Clyde

**Clyde** is an Australian tender locomotive, who was built as a tank engine, owned by the Moorland Steam Railway. He's one of the oldest 4-6-0s on the railway.

## Bio

Clyde was built in 1903 for NSWGR as one of the suburban S class 4-6-4Ts, later known after 1924 as the 30 class. In the mid-20s, he was replaced by "Red Rattler" electric multiple units in the Sydney area, leading to his rebuild. Clyde was rebuilt from a suburban tank locomotive to outer urban 4-6-0 tender locomotive, which he was of the "saturated" version. Clyde was withdrawn sometime in the late-1960s as he was in poor condition, but wasn't sent for scrap. Instead, he was stored by the Public Transport Commission (PTC) to await a buyer for him to be preserved (officially). The PTC did find a buyer for him the UK, the Moorland Steam Railway (MSR) and was sold around AU$3,000. The date was originally going to leave for the UK was the same date of the 1977 Granville Railway Disaster, which killed 84 people (all commuters heading to Sydney Central station).

Clyde arrived on the railway in February 1977, paired with what is known in New South Wales P class/ 32 Class six-wheel tender, which was different to his old four-axle bogie tender, commonly found on other members of his class. Unfortunately, Clyde's boiler was last overhauled in 1969 and meant that he only had two years before he needed an overhaul, and was worried that the British didn't know how to fix an Australian design. When he met Labiche, he was surprised that the British could fix a French locomotive who arrived only seven years before. Clyde insisted in an immediate overhaul to renew his boiler ticket and approval for mainline certification.

Clyde received his first British mainline ticket in 1983 and has his first run through Ilkley Moor, which he had to blow 'On Ilkley Moor Baht 'at', which he didn't know. Capulet taught the Australian how to blast it and eventually was the first Australian locomotive to blast through Ilkley station with that song blasting on his whistle. The same decade, he was followed with another Australian locomotive, a SAR F class tank engine named Cook, which Clyde was hostile at first to the South Australian locomotive. When Cook was modified with buffers and screw-link couplings (since he had no buffers and an AAR coupling), Clyde taught the 4-6-2T how to couple up to coaches without bumping them like freight stock. Both became "mates" from there onwards and share stories of their days working for their government railways, learning about the ways of each state's operations.

In 1990, Clyde's first mainline ticket went and he was restricted to operating medium goods traffic and assistance in the construction of the extension to Rozelle, which Clyde (piloting Cook) officially opened the line to passenger and goods traffic. For his final years before overhaul, Clyde worked the Rozelle extension with both passenger traffic (formed of rescued, and unusual, Tulloch double-decker trailers from State Rail) and goods traffic. Clyde was withdrawn in 1993 and placed in storage for future operational usage. He only spent three years stored before work suddenly began again on an overhaul to operational service. It turned out he was one of the most profitable mainline-registered locomotives the MSR had ever seen since Hood bowed out of mainline usage in 1984.

Clyde's second overhaul ended in 1999 and was even reunited (temporarily) with his old bogie tender, the same tender he was coupled with when he was withdrawn in the late-1960s. This pairing lasted for five years before his three-axle tender was returned to service (the reason for the bogie tender was because of major repairs needed to be carried out on the old ex-32 class tender Clyde was preserved with) and showed what he can do when Network Rail and the MSR's railtour promoter arranged a race with a Southern Railway S15 on the route from London to York, to prove that Clyde's design, paired with a large tender, could match the "water carts" of the Southern Railway.

## Livery

Clyde is painted in standard NSWGR unlined black with a red running board. He also carries a black 'Enfield 6' shed plate on his cab sides above his number, which are brass numerals.

## Basis or real locomotive

   Clyde is based to a real NSWGR 30T class 4-6-0. These were rebuilt from 30 class 4-6-4Ts after Sydney network they were designed for was electrified (operation of the "Red Rattlers" began in the mid-1920s) and found work on outer areas in rural NSW. By 1933, 77 have been converted and the program was stopped, ten being of Clyde Engineering. Withdrawals of the class started when diesels were introduced and the lines they were rebuilt to serve were being closed in December 1958 and the last was retired in August 1972. Only six have been preserved and No. 3016 is so far the most active survivor of the class. It has once or currently wearing No. 3102's brass dome in place of its painted dome.

As of February 2020, class leader 3001 has been selected for an overhaul and was due to be returned to service in March of the same year. more than 20 years after it last ran.

## Trivia

Clyde is named after Clyde Engineering, a major locomotive builder outside Granville, NSW, Australia. 10 members of the 30 class locomotive were rebuilt to 30Ts by Clyde Engineering.

Despite being British-built, Clyde has an Australian accent. This is because the locomotive was operated (later rebuilt) in Australia.

Clyde himself is a reference to the almost the whole cast and crew of the franchise, which live in New South Wales, Australia.

Clyde's model is a Wombat Models HO scale model with a six-wheel/ ex-P (later 32) class tender and saturated boiler. The model was "undecorated"/unnumbered, which lead to Shane Sowter giving it the number '3010'. For his music video, he also uses an Austrains HO 30 class 4-6-4T for his original form before rebuilding.

* His main model had to have NEM pockets fitted and its Kadee couplings removed for connection to British rolling stock.

Because Clyde's model is HO scale (like Labiche and Cook), he appears smaller than the British locomotives (with are of 1:76 scale, not 1:87 scale).

Despite never being used by the Australian military, Clyde has a soft spot for songs referring to Australia's soldiers involvement across the world. One that brings him to tears is 'I Was Only 19 (A Walk In The Green Light)' by Australian folk group Redgum, a song recounting an Australian soldier's experience in the Vietnam War (1955-1975).

The sounds used for Clyde come from surviving NSWGR 30T class 4-6-0 No. 3016. This is because 3016 is the only one operational in recent years.

Clyde carries an 'Enfield 6' shed plate above his number. The real No. 3010 was never allocated to Enfield depot but this could be a reference to the former home of some 30 class tank locomotives and the shedcode's former owner, Penrith (closed 1913, demolished 1916).

* No. 3010 was allocated to 'Broadmeadow 2' after rebuilding to a 30T class.

Clyde is revealed to suffer from lack of sleep since his memories of the Granville disaster continue to haunt him throughout the series.

Like fellow Australian locomotive Cook, Clyde can stand the UK's "heatwaves" without being affected.

Clyde has performed a similar rescue to Hood in 'Runaway' but with extra help from a NSWGR 59 class 2-8-2 to stop a runaway passenger train headed by a 44 class diesel-electric.

Clyde's name means 'Scottish river name' and comes from Scottish Gaelic.