A band of steam railway enthusiasts working out of the Canberra Railway Museum say they are just weeks away from recommissioning the largest steam engine ever to ride Australian rails - if they can get their hands on $30,000.
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Beyer Garratt 6029 has been languishing behind the Canberra railway station ever since its boiler failed soon after it was donated to the ACT division of the Australian Railway Historical Society in the mid-1970s.
The 260-tonne, 33-metre-long articulated steam engine, when laden with coal and water, is identical in length and about the same weight as Captain Cook's Endeavour. It was donated to the National Museum after being retired from the NSW Railways.
More than $400,000 (in today's money) has been spent on the historic behemoth over the past 40 or so years, and at Canberra's Easter Steam Fest, its boilers were fired up for the first time in public since its retirement.
Bruce Blain, the corporate services manager for the ACT division, said the only thing holding the project back was the machining and fitting of two dozen 19.5-inch (49.5-centimetre) piston rings that would make it possible for power to be transferred to the drive wheels.
''That would cost about $30,000 and, if someone were to give us the money tomorrow, we could have her mobile under her own steam within six weeks,'' he said.
One avenue being explored is selling naming rights for the next five years to the ACT government.
''If that were to happen we would christen her the City of Canberra,'' Mr Blain said, supporting the case for involvement by pointing out that ''May 25 marks the arrival of the first train to Canberra in 1914''.
Like 6029, the engine that pulled that train was built in Manchester in Britain. It is also part of the Canberra division's collection.
One man who was not about to miss 6029's return to life was Percy Forrester, 75, a former driver with the NSW Railways.
Mr Forrester came from Queensland for the weekend to demonstrate 6029's virtues to the thousands of visitors and to drive steam locomotive 3016 on a heritage rail shuttle between Canberra and Queanbeyan. The veteran of steam and diesel, who began began his career as a cleaner and fireman in the 1950s, said he would not have missed it for the world.
He is sharing his experience with an emerging generation of volunteer drivers.
He said that under full brakes a loaded goods train took about 400 metres to stop, well under its overall length.
Asked about the heat in summer, he said it wasn't too bad despite the roaring firebox that dominates the driver's cabin.
''There are vents and the floor is cool,'' he said.
''Mind you, we wore our bib and brace overalls the same way as Scotsmen wore their kilts.''
