of the U. S. (5300 - 5319).
Australia's rail network suffered from a major problem. Each of the Colonies in Australia was originally it's own thing with settlements far apart from each other. As such, they started up their railways all using different gauges. Some when for standard, others wide and others narrow and they were rather stubborn about this and ran with it. When an East-to-West transcontinental line was finished, you had to get off and switch trains. This remained the case after Federation and well into the 20th century.
but it still isnt standardised the melbourne to sydney route and melbourne to adellaide route is run tri - rail to melbournes southern cross which is now run by v/line services
Whilst I can imagine the many problems it caused (which presumably why there's now a standard gauge network linking the important cities), I personally love the fact that the track gauge in Australia varies by state. It adds some more variety to the already really varied collection of locomotives they have down under.
WA and Queensland opted for thee foot six gauge owing to the massive distances over which their rail networks operated coupled with small populations and consequent lack of finances. Three foot six was much cheaper to build.
Heavy Harry resides in the Newport Railway Museum .... where in the early 1970's, when I was a child, I would climb all over the beast while pretending to be Casey Jones! Just a note to the video creator: we Australians pronounce 'Melbournne' as 'Melb - bin' .... great work!
H220 is my fav Loco - He's stored at the Newport Railway Museum, Just outside the Former Victorian Railways workshop. It was a fun time exploring the shear size of the engine.
Same here mate i go down every mouth or so and spend WAY to long on him just marveling at his size and power. Love the Vids Ash stay safe and healthy mate 07
Search UA-cam for V/Line Power Parade video to see photos, descriptions and some film of all locomotives running on the Victorian Railways from the 1854 guess at the first locomotive until about 1987 when the video was made. Cant think of any significant railway that has all locomotive types recorded in this way. So a great resource. US built ones I recall are the Rogers D class 4-4-0 looking very similar to UP 119 but with buffers, Baldwin W class 4-6-0, Baldwin Vauclain compound V class 2-8-0 and Baldwin 2 ft 6 in gauge Na 2-6-2T locomotives. The locally built versions of the Na are in operation on the Puffing Billy scenic railway about 364 days of the year. Baldwin also built a 4-6-0 Dd class or two to Victorian Railways design for Victoria , one of which is preserved in the same North Williamstown Museum as Heavy Harry . So depending on era these US designs would be working alongside British and Australian designs. Annoyingly not included in the vid were railcars like the VR McKeen Cars of around 1910 and the DERM Doodelbug type railcars from 1929, some of which are still running in fan service sometimes on mainlines. Search VR Derm to see them running iver the years. Then there are numerous EMD based diesels. The first were the F7 based early fifties B then S class but cut down bodies and the B class had a driving cab at each end to give quick train turn around in service. The VR also specified three axle trucks with all axles powered. EMD did not originally make such a power truck but developed the SD truck as a result of the VR specification. EMD soon saw the usefulness of such a truck that later dominated EMD production with the SD series of locomotives.
My great grandfather helped build Heavy Harry. He died before I was born, but one the stories I’ve heard about H220 was the time a driver pushed the throttle lever at startup, and Harry decided to "slip" - a common occurrence with old steam engines where the wheels will spin in place on the track. However, due to Harry’s enormous weight, the wheels didn’t slip, but gripped. The engine didn’t move, but the track did! Before the driver could take control, it ripped out some lengths of rail from underneath the engine. Imagine that!
Even in the late ‘70s, the VR introduced the C class diesel at 3300 HP, even then it could only run to Albury and Serviceton due to weight restrictions which might have been a statement of the neglect on other lines. But there were no plans for C classes to pull wheaties on wheat lines anyway. I attended a talk at the ARHS by the Chairman of VR Mr Reiher, later I asked him if the new C class can traverse the new viaduct between Flinders St and Spencer St, he replied “he’d be disappointed if it couldn’t”.
darylcheshire, ive seen it written that the locos that run to the steel place on westernport and the maryvale paper trains only ever use the newer viaduct and have speed restrictions on them.
The more Aussie content, the better! I’d love a video on Australia’s different rail gauges, and the complexities of this in the early days of Federation.
Australia had some 2ft, ( sugar cane plantations ) 3.6ft, 4.6ft (standard gauge in UK ) and 5.3 wide gauge, look up a video series called ''steam in australia'' very interesting!
@@barryphillips7327 The cane railways in Queensland are worth a look all by themselves. Distributed power, remote control operation for shunting, end of train remote brake wagons, hundred+ bins. Quite something for a 2' system.
I’ve always enjoyed the look of Australian Steam Engines. They have an Anglo-American look to them, best comparison is the look of the Scotsman on its USA Tour. That sort of steampunk feel to it. Like a window into what if Britain stayed on coal burning engines, and into the 1980’s, this is what engines would’ve looked like. Just a simple tangent, one reason I like Australian locomotives.
UK engines would have remained more like their final ones for a while, so like the 9F. They're constrained heavily by their loading gauge so US-style monsters cannot ever be used there.
Another good video. South Australia had it's own Mountain locos made at Islington workshops like the Sir Malcolm Barclay Harvey. My mother's 2nd husband worked there as a boilermakers assistant and, yes, he got boilermakers deafness. On the inside holding the red hot rivets while the boiler maker hammered them down from the outside. A small blooper, the black and white engraving of a workshop is James Martin's from Gawler, SA. A long way from Melbourne. Sadly all gone now and turned into a shopping precinct with only the outer walls remaining. Martin's made SA's first loco. (I think)
As a child I lived near the Islington gates. At night I would lie in bed and hear the shunters putting the trains together. Dangerous job. I wanted to work in the shops but even though I applied for an apprenticeship I never got one. Ended up in a wood trade.
Fascinating. Also I have to agree there's no job that steam power can't do. I realise this isn't quite what you meant by that, but even today most grid-scale electricity still uses steam - coal, gas, nuclear, and even thermal solar power are all just different ways to drive a steam turbine. Because steam is still the best working fluid for these applications, and we're really good at working with it.
My aunt lived in Essendon, some distance from the line. She could tell when a goods train pulled by Heavy Harry passed by because the cups and saucers on the sideboard rattled.
I remember recommending this to you some time ago. Thank you very much for following it up. Heavy Harry certainly deserves a place among the many famous international trains mentioned. I hope researching it was as interesting for you as watching it was for me.
No VR S classes were saved which is a shame as they look amazing with their Art Deco styling, but at least Heavy Harry was spared. Harry used to make nearby houses shake and my grandfather could even pick when he was coming through on a freight from the way the house windows rattled.
