HMAS Foden

Attached is a photo of a 1923 foden steam truck which i had the pleasure of assisting in its restoration to running order. It was dragged out of a quarry in Sydney where It was last used as a winch with cable attached to its back axle. It was in a very sorry state. It was rescued in the late sixties by the Royal Australian Navy apprentice training establishment at Quakers Hill in western Sydney. An apprentice steam club was formed and restoration began. I returned to this base some eight years later and worked on the repair and restoration of several other units over the two years from 1975/6 to 1978.

Some of the other units were buffalo pitts traction engine, from Gunnadah NSW, two portable engines, like the one at the winery but different make, also a sugar cane loco from Bundaberg I think, though this was after I left the navy.

I believe it now resides in navy base in melbourne HMAS Cerebrus) after Quakers Hill was closed. ( HMAS Nirimba)

A bit about the foden

1923 model

two cylinder compound

top speed down the airstrip 60 kph , a bit scarey

originally had a tip tray, both side and rear tip

load, 6 old ton

trailer also rear and side tip also 6 ton

The Foden was registered as vintage vehicle and was driven to Parramatta each year in an annual parade this was an inpromptu action and might research it more when i have time and can dig up more photos etc and can give credit to some of the people who drove the restoration program.

Regards tony middleton

An update by the editor, Paul Pavlinovich
I had a suspicion that I had seen this Foden before on a couple of occasions, and Tony's theory that the unit was at HMAS Cerberus jogged my memory, it is now in a considerably different livery now that it is under the care of the HMAS Cerberus Navy Steam Club. This picture was snapped during the grand parade at Lake Goldsmith May Rally 1999.

Tony wrote to me again with another note about HMAS Foden after reading Ray Freemans reboring article on a Fremantle class locomotive. Tony remembered a similar situation regarding the Foden.

After reading this article David Twiss davidwtwiss@optusnet.com.au wrote to me with some more first hand information about this machine...
I was very involved with the obtaining of the Foden and its subsequent restoration, the chassis was "bannaned" on arrival at HMAS NIRIMBA at Quakers Hill in NSW (it came from a quarry in EMU PLAINS) and the vehicle was thought at the time to be beyond restoration, it was however, completely stripped and after restoration was virtually a new machine. Solid rubber tyres proved a problem however, we found a brand of forklift with the same diameter wheels and by cutting the tyres in half, we had new tyres for the truck. New tube plates were manufactured and the boiler was totally rebuilt. (the boiler tubes are ex DDG destroyer superheater tubes, the steering wheel is a throttle valve from HMAS ANZAC, still showing Open-Close)

The Foden was utilised most weekends for school fetes, town celebrations and on one occasion was driven to Garden Island for Navy Week via the Harbour Bridge, necessitating the closing of one lane and creating lots of good natured havoc.

An interesting day was when we took the truck to the Roads and Traffic Authority at Blacktown to obtain registration for the vehicle, a lot of head scratching was done and I think we were given registration just to get us out of their hair, they didn't have a clue as to inspecting a steam road vehicle for registration.

Following the closure of HMAS NIRIMBA, many organisations applied for the truck but we put a proviso that it had to remain in operating condition and be maintained as such. This appeared too onerous to most and as many of the steam club had moved to HMAS CERBERUS, the decision was made to keep the truck with the Navy. I have many photos and news paper clippings with the history and restoration details, I don't have a scanner but if you are interested, I will try and copy them and send them to you.

As an aside, we had a 2ft. gauge Fowler steam locomotive "INVICTA" which was presented to us by the Bundaberg Sugar Refinery, has subsequently been returned to the Bundaberg Gardens Railway where it is under restoration back to original condition and should be a runner again this year.

A steam launch, TRITON was also among our collection having been pumped from the mud at Brooklyn on the Hawksbury River. Restoration was not complete when NIRIMBA closed and the hull was burned (in ignorance), however, a sister hull has been obtained and restoration is taking place at Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour by Naval Reservists.

Of the portable steam engines that were at NIRIMBA, the Garret is at HMAS CERBERUS and the other is still on site at the entrance to the University of Western Sydney Campus which is on the NIRIMBA site

Some of the people involved in the obtaining and restoration of the steam machinery were Bruce Mac Donald, LCDR Frank Moag and Warrant Officer Tony Hills, not to mention all the trainees who managed to get first hand steam experience (the aim of the steam club) the civilian instructors and staff of the Marine Engineering School ar NIRIMBA, their dedication lives on in the living steam machinery scattered now around the country.

I could go on for hours, but I hope this may be of some interest to you.

Yours aye,

Dave Twiss
Lieutenant Commander RAN (Retd)
ex HMAS NIRIMBA Steam Club