AFTER 18 months of hard work, the team at Southern Shorthaul Railroad in Bendigo has built a locomotive completely from scratch.
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It’s hard to believe, but the 20-odd workers had never built a train before.
“It was a bit of an engineering feat,” project manager Allan Nicholson said.
“We’ve learnt a lot, you could say... we’ve certainly learnt a lot.”
The frame was built from scratch, the engine imported from the USA and the eight kilometres of electrical wiring installed by hand.
It’s estimated the locomotive took 8000 man-hours to build.
“I’m proud of what the blokes here have achieved,” Mr Nicholson said.
“Everybody was responsible for getting it done.”
The locomotive is capable of pulling about 2500 tonnes on a flat track, and is already attracting a following on YouTube.