Ah the H class, another of VR's attempts at replacing the A2 which didn't quite pan out. Another thing to mention is that Heavy Harry is to my knowledge the only 3 cylindered 4-8-4 left in the world, and uses a special German mechanism. The S classes used Gresley's Conjugated Valve Gear with it's usual problems, and so with H220 they used the Henschel and Son Conjugated Valve Gear which drives the centre valve using the combined motion of two levers attached to the valve crossheads rather than the valve rod ends of the outside cylinders. It worked much better and they were apparently planning to build more S classes using it but then WW2 killed that plan along with the other 2 H's.
I actually went to Newport Workshops & saw this behemoth of a machine and & it is absolutely HUGE!! I was about 8 or 9 when I saw it & I was only as tall as the wheel, even got to go in the cab!
Theres a great story from a bloke who was a firemen on this, his driver gave him a steer somewhere on its way to Albury, they stalled on a grade and then the regulator seized open so they ended up destroying the track from the thing just wheel spinning on the spot
Garratt articulated locomotives were popular in Australia and around the world, with fairly light track loading and over 60,000lbs tractive effort they were able to operate on tracks with very tight bends... I still remember seeing them in South Africa and Rhodesia - they were very striking with the water tank on the front with its big headlight. Very impressive thundering up the Capetown to Salisbury main line, they were also very useful in mountainous areas due to their ability to handle tight bends. They also had a wonderful 'offbeat' sound as the front and rear locomotives ( separate ) blast pipe rhythm went in and out of synchronisation...
I've had the chance to climb over and do some work to it, mainly getting re opened for all to see back in 2016. I've met drivers, and firemen who have worked this beast. They loved it, fast, back saving, A story was they would attach a small D3 class 4-6-0 from the early 1900's and run that in front, someone thought it was going to run right over them...
Just a little clarification, in the 1920's Victorian Railways had two axleloadings for their broad gauge lines, what amounted to Mainline [100 lb/yd] and Branchline [70 lb/yd] (or thereabouts), following the success of Gresley's three cylinder A1/A3 pacific in the UK, came the Victorian S class, which had a drawback of requiring Heavy Rails [120 lb/yd], which was duly fitted to the flagship service "Spirit of Progress" between Melbourne and Albury - to meet the "Southern Aurora" at the break of gauge to New South Wales. The H class was a further evolution for the other Intercapital service, to Adelaide, the original intention was to build at a minimum of four H class and ten S class locomotives, all to be named, as it stood there is an orphan H class [which survives] and were four S class [all scrapped]. All five locomotives were restricted to the North East Corridor, the metropolitan yards and south to Geelong.
The S class were all scrapped because of a clause in the GE contract for the diesels. The S class steam engines still greatly outperformed the new diesels, and GE didn’t want that seen.
@@vsvnrg3263 I’ll leave this debate open. Because I’ve never heard otherwise. I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but I believe that’s why the S-class were immediately scrapped. Otherwise, I’m absolutely certain they would have been the proud and exciting headline acts of the ARHS and other steam preservation societies. Only greed would’ve been the driver behind scrapping them. Not stupidity, because that would’ve been overridden by common sense people.
@@robertchapman6795 , go and read the wikipedia page about the x class. the yard teams continually shuffled the locos on death row to save the more precious ones. thats why there is only one x class left. there would have been none.
My late father was one of the early volunteer workers at the ARHS railway museum and I used to go along with him on weekends from 1962 - 69. I used to sit in the cab of H220 and imagine what it would have been like when it was in service. The main problem as mentioned in the video was the poor condition of the tracks, not the locomotive itself.
Heavy Harry is not just the world's strongest non-articulated in Australia but the strongest northern as Australia had other 4-8-4 northerns that being the SAR 520 class
i need to go back to newport and visit the museum again- last time i went i didn't know as much about the trains there. I'd love to go back with my current knowledge!
@@yoyleb1711if you visit the museum by train then go to North Williamstown station. About 300 metres along Champion road from that station, but about 2000 metres from Newport station.
3:14, it could do more than 50mph. it was a powerful fast passenger locomotive with more power than the s class and only marginally smaller driving wheels than the s class.
Power parade lists it as 60 mph. The main reason for limiting it was wear and tear on the track. The D3 with significantly smaller wheels were also rated for 60 mph and the NSW C 38 class had similar sized wheels and were permitted 70 mph. The 50 mph limit was due to the four wheel wagons on the goods service. THEY were limited to 50 mph. So that limited the entire train to that speed. You would note that the C class had their speed raised to 60 mph but the X class were ONLY allowed 60 mph when hauling the spirit of progress. Again to lessen wear and tear on the track.
I had the honour of seeing H 220 myself when I was in Melbourne near the end of June. The sheer size of this locomotive is hard to comprehend, even when you're standing right in front of her. I like how the Newport Railway Museum also has a pair of 'A2' class 4-6-0s in their collection, one on each side of the H. There's a set of stairs placed alongside H 220, which allows visitors to climb up and have a look on the footplate. That was incredible, especially since you can sit in the driver or fireman's seats; from the latter, you can look out at some of the other locomotives on display (including electric locomotive L 1150).
1:04 I've Didn't Know Australia Has Quite A Few Steam Locomotives. Thanks Mate. PS I Might Definitely Want To Go To Australia Next Year In July 2025. XXxxx 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇺🇸
The S class three cylinder Pacific's at 1:04 are the only Victorian Railways steam locomotive class sill running post war that were all scrapped. Once that happened the public backlash was so strong that at least one example of every class still running was preserved to at least be a museum piece. The R class Hudson 4-6-4 locomotives have so many preserved that double and triple headed trains are often run with them.
God, I was so hoping for a Stewart Adamson lyric reference when I heard the first few words of the video. Okay, cheesy banter aside, awesome video on one of the more impressive one-off locomotives out there. That incline run sounds like it would’ve been an amazing scene to watch firsthand too. Cheers!
It’s a tragedy that none of the Victorian S class steam locomotives were preserved, they were all scrapped. I guess people think of history as something that happened in the past rather than something we’re all living through, they don’t recognise the value and importance of things until looking back years too late. It amazes me how few Spitfires, Hurricanes and other WW2 aircraft remain in preservation relative to the many thousands produced during WW2. Even an event such as WW2 wasn’t enough for people to seemingly grasp the historical significance of the equipment used at the time. Even things manufactured in huge numbers can become exceedingly rare if no one thinks to preserve them while they still have the chance.
