I have been looking high and low on the internet to find out if someone made a Tasmanian M Class steam engine in O-scale (2 or 3 rail) This is the 1952, M class designation (4-6-2) versus the 1912, M Class (4-4-2+2-4-4 Garratt). Sadly, I could not find anything in O-scale, nor have I found anyone who has made it in any other gauge.
A little history on the M Class...
On March 12, 1952, the Tasmanian Government Railways took delivery of ten, M class branch line locomotives from Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1957, four engines (M1, M2, M6, and M8) were refitted with smaller driving wheels from Australian Standard Garratts so they could run heavy trains over the steeply graded North-Eastern Line. After their retirement in 1975, all ten engines were preserved either in parks and museums or are still used as operational engines on tourist lines.
The video below shows some live footage of a Centenary tour with several M Class engines starting at 4:30 (As an aside, Railway Adventures Across Australia is a fantastic series and I highly recommend watching it)
*Rights and Copyrights belong to the respective owners of each video*
As it looks, I will need to scratch build or commission one. But before I go doing that, I was hoping for the collective knowledge of the OGR forum to assist be before I add another project to my ever-expanding list of things to do. Can any of my forum friends help me in my quest to find one of these beauties?
Thank you in advance!
Bryce
