Service clubs in Launceston have delivered innumerable projects for the community for almost a century, but perhaps one of the most enduring has been placing locomotives in City Park.
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Sixty years on, the engine in City Park remains a popular place to take the kids.
The first was placed in City Park for use as playground equipment at the instigation of the Rotary Club of Launceston with the cooperation of the Railways Branch of the Transport Department and the Launceston City Council.
Negotiations began in April 1959 and the project was completed in December 1959.
The locomotive was an AB Class 4-4-0 built in 1891 by Beyer, Peacock and Co. of Manchester, UK.
It carried the builder's number 3392 of 1892 and was one of eight engines of the class manufactured for the Tasmanian Government Railways.
The locomotive entered the express passenger service in 1892 and its designation was A4.
It was dubbed "The Royal Train" engine as it hauled Royal Carriages between 1901 and 1935.
Don River Railway has fully restored a Royal Carriage.
All A-class engines were withdrawn in the early 1950s following the arrival of the X-class diesel electric locomotives.
They were stored at Turners Marsh until seven were scrapped in 1956.
The Royal Train engine A4 escaped scrapping.
In 1960, it was transferred to City Park where pictures show it had an attractive apple green livery.
Loco A4 was featured in the documentary Life in Australia Launceston, an Australian National Film Board Presentation, 1960.
Engine A4 was acquired by Don River Railway in 1990 and removed to their Devonport workshop.
It was initially displayed on one of the turntable roads at Don until the late 1990s until it was moved into the workshops and dismantled for restoration.
Unfortunately, restoration has not proceeded due to the passing of the principal restorer and lack of funding.
At City Park, the A4 locomotive was replaced by a U class diesel shunter which was built in 1950 by Malcolm Moore Pty Ltd in Melbourne.
The shunter was purchased from Utah Construction and rebuilt at the Launceston Depot of the Tasmanian Government Railways in 1958.
The shunter's designation was U3 and it was utilised at the Inveresk Rail Yards until taken out of service in 1984.
The shunter's shell was salvaged from the Hillwood Strawberry Farm and cosmetically restored by the Don River Railway.
In December 1990, the restored shunter was installed in City Park in place of the A4 locomotive.
It has an attractive livery of red, blue and yellow with the Rotary logo proudly and justifiably, located on the side of the engine, with the name "Hutch" prominently displayed, in apparent recognition of the late Dr David Hutchinson, a major stalwart for restoration and preserving the heritage of Tasmanian Railways.