Situated at the end of Buckle Street, about a kilometre north of the Caboolture town centre in Queensland, Australia, is the site of the Lagoon Creek Railway Water Supply Facility and Pump Station (Site No 3). The site is home to a celebrated local community restoration project known as the 'Historic Railway Steam Boiler'.

History

The first section of railway north out of Brisbane was constructed as far as Caboolture in 1888. It was the plentiful source of water¹ at Lagoon Creek that was pivotal in the selection of Caboolture as a railway station. Water from the creek was abstracted and supplied by steam pump to elevated tanks in the railway yard, where it would be transferred to the locomotives. Power to the pumps was supplied by a converted steam boiler recovered from an A10 class Neilson & Co locomotive (imported from Glasgow, Scotland in 1867).

In 1902, with water supply running low, a more reliable abstraction site (Site No 2) was established at a more substantial lagoon further downstream. A new pump house was constructed at the new site, housing a steam pump powered by a Smith & Faulkner boiler. This arrangement, however, proved problematic and the Smith & Faulkner was replaced by the A10 boiler from the previous site. This operated until 1913 when the demand for water to serve the railway again required action.

A new pump station site (Site No 3) was then established on the south side of the creek, with associated construction of a concrete weir to increase the capacity of the lagoon. Site No 2 was decommissioned, and on 14 November, 1923, the A10 Neilson loco boiler was sold to WF Suffolk. Stripped of all useful spare parts, the boiler was abandoned to its fate, ending sometime around 1950 at the bottom of Lagoon Creek².

Site No 3 operated from March, 1913 with a Worthington steam pump powered by a bastardised boiler removed from a B15 class locomotive (loco No 309). In 1939, electrical supply to the pump station was provided and a Kelly & Lewis electric motor and 4" pump (costing £124, one shilling and thruppence) was installed at the site relegating the steam system to an auxiliary status. In February 1968, the advent of diesel on the north-coast line out of Brisbane was completed and the Pump Site became redundant. While the pumping equipment was removed from the site, the concrete slab and foundations of the pumping station remain, as does the weir. The land containing the pumping station was sold to Caboolture Shire Council in 1984.

Nowadays

The A10 boiler from Site No 2 was salvaged from the Lagoon Creek silt in October, 2000 and, through the efforts of the restoration project's 'driving force', Mr Dick McKean, a project officer with Kabultur East Enders³ was instrumental in engaging the community at its many levels, bringing together Caboolture Shire Council, Friends of Lagoon Creek⁴(FOLC), Caboolture Historical Society, Staff of Queensland Rail and the local Green Force work for the dole youth.

The restored A10 boiler is now the centre-piece of a display at the Heritage-listed⁵, Lagoon Creek Railway Water Supply Facility and Pump Station site.

On 9 September, 2005, at the official opening, Councillor Joy Leishman (Mayor of Caboolture Shire) speaking to an audience of over a hundred, including local dignitaries Carryn Sullivan MP (Pumicestone), Carolyn Male MP (Glass House), local shire councillors, and representative of the Gubbi Gubbi tribe, Dr Eve Fesl, heaped praise on the entire project, calling it a 'model of conservation' and congratulating all those involved. 'This piece of our history now becomes part of our future', she said.

Together with a viewing platform over Lagoon Creek, a boardwalk and walking track, the project is widely regarded as a credit to local community spirit and cooperation. Community fabric has been strengthened by providing a window on the past, and a local beauty spot for present and future generations.