| Driving Wheels | 3ft 9ins |
| Cylinders | Outside – 17in x 22in |
This is one of three locomotives built by Dübs and Company in Glasgow in 1900 for heavy freight duties on the Emu Bay Railway. A fourth locomotive was built to the same design by the North British Locomotive Company in 1911.
Tasmania’s west coast is one of the more remote corners of the world, featuring weather-beaten mountain terrain, wild rivers and lush forest. The Emu Bay Railway was built to serve the rich mining ventures on this coast on a line that included steep grades and tight curves.
The locomotive only gained its name (after Mount Heemskirk in Tasmania)in October 1960 when a passenger service was introduced to convey tourists and cars on flatcars between Burnie and Rosebery. The locomotive was taken out of store to undertake these duties along with the preserved classmate (Dübs 3854 No 6 Murchison). This service ceased in January 1964 following the opening of the Murchison Highway which provided a road linking many of Tasmania’s isolated west coast communities for the first time.
The locomotive was initially preserved in foreshore parkland at the Emu Bay Railway’s hometown of Burnie.
In November 1978 it was moved to the Don River Railway at Devonport in Tasmania.
The locomotive was given a full heavy overhaul and restored to steam at the Don River Railway in October 1996.
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Preserved British Steam Locomotives 