About Us

LOCOMOTIVE RESTORATION GROUP - THE STORY SO FAR

In 2002, a group of heritage railway volunteers were tasked with relocating locomotive K154 from the Old Gippstown heritage museum in Moe, Gippsland. The initial plan was to move the engine off-site for restoration, but as dismantling progressed it became clear that 30 years of harsh Gippsland weather had severely damaged major components, including the boiler and tender tank.

Faced with this reality, the volunteer team made a bold decision: to salvage all usable parts from K154 and use them as the foundation for recreating one of Victoria’s lost locomotive classes - the 1st Series N Class. Inspired by similar new-build projects in the United Kingdom, the team formally became known as the Locomotive Restoration Group and launched the N Class Project.

After securing a temporary base at the Newport Railway Workshops, K154’s components were further stripped, cleaned, and assessed while the search began for a suitable tender and N-class boiler.

Many original N-class components had survived long after the locomotives were withdrawn, finding second lives across the state. The Victorian Railways often sold boilers to businesses to use for steam or hot water generation, and tender tanks were often sold for liquid or grain storage. Thanks to this, the team located a suitable N-class boiler in Swan Hill, and uncovered a neglected tender at Newport Workshops that had previously served as a departmental water tanker.

With work steadily progressing on the locomotive frame, the Locomotive Restoration Group were given the opportunity to make the former locomotive depot at Traralgon their permanent home. In 2016 the LRG signed the lease and began to move the locomotive components to Traralgon.

Since establishing operations at the heritage-listed Traralgon Locomotive Depot, volunteers have worked to restore the roundhouse and office spaces, transforming the site into a capable locomotive maintenance facility ready for the completion of N441. Alongside this, the group maintains and operates the heritage-listed Traralgon turntable for visiting mainline heritage trains.

MISSION STATEMENT 

The Locomotive Restoration Group was formed in 2003 by passionate supporters of the Tourist and Heritage Railway Sector. The vision of the Locomotive Restoration Group is for all Tourist and Heritage Railways to work co-operatively, to ensure the survival of the industry, for the benefit of all Victorians. The specific objectives of the Locomotive Restoration Group are to:

• Assist in the preservation of Victoria’s proud railway industry;

• Ensure the retention of skills and information related to the industries past are passed onto future generations;

• To complete the Victorian Railways 1st Series N Class Steam Locomotive Project.