Fiji
| Fiji | |
|---|---|
 At Harbour Station, 2014. Photo: Andrew Thomas | |
| Home Railway | Statfold Barn Railway |
| Original Railway | Colonial Sugar Refining Co. |
| History | |
| Built by | Hudswell Clarke |
| Built | 1912 |
| Technical | |
| Wheel Arrangement | 0-6-0 |
| Locomotives | |
Fiji is a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 tender locomotive that was delivered to Colonial Sugar Refining's Lautoka Mill in Fiji in 1912. Numbered 11, was the first of more than 30 such locomotives, progressively improved and enlarged, that worked on CSR's cane railways in Fiji and Queensland, with the last built in 1952.
As the class leader, number 11 survived the scrapping that occurred following the dieselisation of Fiji's cane railways. In 1985 it was obtained for a tourist railway venture and had a diesel engine placed in its tender. Part of the firebox was cut away to allow a hydraulic drive to power the locomotives' rear axle.
In 2011, it was obtained by Rob Gambrill, who repatriated it to England and came to Graham Lee's Statfold Barn Railway in 2012. Here it was painstakingly rebuilt, first appearing at the March Enthusiasts' Day in 2014. A few days later it was on its way to the WHR, where it arrived on 4 April, and was soon given trials, double heading a passenger train on 19 and 20 April. It stayed on the WHR for the summer season. It was named Fiji by His Excellency Mr. Solo Mara, High Commissioner for the Republic of Fiji Islands during the 'Our Railway Adventure' on 2nd May.
Gallery[edit]
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Naming ceremony, 2014. From left to right: Paul Lewin (FR General Manager), His Excellency Mr Solo Mara (High Commissioner for the Republic of Fiji Islands) and Graham Lee (Statfold Barn Railway). Photo: Andrew Thomas -
At Statfold, 2017
