| Weight | 12 tons |
| Boiler Pressure | 150psi |
| Cylinders | Outside – 7in x 12in |
This locomotive was built by Kerr, Stuart & Company in Stoke on Trent in February 1901 and was given the name Lukee before it was shipped from Britain.
The locomotive was initially sent to India in 1901 in response to an order from T A Martin & Co of Calcutta.
No details are available about the time the locomotive spent in India before being returned to Kerr Stuart for rebuilding. The rebuild was completed in August 1903.
In 1904 it was delivered to the Mt Zeehan Silver & Lead Mines at Zeehan in Tasmania. This followed the expansion and reorganisation of the railway to make it easier and quicker to haul the ore by the Tasmanian Government narrow gauge railway to the smelters at Zeeham. The line closed in 1913 and it is believed the locomotive was acquired by J S Munro who was a dealer and agent. The locomotive then languished at Zeeham until 1921.
In 1921 the locomotive was sold to the Irrigation Commission of the South Australian Government for use on the Cobdogla Tramway. Early in 1922 the locomotive was shipped to Port Adelaide before being taken by rail to Murray Bridge. Here it was offloaded onto a paddle steamer and taken to Cobdogla.
Initially 9,500 acres at Loveday (south of Cobdogla) was set aside for irrigation in an attempt to settle ex-servicemen returning from the First World War on the land. At first materials were transported by horse power but this locomotive and a W G Bagnall saddle tank worked round the clock to supply thestores brought in by the river steamers as well as rocks from the quarries and supplies of pipes. The increasing costs forced the South Australian Government to curtail the project and by 1924 the Government was selling of the rolling stock and track.
The locomotive was resold in 1924 to the Victoria State Rivers & Water Supply Commission (SR&WSC) for use on the Red Cliffs Tramway, which linked the Red Cliffs pumping station to the Red Cliffs railway station.
The first loads of coal were taken from the railway sidings to the pumps in July 1924. The skips were loaded at the Victoria Railway sidings at Red Cliffs and hauled to the SR&WSC pumping station at Cliffside. As the locomotive had not yet arrived on the line the first train was drawn along the track by horses. A few days later the locomotive took over the duties.
In 1953 the locomotive was withdrawn from and replaced by two diesel engines.
The Red Cliffs Rotary Club realised the historical significance of the locomotive and in June 1954 made a formal request to retain it in Red Cliffs.
The locomotive was then placed on a plinth in a Red Cliffs park August 1955.
For twenty years the locomotive was neglected in the playground and in 1976 the Red Cliffs Lions Club gained permission to move the locomotive to a site adjacent to the Red Cliffs railway station.
In 1983 the newly formed Sunraysia Steam Preservation Society approached the Red Cliffs Lions Club for permission to restore the locomotive. Permission was granted in August 1983 and it was anticipated that the restoration work would take two years to be completed. In December 1983 the locomotive was taken to Express Engineers at Mildura. The locomotive was restored to working order by 1987.
As no agreement could be reached as to the use of the locomotive it was placed in store at the First Mildura Irrigation Trust (FMIT) workshop and it remained there until 1995.
Finally in January 1995 the locomotive was steamed and In September of 1997 it operated on the Red Cliffs Historical Steam Railway on their short section of rail on the site of the former Red Cliffs – Morkalla branch line.
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Preserved British Steam Locomotives 