SteamRanger Heritage Railway

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:35): I rise today to speak about the SteamRanger Heritage Railway event hosted in Mount Barker on Sunday 28 May. For those of you who are not familiar with SteamRanger Heritage Railway, it operates a number of different heritage steam and diesel-hauled tourist trains through the three state electorates of Kavel, Heysen and Finniss between Mount Barker, where its main depot is located in the Adelaide Hills, up and over the crest of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges and down to beautiful Strathalbyn on the way through to Goolwa, Port Elliot and Victor Harbor. I am sure that many of us have memories of riding the train as children with our families.

The trains operate for up to 140 days a year. They are manned by volunteers from the Australian Railway Historical Society, which is also responsible for maintenance of the rail line and the heritage locomotives and carriages. The fundraiser I had the joy to attend on the weekend was to raise funds for the restoration of SteamRanger's 200 tonne-plus 520 class steam locomotive, the 520 Sir Malcolm Barclay Harvey. I encourage members to visit the depot to inspect it. It is located in the shed, and it really is quite an enormous locomotive of great significance.

The drawcard for the event on the weekend was watching South Australian champion strongman, Jordan 'Biggie' Steffens, attempt to move steam locomotive 621 with brute strength alone. It is the first time such an attempt had been undertaken in Australia since Grant Edwards' record-breaking attempt in New South Wales in 1996, so it was quite a significant occasion, and really quite significant and heartfelt congratulations should go to Jordan.

I encourage members to picture the scene. Jordan pulled the train out of the shed entirely by himself until the train fully emerged from the shed, to the great joy of all the admiring onlookers. This herculean effort was made to raise money for the railway, and I encourage members to consult my Facebook page, which marks the occasion. I had the great pleasure to meet Jordan and to congratulate him on his effort.

Steam locomotive 520, when it is restored, will be the largest non-articulated steam locomotive to operate in the Southern Hemisphere; however, it requires a significant investment. Approximately $150,000 is required to complete the construction of a tender and a general overhaul of the locomotive. The project started several years ago after a generous donation from a foundation member of the Australian Railway Historical Society, the late Dean Harvey OAM. The locomotive also achieved worldwide fame after it became the first Australian character in the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise, appearing in the film Thomas and Friends: The Great Race.

It is fitting that this event fell not only in South Australia's History Festival, which runs from 28 April to 31 May, but also in National Volunteer Week. I take the opportunity to thank the fantastic group of volunteers who work tirelessly to keep the railway operating, and I commend their future events to all members.