Salvage Scheme.
Excavator clearing a road up Coal Creek, Seddonville, New Zealand. PHOTO: Hugh McCracken
The railway line and bridges had been removed and the dump site of Wb 292 and Wb 299 was over a mile from the nearest road. Various schemes were considered, including:
- placing them on a sled and towing with a bulldozer;
- constructing tracksets and moving the locos on their own wheels, dismantling track behind them and reconstructing ahead.
- forming a road to take cranes and trucks alongside the locos
A mile from the nearest road
It appeared feasible to clear a temporary road up the creek bed and drive a 30-ton crane, truck and low loader trailers directly to the site.
June 1989
R.H. Pearson of Westport was contracted to salvage Wb 292 and 299 from Seddonville on the West Coast. A hydraulic excavator worked steadily for a day forming a road up the bed of Coal Creek. On 28 June 1989 a 30 ton road-crane, two low-loaders, an excavator and a six-wheel truck were driven up the creek bed.
Next page: Salvage of Wb 299.
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Page last updated 13 October 2002. © Hugh McCracken
