Keep K163 Going – Open Weekend March 2022

Image Credit; Railways thru the lens

During the March Labour Day long weekend K163 operated as part of the Newport Workshops Open Days across four days (11-14th) alongside the Steamrail Victoria fleet. Then event was a major success, attracting thousands of people to Newport and generating a lot of interest towards the preservation efforts of all of the organizations that were represented. K163 had a busy schedule with plenty of time spent running on the demonstration train solo and with various Steamrail locomotives. Much to the delight of the project team, the locomotive performed very well across all four days. All bearings are running cool (none running-in warm/hot at all) and the locomotive now runs without any heavy knocks in the motion gear. K class locomotives are notorious within the railway enthusiast fraternity has being known a “klunk class”. However, with the significant mechanical overhaul completed, K163 now runs like clockwork. Next steps for the locomotive are currently being negotiated, but we hope to be able to see K163 out on the mainline for some further testing before it returns to Moorooduc for operation on the Mornington Railway. Thank-you to all contributors towards the Keep K163 Going project for your support