Some comments here. The North East line is not heavily graded except for the Glenroy Bank. There is a long but not steep climb to Heathcote Junction. Much of the distance to Albury is close to level. A speed track for which the S class were more than adequate. The problem was the heavily graded line to Ararat on the way to Adelaide including the notorious Ingliston Bank. The S class were not capable of working the Overland up these much steeper grades at any reasonable speed. A larger engine was needed. The H class was planned as were the bridge strengthening jobs. There are only a few of them. Notably the Melton Viaduct, the Parwan Trestles, the Bacchus Marsh bridge and the ironbark gully bridge. The strengthening wouldn't have been a problem but the war caused a stoppage to this work. The H class did work at least one train to Ararat even without the bridge strengthening as a test run. But its ability to work fast goods trains on the North East line was valuable and could be done immediately with no other expenditure. So the reallocation was a no brainer. Perhaps the remainder would have been built if it wasn't for the run down nature of the entire system after being overworked and undermaintained during the war. Other repairs had a much higher priority. So although officially all new engines had to be designed to run on standard gauge the shortage of power was so acute that a substantial number of new K class were built to this successful design. Even though they were never intended to be convertible. That was higher priority than repowering the Overland.
I remember going to Newport with my father and seeing Harry in the late 60s, what a beast it was. I am almost certain it made at least one trip to Bendigo before being retired.
There is a story from the book "The right way, the wrong way, and the Railway" where a driver recounts how Harry's regulator was stuck open on a hill climb, and his wheels began to slip, so they applied full braking to the train and engine. The driving wheels, instead of slowing down, continued to speed up, completely demolishing their brake blocks. Due to the wheels being weighted, as well as minor weight offsets etc, the whole 264.2 tonne locomotive began to bounce up and down in place. I can't remember if the speed was in mph or kph but apparently the speedometer showed 90ish somethings, much faster than its operational speed. Eventually, the crew counted their losses and extinguished the fire on the locomotive. The next morning, when a recovery train arrived, they found that H220 had gouged out 4 huge wells in each track from where its 1.7m tall wheels had hammered into them. Truly this loco was a beast at power.
I heard there were HO scale models of Heavy Harry and I sure would like to get one! Also, bear in mind that the Victorian Railways had broad gauge rails so Heavy Harry was really a giant.
All are expensive handbuilt Brass models. There was first the Australian Locomotive Company (ALCO) in the eighties run of about 500 then the 2000s or so Trainbuilder models. All need skills to de bug and I would suggest curves of no less than a metre radius to prevent short circuits. A few vids on youtube by searching for HO scale Heavy Harry H220 .
Thanks from Down Under i Love old Harry wish i was around to see him rumble but sadly i was way to late for that. He is a sight to see at the museum and always fun to chat with the blokes there about him back in the day. Thxs for the wonderful Vid on a locomotive i love idea for another Video maybe do the Sprite of Progress those S class and the cars behind them have a very rich history around them... Thxs from Vic home of Heavy Harry. PS Allbree and Melbin is how you say Allbury and Melbourne XD is weird but that is how they are said.
Not really weird - England has Banbury which is Ban-bree so that’s just being over-enunciated due to unfamiliarity. Melbourne I can see why some default to how they say Bournemouth, but it’s not that dissimilar from names like Blackburn which we also say “b’n” just like Melbourne.
I’ve had the chance to see this mighty beast in person he might had been stationary but deer god he was handsome also Melbourne is pronounced Mel Ben not Mel born
It wasn't the most powerful loco until the NRs came along. In fact, it was never Australia's most powerful loco as the NSWGR 57 class was around before the H and had 10,000 lbs more tractive effort. I won't mention the 46, 85 and 86 class.
Very cool locomotive! Very similar to the Pennsylvania Railroad Class M1 in the States. The M1 weighed in at 768,000 pounds making use of the Pennsys heavy rail and wide trackage. Pennsy engineers said the M1 was the finest locomotive on the system. Like Heavy Harry, the M1 class used a belpaire squared shouldered firebox, a high mount headlight and 4-8-2 wheel arraignment
The 9F is a bit more comparable to our R-class, which was the only steam loco built here after Heavy Harry. The Rs retained all the technical improvements from HH but were about 2/3s the weight allowing them to run on all the main lines. The 9F is both slightly more powerful but smaller than even the R though, as the British loading gauge is very, very funny. Also the 9F and the R were both introduced after diesels were slated to replace steam, so they have a similar history in terms of preservation. The S-class were scrapped, HH is inoperable and sitting in a (until very recently) open air museum but the Rs had several preserved and run to this day on tourist excursions.
@@Skasaha_The Rs are nothing like the 9F in the slightest. The Rs were express passenger locomotives and the 9Fs were freight. 73in driving wheels verses 60in. 4-6-2 verses 2-10-0. Designed for vastly different requirements. The Rs were more like the Britania.
Commentary is wrong in several places.. ARHS did not take ownership of H220. It was merely placed in the Museum which was at the time operated by the ARHS. Harry was and still is owned by the Victorian Government as is virtually all rolling stock in the Newport Railway Museum. Glenroy Bank is at best 4 miles long not 5, but only about 2 miles is 1 in 50. Some irrelevant stills used in the video such as that workshops Martin's? and the track guys in hard hats. I'm pretty sure also that the axle weights were known at the design stage well before it was finally assembled.
I ch habe ein Jahr in Sydney bei den Gaverment Railways auf New South Wales. An Dampflokomotiven Gearbeitet. War Hoch Interessant und zwar in Redfern. Einem Stadtteil von Sydney.
You went to all that trouble making the vid and were unable to go to Champion Rd.( Its a mile long from Newport gates to Nth Williamstown gates.) and take some pics. Played there as a child in 64.65 66. There was a kiddie fiddler who worked there as a volunteer, we all knew to stay away from him on a Saturday . The workers at The Newport Freezers up the far end of Champion Rd. used to hop in their cars at lunchtime, six to a Customline, down six pots at The RifleClub Hotel , then race back to the meatworks to finish the day. I saw one of the workers, who after lunch with a gutful of piss, get kicked across the killing floor by a cow that wasnt quite finished after being shot.The cow, that is ,not the worker. Steam trains had a dedicated track right into the meatworks to load out of the huge freezers. The walls were filled with charcoal as insulation. We had a huge export industry in frozen meat which was sold around the world. So much high quality meat was exported. My mum worked in the laboratory there testing the meat for export. I grew up on first quality beef 5 times a week as a teenager.My brother would devour double serves of steak. He was strong. Used to hear the steam trains starting at 6 in the morning . Like rising monsters.The sound of a steam whistle still stirs me today.
