The South Australian Railways 350 class comprised two diesel-electric locomotives built by the railway's

Islington Railway Workshops The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...

and the first to be built by an Australian railway.

History

Locomotives number 350 and 351 spent much of their service life working in their design role as shunting locomotives – in Adelaide yard,

Islington Railway Workshops The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

goods yard and Mount Gambier station yard. In March 1978 they were included in the transfer of South Australian Railways assets to Australian National. Both locomotives were withdrawn in 1979. Railway historical group

SteamRanger The SteamRanger Heritage Railway is a long broad gauge tourist railway, formerly the Victor Harbor railway line of the South Australian Railways (SAR). It is operated by the not-for-profit South Australian Division of the Australian Railway ...

bought 350 and still owns the locomotive, operating it as a depot shunter; its very low

continuous tractive effort As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion. In railway engineering, the term tr ...

necessitates a 150-tonne load limit when it pulls a train on the Victor Harbor–Strathalbyn section of the railway. A preservation group at Moonta bought 351 for a proposed heritage railway venture that did not come to fruition. Subsequently, the

Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foster an interest in the railways, and record and preserve many facets of railway operations. It had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT divis ...

(now

) bought it and restored it to operating condition at its depot, then at Dry Creek, before deploying it to Goolwa for use on the Victor Harbor Tourist Railway. After mechanical problems occurred it was placed on permanent loan to the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

, where it remained for 25 years. In 2015 it was gifted to the Milang Historical Railway Museum. Following cosmetic restoration it is now a key element of the museum's outdoor static displays, especially since the installation of a locally developed

driving simulator Driving simulators are used for entertainment as well as in training of driver's education courses taught in educational institutions and private businesses. They are also used for research purposes in the area of human factors and medical rese ...

in the cab, which can be operated by visitors.The museum and the driving simulator are open on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4pm; entry to both is free. Children under 10 need adult assistance with the simulator because of the weight and age of the locomotive's controls.

Notes

References

South Australian Railways Diagram LD-32 https://sarplans.steam4me.net/images/SAR_Rollingstock_14.gif {{South Australian Railways locos, state=collapsed Bo-Bo locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1949

350 __NOTOC__ Year 350 (Roman numerals, CCCL) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Nigrinianus (or, less frequentl ...

Broad gauge locomotives in Australia Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia English Electric locomotives