In 1898 the steamship, S.S. Grafton was carrying the disassembled parts of Abt Loco No. 2, when the ship hit the sandbanks of Hells Gates – the notorious entrance to Macquarie Harbour. The ship was deemed a write-off and No. 2 was sunk at Hell’s Gates before reaching Strahan. This sparked a massive rescue mission after the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Co. purchased the sunken wreck for £200 in order to attempt the recovery of over £10,000 worth of machinery at the bottom of the harbour.
Early inspections of the locomotive found severe cracking throughout the locomotive’s major components, which added additional steps before she could safely to return home to Queenstown, Tasmania. Furthermore, there were all sorts of odd jobs to be done before she could be considered ready to haul passengers safely along the rack.
After a (mostly) successful recovery, she ran from 1899 until the line was closed in 1963.
No. 2 was purchased from the Tasmanian Transport Museum in 2019 and has undergone a full restoration at The Engineering Co. in Somerset, Tasmania. It returned to Queenstown in 2023 to undergo trials. Kinks are par for the course when you’re 125+ years old and we took the time to work through these methodically, before No. 2 was returned to passenger service in May 2024.