The North-East Dundas Tramway was a system of lines serving ore mines and smelters around Mount Dundas, centred on the "boom town" of Zeehan. Abounding with steep gradients and sharp curves, it made severe demands on its motive power, which put it at the forefront, for such a remote line, of 2' gauge locomotive development in the early 20th Century. Small German 0-4-0Ts were quickly supplanted by beefy Sharp Stewart 0-4-2Ts (two of which survived, converted into tender locos with very large boilers by a later sugar mill owner), and then the massive semi-articulated (swivel-frame) 2-4-6-0T built by Hagans of Erfurt, J1. When built in 1901 this was the largest 2' gauge locomotive in the world. Eight years later, the Tasmanian Government Railways took a chance on the as yet unbuilt and unproven articulated design of H.W. Garratt, ordering two locomotives from Beyer Peacock of Gorton Works, Manchester. Their works nos. 5292 and 5293 of 1909 entered service in Tasmania in 1910 as K1 and K2, proving an immediate success.

Unusually for a Garratt, the K class used compound expansion - the low-pressure cylinders on the front bogie are larger than the high-pressure ones on the rear bogie. This feature was only perpetuated on one later Garratt, and may explain the inboard position of the two sets of cylinders. In compounding, steam is used twice - here first in the high pressure cylinders at the rear, and then the low pressure ones at the front. A change valve in the front steam manifold allows both sets of cylinders to start on high pressure, and then switch to compound. K1 will be the only working compound (apart from miniatures) in the UK when completed.

K1 (or K2) at work in Tasmania. The loco has
just crossed the Montezuma Falls trestle bridge.

The fortunes of the NEDT fluctuated, notably during World War One, when the main smelter (German-owned) closed for the duration. The system as a complete unit closed in 1929 - when, coincidentally, the Welsh Highland was still open - and K1 and K2 were put into store. A fledgling tourist service on part of the line in the 1930s is thought to have used other motive power.

The TGR's attempts to sell the two locomotives failed, until 1947, when K1 was sold back to its makers, who had a sense of their history, and appreciated the value of the forerunner of the type which had brought them huge international markets. The loco had been drawn to their attention after Charles S Smith of the TGR (he started as an apprentice in 1940 and retired as chief engineer in 1981) had first suggested contacting Beyer Peacock. The firm was initially only interested in the loco's plates, but Smith, together with chief draughstman Douglas Wherett, persuaded TGR chief engineer George Mullens to offer the loco to Beyer Peacock at scrap value. It is hoped that Charles Smith, whose foresight saved K1, will be able to visit Wales to see the restored loco in action. He took the photos below in Zeehan shed in 1945 - believed not published before, these are the actual views sent to Beyer Peacock at the time and which thus played a concrete part in K1's survival.

The loco Beyer Peacock received was assembled for dispatch by TGR employee Mark Gray. It had long been thought that it was he who blended the power units of K1 with the boiler unit of K2, which had accumlated the higher mileage. However, recent examination of evidence suggests that the switch almost certainly occurred while the NEDT was still operating; it has been suggested that the marks evident on the boiler in the lower picture below (dismantled loco at Burnie, Tasmania, en route for the UK, July 27th 1947) match those on the loco as it had stood undisturbed in its shed since closure, as seen in the upper picture (Zeehan shed, March 10th 1947). Both pictures by George Sweetapple, copyright collection of Richard Horne, to whom thanks for permission to reproduce. George Sweetapple also recalled that in 1947 K2 (i.e. K1's boiler unit on K2's power units) was complete and in a different building; it is surely improbable that this doomed loco would have been reassembled if the components had been exchanged that year.

It seems that K1's boiler, more saleable as in better condition, was sold to a sawmill, and was last seen in a Zeehan scrapyard in the 1960s. This mix-and-match was to cause headaches for K1's restorers fifty years later.

Lots of information about Tasmanian railways is available at the Tas Train site; the restoration of K1 has created significant interest in its former home.