This locomotive was built by John Fowler in Leeds in 1914 to work at the Babinda Mill, south of Cairns in Queensland.
The sugar mill at Babinda opened in December 1915 and the locomotives were used to haul cane sticks to the mill and raw sugar to the port at Mourilyan Harbour.
As well as hauling the cane to the mill locomotives at Babinda were also employed occasionally used to pull Mill trucks fitted with seats to selected picnic sites in the area. During the Second World War they were used to haul trucks to transport community members to a bushman’s picnic in the Alice River area.
In 1918 a cyclone badly damaged the town of Babinda and entire train was train at the station was blown over.
In 1960 the locomotive was purchased by the Moreton Mill at Nambour. Here it gained the name Bli Bli after a local cane growing district.
The Moreton Mill which dates from around 1895 was connected to the Nort Coast railway line via a tramway built to transport the sugar. There were also narrow gauge (2ft) connections to many farms to aid the collection of the sugar canes.
The locomotive was taken out of service at the Moreton Mill in 1967.
The locomotive was placed on a plinth at Muller Park in the Bli Bli district in 1968. By the early 2000s the locomotive had become corroded and somewhat derelict in the humid and salty air. The chimney, headlight and cylinder covers were missing, and the wheels were sitting wet in the sandy base of the plinth.
In June 2011 the locomotive was moved to the Nambour Museum (operated by the Nambour & District Historical Museum Association Inc) with the intention of restoring the locomotive before placing it on static display. The Nambour Museum is located next to the site of the Moreton Sugar Mill.
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