ANGRMS Collection: Robbie Burns

ANGRMS Collection: Robbie Burns

Background
Built as a 4-4-2 tender engine it was purchased by the Stannary Hills Mining & Tramway Co. for a mining tramway in rugged country west of Mareeba.
It was a most unusual choice for such an isolated and hilly tramway. It has 30" driving wheels making it more suitable as a passenger engine rather than motive power for hauling mineral ore.
However, it was the last locomotive used on this line and was used to dismantle it in the early 1940s. Abandoned at Boonmoo where the former Stannary Hills line met with the Queensland Railways Mareeba to Chillagoe line, it was purchased by the Cattle Creek Mill, Finch Hatton in 1942. Cattle Creek converted the locomotive into a tank engine and used it for hauling cane up until 1962 when it was abandoned at the mill.
The locomotive was donated to ANGRMS in 1972 and was brought to Woodford in 1983.