A slight correction, the SAR 500B class produced slightly more tractive effort when it was rebuilt in the 1940's, so heavy harry wasn't quite the most powerful non-articulated steam locomotive in australia.
Why the hell did they not call it Big Bruce?
Or Chunky Charlie
H class = Harry
@@aliffubuntu The NSWGR D57 Class was already nicknamed Chuckling Charlie. Given the state rivalry, they wouldn't want to use anything similar.
Colossal Cobber!
Fat Frederick
I live in Australia and have seen Heavy Harry in person and even got the chance to be in the cab with an info guide. Harry unfortunately may not ever be able to run again because of several issues, it's in desperate need of an overhaul to fix several issues, mainly with its firebox. It'd also be due to the city itself, Melbourne (Pronounced: Mel-burn) is currently going under an entire renovation of having over 70% of its level crossings removed and replaced with bridges, which in Harry's recorded working career he suffered the Big Boy issue in that he'd crush the tracks he was on, so getting him out of the city would be a huge challenge. It'd also be a problem of where to put him, he's a big part of Melbourne's history and it'd be a huge shame to not let it operate in the city, which as mentioned is now impossible. Huge shame. But bad ass choo choo!
Bad ass choo choo o7
Its ridiculous isnt it? The level crossing removal scheme i mean. Leaves no room for expansion, a hard load limit, and such a waste of money for not much. The whole metro area is a disaster nowdays. I was watching a video of melbourne in 1940 the other day, and noticed melb looked closer to 1940 melb in 1995 when i was a kid going to the city with my mum, than it does now compared to 1995...
Perhaps Shadiversity could look into it or someone of similar economic stature.
Well fuck Melbourne then, it’s pretty obvious that he can’t run in Melbourne anymore, so it’d probably be easy to find somewhere for him run.
I wonder if funds to restore Heavy Harry could be made?
You missed a really big part in it’s story, after retirement the locomotive was placed outside the railway school at Newport workshops to inspire future employees and honour past employees, incredibly the locomotive was a massive driving force behind the railways idea for a museum which first exhibits would be the H class, X class and the smaller C class.
Now I'm just imagining Heavy Harry and Big Boy nodding "Hello" as they pass.
Overkill locomotives are always so much fun to learn about considering their strength compared to everything else.
Which was not the case with H220.
@@dat581 it was compared to the engines around it until dieselization. It was better than the other engines around it, not the whole world.
@@jimmypetrock I never said the whole world, I said Australia. It was not the most powerful locomotive in Australia at any time.
@@dat581 NSW is not 'around it', none of those D57s could run down here. They would have also had the same problem with axle-load here too.
Often the case in Australia, the equipment isn't bad, but the railway is neglected. XPT & V/Lo DMU are good examples of this, never being able to achieve the running times they are capable of. Same with the Tilt Trains
For those who don't know what they are:
Load compensating brakes are equipped with a valve that basically mesures the total mass of a vehicle and regulates the force with wich the brakes apply accordingly. While standard practice these days, it was a huge deal back in the 30s/40s, as it was a fairly new technology back then. Previously, on locomotive tenders, you just had a pre-set force with which the brakes would apply. This is fine if the difference between loaded and empty is minimal (maybe a couple tonnes at most) but once you start going into double digits, the vehicle starts to behave noticeably worse when braking, increasing braking distance.
Thank you.
Thanks a lot for your comment. I didn't know what they were.
@@colvinator1611 You're welcome 😁
Glad I could be of service.
glad they figured out what bridges it could not driver over >before< they tried.
I was waiting for the inevitable "it was scrapped in..." - and it still exists!
It definitely does but tragically VRs only streamlined steam locos the S class Pacifics were all scrapped the last one was supposed to be kept but it was scrapped after a mix up in paperwork
@@ducky_the_helper all the prints exist to build another s class! we have the technology but not the funds
Australia's success with Heavy Harry is an example of why the 4-8-4 was the most widely used dual-service steam locomotive in the US during the same era. Many of the finest American steam locomotives were 4-8-4s. They really could do it all, from express passenger trains to fast freight.
Very Big Northern Types down here in America.
Not to mention Canada, which had a s------d of 4-8-4's.
On the Victorian Railways documents the H 220 4-8-4 wheel arrangement was called a Pocono type. One of many names for a 4-8-4. I think the term Pocono was derived from the few US roads that used that name.
@@johnd8892 It was. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western called their 4-8-4s Poconos. Being an East Coast railroad they believed it was inappropriate to call their 4-8-4s Northerns like most others did. For this reason, many other non-northern railroads in the US also adopted alternative nicknames for their 4-8-4s.
@@KeijiSuwa Just like U. S. railroads in the former Confederacy could not bring themselves to use the term "Northern" for their 4-8-4s. Chesapeake and Ohio's were Greenbriers (after a river in West Virginia they had a branch along, as well as the railroad-owned Greenbrier resort), Western Maryland's were called Potomacs (for the River), and Norfolk and Western simply referred to theirs by it's Class designation, the "J". The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac had three different groups of 4-8-4s, with a different name for each group, since they named each one (not a common U. S. practice in the mid-20th Century). "Generals" were named for Generals of the Civil War Confederacy (like Robert E. Lee and A. P. Hill), "Governors" for Governors of Virginia (Patrick Henry, James Monroe), and the last group were "Statesmen" (George Washington, John Marshall). Many of them were also Presidents of the U. S., and practically all of them were also slave holders. The Baltimore and Ohio named their last class of Pacifics (P7) for the first 20 Presidents of the U. S. (5300 - 5319).
Australia's rail network suffered from a major problem. Each of the Colonies in Australia was originally it's own thing with settlements far apart from each other. As such, they started up their railways all using different gauges. Some when for standard, others wide and others narrow and they were rather stubborn about this and ran with it. When an East-to-West transcontinental line was finished, you had to get off and switch trains. This remained the case after Federation and well into the 20th century.
but it still isnt standardised the melbourne to sydney route and melbourne to adellaide route is run tri - rail to melbournes southern cross which is now run by v/line services
Whilst I can imagine the many problems it caused (which presumably why there's now a standard gauge network linking the important cities), I personally love the fact that the track gauge in Australia varies by state. It adds some more variety to the already really varied collection of locomotives they have down under.
