Rolling Stock

West Coast Wilderness Railway opened in 1896 with much fanfare. It changed the face of the West Coast and lutruwita Tasmania almost overnight. For the first 40 or so years, the Abt locomotives worked the line. Each one had its own personality and story, and all but one have returned to Queenstown since the railway reopened in 2001.

Our diesel locomotives also play an important part in the story. They were vital in the final decade of operations under the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company, and they remain essential today. These heritage Drewry locomotives operate passenger services from Strahan, as they are not designed to run on the rack section and its third rail. The rack runs for seven kilometres between Lynchford and Dubbil Barril on the Queenstown side of the line.

D1

Drewry Diesel Engine D1 first joined the railway in 1953 after being purchased by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company. She worked the line through its final decade and remained in service until 1962, just one year before the railway closed.

D2

Drewry Diesel Engine D2, formerly known as V13, was purchased at the same time as D1 and worked as a shunting and transport locomotive based out of Regatta Point. She served faithfully through the final years of the line’s original operation. D2 is currently out of traffic and waiting for refurbishment.

V9

Diesel Engine V9 was built entirely at the TGR Invermay Workshops in Launceston and completed in 1959. She was a busy machine in her early years and remains an important part of our operation today. V9 is now used primarily for shunting between Queenstown Station and our workshop.

V2

V2 was originally built in late 1947 by Vulcan Foundry Ltd in England on behalf of the Drewry Car Company. She is currently on loan to the West Coast Wilderness Railway from Don River Railway to help support our workload for the coming summer season. V2 is a welcome addition to the fleet and a hardworking part of our operation while she is with us.

Abt 1

Abt Locomotive No. 1 was assembled at Camp Spur in 1896. She worked the line reliably until the railway closed in 1963, after which she was placed on display at a museum in Zeehan. In 2001 she returned to service on the West Coast Wilderness Railway, becoming the second Abt locomotive to come home to Queenstown.

Abt 2

Abt Locomotive No. 2 was famously lost overboard at Hell’s Gates before she ever reached Strahan, setting off a major rescue effort to haul her back to the surface. After a mostly successful recovery, she entered service in 1899 and worked the line until the railway closed. No. 2 was purchased from the Tasmanian Transport Museum in 2019 and has since undergone a full restoration. Now back where she belongs, Abt 2 has returned to service on the West Coast Wilderness Railway.

Abt 3

Abt Locomotive No. 3 played a part in the urgent transport effort during the 1912 North Mount Lyell mining disaster, helping move rescue equipment and personnel toward Queenstown. After the railway closed in 1963 she remained in town, and when the West Coast Wilderness Railway reopened in 2001, No. 3 became the first locomotive to return to service.

Abt 4

Abt Locomotive No. 4 never quite lived up to expectations. She reportedly broke down on her very first run and spent much of her working life testing the patience of anyone rostered to drive her. After years of mechanical mischief she was scrapped in 1963, and her remains now lie unceremoniously at the bottom of a local gully.

Abt 5

Abt Locomotive No. 5 is the baby of the family, arriving fully assembled from North British Railway in 1938. After the railway closed she spent years on display in Victoria, but made her way home in 2000 for the reopening of the West Coast Wilderness Railway.