
Engine #820 on public display at MacDonnell Park, in Gympie, Australia in 1972.
Queensland Government Railway No. 820 is a class C17 4-8-0 steam locomotive it was built in 1927 by the Armstrong Whitworth for the Queensland Government Railway.
Like all engines on the Queensland Government Railway C17 it was design to haul Mail trains on lines could not accommodate heavier B18¼ class, also suburban passenger, mixed, goods and branch line trains until it was retired from service in 1969.
In 1982 the Gympie Apex Club requested permission from Widgee Shire Council to sell this locomotive for scrap as a fund raising activity. Unfortunately Widgee Shire Council approved the motion and the locomotive was cut up for scrap metal by Gympie Apex Club members in 1982.
Trivia[]
- According to "Locomotives in the Tropics", No. 820 was written off the Queensland Railways books in October 1967 before being presented to Widgee Shire Council in 1969 and placed on display in MacDonnell Park, Gympie.
- The regrettable scrapping of No. 820 provided impetus towards the later rescue of locomotive C17 No. 45 from its plinth in a second Gympie park and the subsequent formation of the Mary Valley Heritage Railway, with the restored No.45 becoming their flagship locomotive. The book 'The Return of Steam Locomotive C17, No. 45' by R. Stark includes some photographs of unlucky C17 No.820 being dismantled for scrap in MacDonnell Park by local Apex club members.