Atherton Herberton Historic Railway president Bob Slater, OAM, said crash did not derail restoration project delivery
Devastation has turned to joy for a Far North historical society after a rail motor it had sought for three and a half years was involved in a crash on a major highway only 5km from their workshop.
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Devastation has turned to joy for a Far North historical society after their long-awaited rail motor was involved in a crash on a major highway only 5km from their workshop.
On Tuesday Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway marketing manager Gary Aylward said the group was delighted when the rail motor, which they had been trying to source for three and a half years, arrived only 24 hours later than anticipated.
Disaster struck on Monday when the prime mover carrying the motor rolled on the side of the Kennedy Highway.
Thankfully, the rail motor did not sustain serious damage and the driver of the truck was uninjured.
“A crane came up from Townsville on Monday and pulled out the truck,” he said.
“It righted the prime mover and the trailer carrying the rail motor which has been attached so securely, the operator was then able to bring in another prime mover and it was transported safely to our workshop.
“It’s a bit battered but it will be restored.”
Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway president Bob Slater OAM said the group was relieved to take delivery of the motor from Queensland Rail.
Mr Slater, 76, said members were “very happy,” to see their next restoration project come through the gate.
“We are feeling very, very good,” M Slater said.
“There’s a little bit of damage on one side, but nothing our talented members can’t fix.
“Our volunteers can fix anything, we have experts in timber and steel here.”
The delight in Mr Slater’s voice was a far cry from when he spoke about the crash on Monday night.
“Gutted, that’s how I felt,” Mr Slater said.
“When I went down there to see what had happened, it felt unreal.
“But at the same time I was very relieved that no-one was injured, then I thought, what will we tell the volunteers?”
Mr Slater said the club was looking forward to undertaking the rail motor’s restoration.
“The owner of the haulage company rang me straight way to let us know what had occurred,” he said.
“He’s just been fantastic, he came up straight away, he has been very helpful”.
“We really appreciate that the owner dispatched a crane from Townsville on Monday afternoon to retrieve the prime mover and the rail motor,” he said.
“For three and half years we have been negotiating with Queensland Rail and they have been amazing in their support.”
Mr Slater said Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway volunteers had committed more than 90,000 volunteer hours of work to bring back steam locomotives and carriages to their former glory.
“These volunteers do so much just for can of drink at the end of a session if working on these projects,” he said.
Pattel’s Heavy Haulage was contacted for comment.
A Queensland Police spokeswoman said the incident was still being investigated.
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