Interesting
at the border stations became something of a spaghetti junction with up the three gauges on one line. Makes the switch work interesting
WA and Queensland opted for thee foot six gauge owing to the massive distances over which their rail networks operated coupled with small populations and consequent lack of finances. Three foot six was much cheaper to build.
Heavy Harry resides in the Newport Railway Museum .... where in the early 1970's, when I was a child, I would climb all over the beast while pretending to be Casey Jones!
Just a note to the video creator: we Australians pronounce 'Melbournne' as 'Melb - bin' .... great work!
And Albury as AWLBURY.
H220 is my fav Loco - He's stored at the Newport Railway Museum, Just outside the Former Victorian Railways workshop. It was a fun time exploring the shear size of the engine.
its still used the workshop
Didn't know you liked trains Ash!
Same here mate i go down every mouth or so and spend WAY to long on him just marveling at his size and power. Love the Vids Ash stay safe and healthy mate 07
ash007yt, my favourite too. and just for the record, my dad helped build it then when he moved from being a riveter he also fired on it.
Australia, the Only Country that has both American and British Steam locomotives working together.
@@jimihendrix991Baldwin 2-8-2 not sure of class
@@jimihendrix991they weren’t built in the USA due to politics but the South Australian Railways 500, 600, & 700 classes were based on USRA designs.
er.. New Zealand did too. Lots of Baldwins in amongst the British and locally designed locos.
The last steam locomotives delivered for the New South Wales Government Railways were the D59 2-8-2 Mikados I understand.
Search UA-cam for V/Line Power Parade video to see photos, descriptions and some film of all locomotives running on the Victorian Railways from the 1854 guess at the first locomotive until about 1987 when the video was made. Cant think of any significant railway that has all locomotive types recorded in this way. So a great resource.
US built ones I recall are the Rogers D class 4-4-0 looking very similar to UP 119 but with buffers, Baldwin W class 4-6-0, Baldwin Vauclain compound V class 2-8-0 and Baldwin 2 ft 6 in gauge Na 2-6-2T locomotives. The locally built versions of the Na are in operation on the Puffing Billy scenic railway about 364 days of the year. Baldwin also built a 4-6-0 Dd class or two to Victorian Railways design for Victoria , one of which is preserved in the same North Williamstown Museum as Heavy Harry .
So depending on era these US designs would be working alongside British and Australian designs.
Annoyingly not included in the vid were railcars like the VR McKeen Cars of around 1910 and the DERM Doodelbug type railcars from 1929, some of which are still running in fan service sometimes on mainlines. Search VR Derm to see them running iver the years.
Then there are numerous EMD based diesels. The first were the F7 based early fifties B then S class but cut down bodies and the B class had a driving cab at each end to give quick train turn around in service. The VR also specified three axle trucks with all axles powered. EMD did not originally make such a power truck but developed the SD truck as a result of the VR specification. EMD soon saw the usefulness of such a truck that later dominated EMD production with the SD series of locomotives.
My great grandfather helped build Heavy Harry. He died before I was born, but one the stories I’ve heard about H220 was the time a driver pushed the throttle lever at startup, and Harry decided to "slip" - a common occurrence with old steam engines where the wheels will spin in place on the track. However, due to Harry’s enormous weight, the wheels didn’t slip, but gripped. The engine didn’t move, but the track did! Before the driver could take control, it ripped out some lengths of rail from underneath the engine. Imagine that!
Harry does not move, the world moves for Harry.
Can't wait for harry to fight alf
"the fuck am i doing on this shithouse track! lemme do you aa favor and rip this out for you"
@@johnathonmcjohn3 You refer to an ALF class locomotive right? Your comment threw me... my great grandfather's name was Alf!
THE AMOUNT OF EXCITEMENT I FELT WHILE SEEING THE THUMBNAIL!!!!!! (Also there’s a blue print of the 4-8-4 available)
oh u left a comment
@@Comeng_and?whats the problem with him lefting a comment
I knew you would be here 👁👄👁
#longliveheavyharry
@@W4lmartbagnothing im just friends with him
Even in the late ‘70s, the VR introduced the C class diesel at 3300 HP, even then it could only run to Albury and Serviceton due to weight restrictions which might have been a statement of the neglect on other lines. But there were no plans for C classes to pull wheaties on wheat lines anyway.
I attended a talk at the ARHS by the Chairman of VR Mr Reiher, later I asked him if the new C class can traverse the new viaduct between Flinders St and Spencer St, he replied “he’d be disappointed if it couldn’t”.
darylcheshire, ive seen it written that the locos that run to the steel place on westernport and the maryvale paper trains only ever use the newer viaduct and have speed restrictions on them.
@@vsvnrg3263 I didn’t know that.
The more Aussie content, the better!
I’d love a video on Australia’s different rail gauges, and the complexities of this in the early days of Federation.
Australia had some 2ft, ( sugar cane plantations ) 3.6ft, 4.6ft (standard gauge in UK ) and 5.3 wide gauge, look up a video series called ''steam in australia'' very interesting!
@@barryphillips7327 The cane railways in Queensland are worth a look all by themselves. Distributed power, remote control operation for shunting, end of train remote brake wagons, hundred+ bins. Quite something for a 2' system.
@@barryphillips7327 don't forget the 2'6" branch lines in Victoria.
I read that the two states with the same gauge were Queensland and Tasmania (darn that Bass Strait)
I’ve always enjoyed the look of Australian Steam Engines. They have an Anglo-American look to them, best comparison is the look of the Scotsman on its USA Tour. That sort of steampunk feel to it. Like a window into what if Britain stayed on coal burning engines, and into the 1980’s, this is what engines would’ve looked like.
Just a simple tangent, one reason I like Australian locomotives.
UK engines would have remained more like their final ones for a while, so like the 9F. They're constrained heavily by their loading gauge so US-style monsters cannot ever be used there.
@@Skasaha_ I think they meant engines in the style of 0:35 and Heavy Harry, not the weight class
Another good video. South Australia had it's own Mountain locos made at Islington workshops like the Sir Malcolm Barclay Harvey. My mother's 2nd husband worked there as a boilermakers assistant and, yes, he got boilermakers deafness. On the inside holding the red hot rivets while the boiler maker hammered them down from the outside.
