Maylands
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Maylands
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Three 4 wheel locomotives were built by the Maylands Brickworks mechanical staff during the 1960's to replace ageing Ford 10 powered "Planet" locomotives. The units were powered by a six cylinder Holden petrol engine driving to an automatic transmission which propelled the locomotive with a chain drive to one axle. Painted predominantly green, the Tramway locos were a common sight at Maylands hauling trains of 8 hoppers in length from the clay pits to the bottom of an incline where a winch rope was attached to haul the hoppers, two at a time, up into the works.
On the 3rd of November 1980 , BBR received news of the probable donation of 1 locomotive and 3 Hopper wagons from the Maylands Brickworks of Brisbane and Wunderlich (Bristile). This donation was negotiated by Ron Watson and was one of the most significant for WALRPA as the Maylands became the first operational locomotive and played a very important role in the construction, opening and subsequent weekend public services of the railway. It hauled the first official passengers (in 3 "C" coaches) on the 4th of February 1984 when WALRPA hosted the a meeting of the then Association of W.A. Railway Enthusiasts.
The rest of the Maylands stock ( 2 locos, numerous hoppers and track) was purchased by a private company for possible further use. WALRPA gratefully thanks Bristile for the kind gesture in helping to preserve the narrow gauge history of Western Australia. The Maylands system was the last industrial tramway in the Perth region and the success of the replacement truck and conveyor belt combination saw its demise. With the closure of the Maylands Tramway went the last known major surface 2ft tramway in W.A.
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Bennett Brook Railway Webmaster N. Blinco
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