Railways and Tramways of Australia

Canberra engine

 

Steam locomotive no. 1210 arrived in Canberra for preservation on 27 January 1962.

 

C79 Class 4-4-0 express passenger engine no. 120 entered service in 1878. It was renumbered as Z12 Class no. 1210 in 1924.

 

No. 1210 established a connection with Canberra when it hauled the first goods train on the new railway from Queanbeyan in May 1914. Australia’s capital city was under construction at the time. No. 1210 spent most its working life in regional areas of New South Wales before withdrawal from regular service in 1958. Saved from scrapping, it was restored to operational condition and painted green in December 1959. It hauled various Vintage Train and other special workings throughout 1960 and 1961.

 

A new home waited when no. 1210 was returned to Canberra. It was paired with sister engine 1243, both steaming into the nation’s capital with a special train. No. 1210 was handed officially over to the National Capital Development Commission. It was placed on a plinth outside Canberra station, where it was displayed for the following 22 years.

 

Following a bicentennial grant, 1210 was restored to working order from 1984 to 1988. It operated numerous steam specials, including visiting Melbourne for Aus Steam ’88, and working the last train over the Yass branch on its return to Canberra. Another special working was a commemorative train between Sydney and Parramatta in 2005 for the 150th anniversary of the opening of the first public railway in New South Wales.

 

Based at the Canberra Railway Museum, no. 1210 operated numerous heritage trains between Canberra and Michelago. Eventually repairs were required that were beyond the resources of the museum and it ceased to operate.

 

Today no. 1210 is a static exhibit at the Canberra railway museum, maintaining a connection to the city that began in 1914.

 

Bibliography

L Oberg, ‘The story of the Vintage train’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 456, October 1975, pp 222–38.

L Richmond, ‘On the road with 1210’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 772, February 2002, pp 43–5.

W Shellshear, ‘1210’s own story’, Federal City Express, May 2014, pp 24–9.

RKE Woodhouse, ‘Preservation of locomotive no. 1210 at Canberra’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 293, March 1962, pp 33–5.