A small blooper, the black and white engraving of a workshop is James Martin's from Gawler, SA. A long way from Melbourne. Sadly all gone now and turned into a shopping precinct with only the outer walls remaining. Martin's made SA's first loco. (I think)
As a child I lived near the Islington gates. At night I would lie in bed and hear the shunters putting the trains together. Dangerous job. I wanted to work in the shops but even though I applied for an apprenticeship I never got one. Ended up in a wood trade.
Fascinating.
Also I have to agree there's no job that steam power can't do. I realise this isn't quite what you meant by that, but even today most grid-scale electricity still uses steam - coal, gas, nuclear, and even thermal solar power are all just different ways to drive a steam turbine. Because steam is still the best working fluid for these applications, and we're really good at working with it.
My aunt lived in Essendon, some distance from the line. She could tell when a goods train pulled by Heavy Harry passed by because the cups and saucers on the sideboard rattled.
I have a friend who’s grandfather drove Harry, he was the last person to drive the locomotive
There ain't no substitute for sheer GRUNT.
real
I remember recommending this to you some time ago. Thank you very much for following it up. Heavy Harry certainly deserves a place among the many famous international trains mentioned. I hope researching it was as interesting for you as watching it was for me.
Didn’t realise that nothing beat it till the NR’s, I’d love to see Heavy Harry for myself one day!
Happy to hear that Heavy Harry had enough historical significance to be preserved.
No VR S classes were saved which is a shame as they look amazing with their Art Deco styling, but at least Heavy Harry was spared. Harry used to make nearby houses shake and my grandfather could even pick when he was coming through on a freight from the way the house windows rattled.
Ah the H class, another of VR's attempts at replacing the A2 which didn't quite pan out.
Another thing to mention is that Heavy Harry is to my knowledge the only 3 cylindered 4-8-4 left in the world, and uses a special German mechanism. The S classes used Gresley's Conjugated Valve Gear with it's usual problems, and so with H220 they used the Henschel and Son Conjugated Valve Gear which drives the centre valve using the combined motion of two levers attached to the valve crossheads rather than the valve rod ends of the outside cylinders. It worked much better and they were apparently planning to build more S classes using it but then WW2 killed that plan along with the other 2 H's.
Thanks a lot.
I actually went to Newport Workshops & saw this behemoth of a machine and & it is absolutely HUGE!! I was about 8 or 9 when I saw it & I was only as tall as the wheel, even got to go in the cab!
My Uncle, Tom Alston, was a fireman on Harry. Theres some photos of him around here somewhere, on the loco, at Spencer Street station.
Theres a great story from a bloke who was a firemen on this, his driver gave him a steer somewhere on its way to Albury, they stalled on a grade and then the regulator seized open so they ended up destroying the track from the thing just wheel spinning on the spot
Garratt articulated locomotives were popular in Australia and around the world, with fairly light track loading and over 60,000lbs tractive effort they were able to operate on tracks with very tight bends... I still remember seeing them in South Africa and Rhodesia - they were very striking with the water tank on the front with its big headlight. Very impressive thundering up the Capetown to Salisbury main line, they were also very useful in mountainous areas due to their ability to handle tight bends. They also had a wonderful 'offbeat' sound as the front and rear locomotives ( separate ) blast pipe rhythm went in and out of synchronisation...
That really is some Useful Engine Australia had back then despite the financial faults.
I've had the chance to climb over and do some work to it, mainly getting re opened for all to see back in 2016.
I've met drivers, and firemen who have worked this beast. They loved it, fast, back saving,
A story was they would attach a small D3 class 4-6-0 from the early 1900's and run that in front, someone thought it was going to run right over them...
"It was too heavy to run on the lines it was intended for"
Ooopsie...
Just a little clarification, in the 1920's Victorian Railways had two axleloadings for their broad gauge lines, what amounted to Mainline [100 lb/yd] and Branchline [70 lb/yd] (or thereabouts), following the success of Gresley's three cylinder A1/A3 pacific in the UK, came the Victorian S class, which had a drawback of requiring Heavy Rails [120 lb/yd], which was duly fitted to the flagship service "Spirit of Progress" between Melbourne and Albury - to meet the "Southern Aurora" at the break of gauge to New South Wales. The H class was a further evolution for the other Intercapital service, to Adelaide, the original intention was to build at a minimum of four H class and ten S class locomotives, all to be named, as it stood there is an orphan H class [which survives] and were four S class [all scrapped]. All five locomotives were restricted to the North East Corridor, the metropolitan yards and south to Geelong.
The S class were all scrapped because of a clause in the GE contract for the diesels. The S class steam engines still greatly outperformed the new diesels, and GE didn’t want that seen.
@@robertchapman6795 , not true. the diesels that vr bought were emd's by general motors. gm had no fear or deals about the elimination of the s class.
@@vsvnrg3263 I’ll leave this debate open. Because I’ve never heard otherwise. I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but I believe that’s why the S-class were immediately scrapped. Otherwise, I’m absolutely certain they would have been the proud and exciting headline acts of the ARHS and other steam preservation societies. Only greed would’ve been the driver behind scrapping them. Not stupidity, because that would’ve been overridden by common sense people.
@@vsvnrg3263 and yes. I got my GE and GM wires crossed. 👍
@@robertchapman6795 , go and read the wikipedia page about the x class. the yard teams continually shuffled the locos on death row to save the more precious ones. thats why there is only one x class left. there would have been none.
Man great video! I was in Harry last weekend at the museum. Such a beast of a machine.
My late father was one of the early volunteer workers at the ARHS railway museum and I used to go along with him on weekends from 1962 - 69. I used to sit in the cab of H220 and imagine what it would have been like when it was in service. The main problem as mentioned in the video was the poor condition of the tracks, not the locomotive itself.
Heavy Harry is not just the world's strongest non-articulated in Australia but the strongest northern as Australia had other 4-8-4 northerns that being the SAR 520 class
Nice to see something about Australia! Next, Burkina Faso.
VR mentioned!!! thank you for giving my country (and city!) some recognition💪 we have quite a strange history!
i need to go back to newport and visit the museum again- last time i went i didn't know as much about the trains there. I'd love to go back with my current knowledge!
@@yoyleb1711if you visit the museum by train then go to North Williamstown station.
About 300 metres along Champion road from that station, but about 2000 metres from Newport station.
3:14, it could do more than 50mph. it was a powerful fast passenger locomotive with more power than the s class and only marginally smaller driving wheels than the s class.
