Historic steam locomotives 3526 and 3642 in Bathurst during June long weekend

Bathurst will welcome a couple of historic locomotives on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in what has become a June long weekend tradition for the city.

Locomotives 3526 and 3642 were in Tarana on Friday (June 9) morning, as part of a celebration that included the unveiling of the restored Tarana Station.

That celebration also included the opening of the original station waiting rooms.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11, steam train rides will depart from Bathurst Railway Station and travel to Wimbledon and return (non-stop) at a number of times.

On the public holiday Monday, June 12, the steam locomotives will travel from Bathurst to Orange and return, with a two-hour stop-over in Orange.

This weekend's events will follow the Beyer-Garratt 6029 visiting Bathurst in 2022, when some of the passengers even turned up in vintage attire, and the iconic locomotive 3801 visiting in 2021.

Visit thnsw.com.au/bathurst to buy tickets.

As part of the steam train weekend, Steam Weekend Markets will be held on the tennis court at the Bathurst Rail Museum from 9am to 2.30pm on Sunday, June 11.

Organisers say there will be a huge variety of stalls and food from The Rotary Club of Bathurst and Orange Pie Company.

RECLASSIFIED as the 35 class during the 1924 renumbering program, these locomotives were originally known as the NN class, which gave rise to the nickname "Nanny".

Built in 1917, 3526's original number was 1314.

The 35 class 4-6-0 locomotives were built by the NSW Government Railways (NSWGR) at their workshops at Eveleigh.

Coincidentally, there were 35 engines in the 35 class. They were intended to reduce the amount of "double-heading" required for main line express trains following the introduction of heavy, 12-wheeled corridor compartment cars.

Teething problems with the new design were overcome by several modifications throughout their service (including re-framing and re-balancing the driving wheels), seeing them develop into solid performers.

The original cabs were replaced to provide the crew greater protection against the weather.

With the advent of the 36 and later the 38 classes, the 35s spent the greater part of their lives on northern services.

Withdrawn in 1967, locomotive 3526 in that year became the first exhibit to be painted by the NSW Rail Transport Museum, forerunner of Transport Heritage NSW.

The 3526 is one of the few NSW locomotives to have been painted in blue livery for a time, while hauling the Caves Express services from Sydney to Mount Victoria in the 1930s.

Following a major overhaul completed in 2018, it now appears in Brunswick Green livery with red and yellow trim.

DESIGNED to be able to operate non-stop for distances of up to 100 miles (161km), the first of the 36-class entered service in 1925.

Numbers one to 10 were built by the NSW Government Railways at Eveleigh, while the remaining 65 were constructed by Clyde Engineering.

An interesting quirk saw the Clyde-built locomotives finished before the NSWGR built-engines, which meant that 3610 was the last of the class to enter service.

The 36 class locomotives were originally fitted with round-top boilers, which gave them a somewhat porcine appearance, and this, coupled with difficulties in firing their narrow fireboxes and the regular repairs required to the boilers, led to the nickname "Pig".

Most of them were re-boilered with Belpaire fireboxes and given new style cabs to match during their service lives, although the nickname remained.

With the 36 class came the introduction to the NSW railways of the "turret" style tenders, which gave the crews better vision when travelling in reverse.

Locomotive 3642 entered traffic in January 1926 and was withdrawn from active service in November 1969 before being retained for the NSW Rail Museum.

Locomotive 3642 is set to receive overhaul in the near future, so it can continue to support heritage train experiences into the future.

In the meantime, 3642 is maintained in operational condition so the engine can be utilised for occasional events, including the Bathurst Steam Weekend in June.

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