M class 4-6-2 on the Don River Railway - Devonport, Tasmania
A trip on the Don River Railway hauled by ex TGR M class 4-6-2 steam locomotive. October 2011
V class Diesel Hydraulic Locomotive Don River Railway Devonport Tasmania
Don River Railway Devonport Tasmania. V class diesel hydraulic locomotive at Don River Junction. A three car train arrives at Don Junction and the locomotive runs around on the loop and attaches to the other end of the train before departing on the return trip along the scenic line that runs beside the Don River back to the Don River Railway museum location.
A similar lcomotive on the West Coast Wilderness abt Railway between Queenstown and Strahan Tasmania shown at nex.net.au/~reidgck/abt-rly has a plate attached which reads - The Drewry car Co Ltd. Loco No 2405 200h.p. 1953. Constructed by the Vulcan Foundry Ltd Newton-Le-Willows Langs No 0193 City Wall House, London E.C.2. The locomotives have 8 cylinder Gardner 8L3 Diesel engines installed.
They had DP class articulated railcars on the Tasmania Government Railways with Gardner 6 cylinder L3 diesel engines also and these 6 cylinder engines also found their way into some of these locomotives which then were dubbed as the Va class. They work out at about 50 horsepower per cylinder.
One of the V class (which are 3ft 6in gauge), was converted to 2ft 6in gauge and is used on the Puffing Billy Railway in the Dandenong Ranges Victoria from Belgrave.
There are two, a V and a Va on the preserved Bellarine Peninsula Railway in Victoria that are operational. They are from Tasmania.
Information on their web site says-
We also have two Tasmanian Government Railways 0-6-0 V class locomotives V8 and VA1. Both of these are diesel mechanical locomotives with Gardner engines. V8 has an 8 cylinder 8L3 motor with a 5 speed gear box and VA1 has a 6 cylinder 6L3 motor with a 4 speed gearbox
(the four speed gearboxes were likely from the railcars too)
The standard gauge original version of this locomotive for British Rail, had the wheels on the outside of the frame whereas on this 3ft 6in version they are necessarily on the inside of the frame.
Don River Railway | Diesel with Vintage Carriage Set | Melrose Line, TasRail | Devonport, Tasmania
The Don River Railway was established at the Don in 1973. Trains commenced operating in November 1976. This video shows a brief overview of the Don River Railway on the Melrose Line. The train trip travels on the western bank of the the Don River to the Coles Beach junction. Enjoy!
Don River Railway loco 1002 Coles Beach Devonport
Don River Railway's diesel hydraulic loco 1002 arriving at Coles Beach and then departing a short time later and powering off around the curve
Don River Railway, Trains, Vintage trains, steam trains, diesel electric trains, Tasmanian trains
We had a great day out with the kids/grandkids in Devonport Tasmania visiting the Don River Railway, Don Tasmania. They have a great set up all run by volunteers capped off with a neat ride on a very old train with a Gardner diesel engine clonking away just sounded great. Highly recommended if visiting the area with plenty of interesting things to look at and climb over
Don River Railway, NW Tasmania: Burnie-Don Steam Excursion 2004
Video clips recently discovered in depths of my old video archives capturing the last Steam Excursion by Don River Railway along the coast from Burnie to Don in December, 2004.
The Don River Railway - Devonport, Tasmania
Aerial view taken with the Beebop 2 - tourist attraction of old steam and diesel locomotives from Tasmania's past passenger railway system.
The Don River Railway in Devonport Tasmania. SLIDE SHOW.John Coyle video
one of the best railway museums in the state.
Don River Railway - Last West Coast Steam Excursion
Clips documenting the last steam excursion in 2004 by Don River Railway on the Tasmanian West Coast line from Burnie to Rosebery and return, hauled by MA2 and M4 steam locos. Includes a brilliant clip from a mobile camera along Metaira Road at Ridgley.
Tasmania's Don River Railway A Trip on Railcar DP 22 - 28/10/16
Join me as we venture on Tasmania's Don River Railway between Don and Coles Beach, a distance of 3.1 km or 1.6 mi.
We start just outside of Don Railway Yards, up front in the cab with our railcar driver Judy.
We travel along this old branch line on a return trip with cab viewing each way.
This line was opened on Monday 10th of April 1916 and ran from Paloona with stops at Barrington and Don finally reaching Coles Beach which had access to the mainline network between Burnie and Hobart.
The line was officially closed on Wednesday 16th of October 1963.
The line is operated by a band of dedicated volunteers from the Van Diemen Light Railway Society and is leased to them by the Devonport City Council.
The gauge is 3 foot and 6 inches (1067mm) which is the same gauge on the Australian mainland in parts of Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia. Both preserved and freight/passenger links as well.
It's interesting to note that in the early days of the preservation society the DRR operated several mainline trips around Tasmania utilising historic steam locomotives and heritage diesels.
Steam operates on weekends, usually Sundays and the railcar runs during weekdays.
For all information on this preserved railway in the north of Tasmania in the region of Devonport at the suburb of Don visit their website here:
Hope you enjoy :)
Don River Railway Tasmania.wmv
During our recent Honeymoon we visited the Don River Railway Museum at Devonport, Tasmania 20-10-11, this is the video footage taken from upfront of a Railcar from Don Museum to Coles Beach. Previously I photographed 2001 and DV1 shunting the cement sidings at devonport and I managed to see them go past at Coles Beach, mind you the camera work is shakey at Coles Beach as I was taking pics and movies hand held.
Don River Railway X4 Coles Beach Devonport
Don River Railways X class number 4 back in running order
Don River Railway 1002 Passenger train Coles beach Devonport
Don River Railway passenger train at Coles beach Devonport at 16:17 on Sunday the 5th of November 2017.
Don River Railway Y6 Coles beach Devonport
The DRR's Y6 loco heading to Coles Beach at Devonport
Don River Railway Steam Locomotive M4 Coles beach Devonport
Don River Railway Steam loco M4 departing Coles beach returning to Don at 15:20 on the 19th of April 2017.
Don River Railway - Tasmanian railway history
Cab ride and track side shots of CCS 23 a 2-6-0 rebuilt by TGR in 1928. Originally built by Beyer Peacock as a C class in 1902. Filmed in 1989.
Note the heritage bridge in the opening shot is not part of the Don River railway
Clynton's Shed - V class loco cab ride at Don river railway
dropping off stuff from Launceston rail workshops (where I play most Saturdays) to the main site up in Devonport (about an hour away) we just unloaded and got a call that the DP rail car had failed! so we all hopped in for the (rough) ride the loco is a diesel mechanical, powered by a gardener 8L3 (8 - inline) built by Drewry Car Co. in 1948 V2 has been owned by don river railway since 1984
Don River Railway 2006
While waiting in Devonport to catch the Spirit of Tasmania back to Melbourne, we spent a few hours touring around Don River Railway.
Filmed May 2006. Enjoy
At don river railway during our holiday in tassie
Devonport to Railton Rail Train 2019
Devonport to Railton Rail Train. Located between Devonport and Railton northern Tasmania, Australia. Filmed 21/11/2019