Power parade lists it as 60 mph. The main reason for limiting it was wear and tear on the track. The D3 with significantly smaller wheels were also rated for 60 mph and the NSW C 38 class had similar sized wheels and were permitted 70 mph. The 50 mph limit was due to the four wheel wagons on the goods service. THEY were limited to 50 mph. So that limited the entire train to that speed. You would note that the C class had their speed raised to 60 mph but the X class were ONLY allowed 60 mph when hauling the spirit of progress. Again to lessen wear and tear on the track.
Fantastic machine and thankfully preserved as a great piece of Australian history. Thanks a lot for the video.
Australia also Garrett steam locomotives! Good video!
I had the honour of seeing H 220 myself when I was in Melbourne near the end of June. The sheer size of this locomotive is hard to comprehend, even when you're standing right in front of her. I like how the Newport Railway Museum also has a pair of 'A2' class 4-6-0s in their collection, one on each side of the H.
There's a set of stairs placed alongside H 220, which allows visitors to climb up and have a look on the footplate. That was incredible, especially since you can sit in the driver or fireman's seats; from the latter, you can look out at some of the other locomotives on display (including electric locomotive L 1150).
Many railway one-off oddballs are typically failures but Harry is the exception
I just love happy endings! Sure hope the old boy turns a wheel again someday!
doubt it
Yeah Harry would if he was repainted Lime Green I guess…
1:04 I've Didn't Know Australia Has Quite A Few Steam Locomotives. Thanks Mate. PS I Might Definitely Want To Go To Australia Next Year In July 2025. XXxxx 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇺🇸
The S class three cylinder Pacific's at 1:04 are the only Victorian Railways steam locomotive class sill running post war that were all scrapped.
Once that happened the public backlash was so strong that at least one example of every class still running was preserved to at least be a museum piece.
The R class Hudson 4-6-4 locomotives have so many preserved that double and triple headed trains are often run with them.
We here in south africa have 25nc which was also a 4 8 4, also great locos
Yay! More content on Aussie trains. :D
I'd never heard of this fine loco. I'll have to nip down to Melbun to see it soon.
God, I was so hoping for a Stewart Adamson lyric reference when I heard the first few words of the video.
Okay, cheesy banter aside, awesome video on one of the more impressive one-off locomotives out there. That incline run sounds like it would’ve been an amazing scene to watch firsthand too. Cheers!
It’s a tragedy that none of the Victorian S class steam locomotives were preserved, they were all scrapped.
I guess people think of history as something that happened in the past rather than something we’re all living through, they don’t recognise the value and importance of things until looking back years too late.
It amazes me how few Spitfires, Hurricanes and other WW2 aircraft remain in preservation relative to the many thousands produced during WW2. Even an event such as WW2 wasn’t enough for people to seemingly grasp the historical significance of the equipment used at the time.
Even things manufactured in huge numbers can become exceedingly rare if no one thinks to preserve them while they still have the chance.
Getting a 3D printer, will be making TT120 scale Oz Steam Era locos.
I need to get back to the Newport Museum and see Harry again. I gotta try to work out how the Henschel valve gear works.
Some comments here. The North East line is not heavily graded except for the Glenroy Bank. There is a long but not steep climb to Heathcote Junction. Much of the distance to Albury is close to level. A speed track for which the S class were more than adequate. The problem was the heavily graded line to Ararat on the way to Adelaide including the notorious Ingliston Bank. The S class were not capable of working the Overland up these much steeper grades at any reasonable speed. A larger engine was needed. The H class was planned as were the bridge strengthening jobs. There are only a few of them. Notably the Melton Viaduct, the Parwan Trestles, the Bacchus Marsh bridge and the ironbark gully bridge. The strengthening wouldn't have been a problem but the war caused a stoppage to this work. The H class did work at least one train to Ararat even without the bridge strengthening as a test run. But its ability to work fast goods trains on the North East line was valuable and could be done immediately with no other expenditure. So the reallocation was a no brainer. Perhaps the remainder would have been built if it wasn't for the run down nature of the entire system after being overworked and undermaintained during the war. Other repairs had a much higher priority. So although officially all new engines had to be designed to run on standard gauge the shortage of power was so acute that a substantial number of new K class were built to this successful design. Even though they were never intended to be convertible. That was higher priority than repowering the Overland.
Impressive, Heavy Harry at 55,000 lbf (245 kN) , but in the the USA's mountains it required Big Boy producing 135,375 lbf (602.18 kN)
I remember going to Newport with my father and seeing Harry in the late 60s, what a beast it was. I am almost certain it made at least one trip to Bendigo before being retired.
no , that was R704 , which is in the museum at newport with harry
Australia’s biggest boi.
There is a story from the book "The right way, the wrong way, and the Railway" where a driver recounts how Harry's regulator was stuck open on a hill climb, and his wheels began to slip, so they applied full braking to the train and engine. The driving wheels, instead of slowing down, continued to speed up, completely demolishing their brake blocks. Due to the wheels being weighted, as well as minor weight offsets etc, the whole 264.2 tonne locomotive began to bounce up and down in place. I can't remember if the speed was in mph or kph but apparently the speedometer showed 90ish somethings, much faster than its operational speed. Eventually, the crew counted their losses and extinguished the fire on the locomotive. The next morning, when a recovery train arrived, they found that H220 had gouged out 4 huge wells in each track from where its 1.7m tall wheels had hammered into them. Truly this loco was a beast at power.
I heard there were HO scale models of Heavy Harry and I sure would like to get one! Also, bear in mind that the Victorian Railways had broad gauge rails so Heavy Harry was really a giant.
All are expensive handbuilt Brass models. There was first the Australian Locomotive Company (ALCO) in the eighties run of about 500 then the 2000s or so Trainbuilder models.
All need skills to de bug and I would suggest curves of no less than a metre radius to prevent short circuits.
A few vids on youtube by searching for HO scale Heavy Harry H220 .
lukechristmas, harry was built in such a way that it could be converted to sg.
The Steam Engine Is Amazing I Like It
The photo at 5:11 broke me. I thought the diesel was off the tracks.
I like history + I like trains = I like this channel
nice, a locomotive from my home state!
AD60 class Garrett in NSW says hold my beer!!
But they weren’t the largest to be built in Australia
Could you talk about the NSWGR C38 class pacifics
Looks a little like a Sir William Stannier Coronation Class around the cab and firebox. Tidy looking loco for an upside down job ❤❤❤
Amazing what we used to be able to achieve in Australia. Not now.
