The last steam traction engine finds a new home

Engine No 87964, out in the weather at Entally, hiding behind other farm machinery.

Photo supplied

April 2019

THE LAST steam traction engine manufactured by British company Marshall, Sons and Co. has been at Entally House since the early 1980s. With no buildings large enough to house it, Engine No 87964 has spent many years out in the weather and is in need of major conservation.

Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service in partnership with Redwater Creek Steam and Heritage Society have finalised an agreement for the long-term loan of the Marshall engine to RCSHS, ensuring that this significant piece of industrial heritage will be preserved and will remain in Tasmania.

With no direct links to Entally, it will now be housed at Sheffield Steam and Heritage Centre alongside other historic engines. “A conservation plan will be prepared and over time, works will be carried out with the intention of eventually returning it to an operational state,” PWS General Manager Jason Jacobi said.

Made for the Tasmanian Public Works Department in 1937, Engine No 87964 crushed rocks for road works in the state’s north until 1957 when all use of steam ceased in PWD quarries.