Thanks from Down Under i Love old Harry wish i was around to see him rumble but sadly i was way to late for that. He is a sight to see at the museum and always fun to chat with the blokes there about him back in the day. Thxs for the wonderful Vid on a locomotive i love idea for another Video maybe do the Sprite of Progress those S class and the cars behind them have a very rich history around them... Thxs from Vic home of Heavy Harry. PS Allbree and Melbin is how you say Allbury and Melbourne XD is weird but that is how they are said.
Not really weird - England has Banbury which is Ban-bree so that’s just being over-enunciated due to unfamiliarity. Melbourne I can see why some default to how they say Bournemouth, but it’s not that dissimilar from names like Blackburn which we also say “b’n” just like Melbourne.
Overkill! And cool at the same time
Very cool video thanks for you efforts i will subscribe.👍🇭🇲
Reminds me of that absurdly big soviet steam engine that had so many problems
Final development of 4-8-4 locomotives in America saw some massive engines twice the weight of Heavy Harry.
I’ve had the chance to see this mighty beast in person he might had been stationary but deer god he was handsome also Melbourne is pronounced Mel Ben not Mel born
its at newport railway museum if u wanna check it out for yourself
@@Comeng_bro I just said I had seen him in person 😭😭😭😭
@@bigbuffersproductions oh ok
Well, I'm from out of town .....
A video finally came out after that one guy in the discord server kept going on about it.
Hello
@@Alzaar_The_Gunzel ELLO GOVNA
It wasn't the most powerful loco until the NRs came along. In fact, it was never Australia's most powerful loco as the NSWGR 57 class was around before the H and had 10,000 lbs more tractive effort. I won't mention the 46, 85 and 86 class.
WW11 ended with most fighter planes being scrapped 6:42 , but army disposal shops were just the thing for retired army blokes.
A 7 1/4" gauge model of that would be mighty impressive?
My tutor took me over to Newport a few months back, I got to see it there.
Very cool locomotive! Very similar to the Pennsylvania Railroad Class M1 in the States. The M1 weighed in at 768,000 pounds making use of the Pennsys heavy rail and wide trackage. Pennsy engineers said the M1 was the finest locomotive on the system.
Like Heavy Harry, the M1 class used a belpaire squared shouldered firebox, a high mount headlight and 4-8-2 wheel arraignment
How about covering the smallest standard gauge steam locomotive ever to be built?
Search up 'Gazelle' by Anthony Dawson.
Can you please do a video on NSW’s 38 class locomotives?
Your a heavy one harry
Harry Potter if he was American.
You gotta love heavy Harry the heavy hauler
Reliable and strong - yep, we'll keep you working.
With how heavy that locomotive is, I'm surprised it didn't just fall into the sky below
How did it compare to the BR 9F power and performance wise? That was a stout locomotive too
Far more tractive effort.
The 9F is a bit more comparable to our R-class, which was the only steam loco built here after Heavy Harry. The Rs retained all the technical improvements from HH but were about 2/3s the weight allowing them to run on all the main lines. The 9F is both slightly more powerful but smaller than even the R though, as the British loading gauge is very, very funny.
Also the 9F and the R were both introduced after diesels were slated to replace steam, so they have a similar history in terms of preservation. The S-class were scrapped, HH is inoperable and sitting in a (until very recently) open air museum but the Rs had several preserved and run to this day on tourist excursions.
@@Skasaha_The Rs are nothing like the 9F in the slightest. The Rs were express passenger locomotives and the 9Fs were freight. 73in driving wheels verses 60in. 4-6-2 verses 2-10-0. Designed for vastly different requirements. The Rs were more like the Britania.
I recently went to the Newport railway Museum in September and saw the heavy Harry locomotive.
My great grand father was the engineer/driver on Heavy Harry. Hugh Munro
Commentary is wrong in several places.. ARHS did not take ownership of H220. It was merely placed in the Museum which was at the time operated by the ARHS. Harry was and still is owned by the Victorian Government as is virtually all rolling stock in the Newport Railway Museum.
Glenroy Bank is at best 4 miles long not 5, but only about 2 miles is 1 in 50. Some irrelevant stills used in the video such as that workshops Martin's? and the track guys in hard hats.
I'm pretty sure also that the axle weights were known at the design stage well before it was finally assembled.
Looks like some Australian decided to give some hints to whoever designed the NYC Niagaras-
I ch habe ein Jahr in Sydney bei den Gaverment Railways auf New South Wales. An Dampflokomotiven Gearbeitet. War Hoch Interessant und zwar in Redfern. Einem Stadtteil von Sydney.
Went up there on train in 93 for a few days wandering the giant eucalyptus groves and tree ferns. All quiet except for bird calls.
That Aussie engine is OP
Crazy that this beast was withdrawn from service in the same year that the final Queensland Rail steam loco was built- BB18/4 1089
What a monster Choo Choo train. Didn’t know Australia had these
You went to all that trouble making the vid and were unable to go to Champion Rd.( Its a mile long from Newport gates to Nth Williamstown gates.) and take some pics. Played there as a child in 64.65 66. There was a kiddie fiddler who worked there as a volunteer, we all knew to stay away from him on a Saturday .
The workers at The Newport Freezers up the far end of Champion Rd. used to hop in their cars at lunchtime, six to a Customline, down six pots at The RifleClub Hotel , then race back to the meatworks to finish the day. I saw one of the workers, who after lunch with a gutful of piss, get kicked across the killing floor by a cow that wasnt quite finished after being shot.The cow, that is ,not the worker. Steam trains had a dedicated track right into the meatworks to load out of the huge freezers. The walls were filled with charcoal as insulation. We had a huge export industry in frozen meat which was sold around the world. So much high quality meat was exported. My mum worked in the laboratory there testing the meat for export. I grew up on first quality beef 5 times a week as a teenager.My brother would devour double serves of steak. He was strong. Used to hear the steam trains starting at 6 in the morning . Like rising monsters.The sound of a steam whistle still stirs me today.
Great Job.
"Heavy Harry" was built when the diesels were just around the corner. A great locomotive of its time, pity it was not preserved in working order.
A slight correction, the SAR 500B class produced slightly more tractive effort when it was rebuilt in the 1940's, so heavy harry wasn't quite the most powerful non-articulated steam locomotive in australia.
heavy harry vs a 9f would be the coolest thing ever
Different track gauges. The H class ran on 1.6 metre gauge tracks, while the 9F ran on tracks that were about 16 cm skinnier.