Sandfly Steam
Engine

You may ask, why a page on the Sandfly steam engine? In 2008, the Northern Territory Government asked the MVEC if they would restore the 120-year-old steam engine. A couple of MVEC members took on the task, stripping the Sandfly back to its bare running gear and rebuilding it. The Sandfly is now on display within the Hangar.

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The Sandfly was the first and longest-serving locomotive to operate on the North Australia Railway (NAR). It operated on the NAR between 1887 and 1950 and was instrumental in its construction. The NAR became a vital infrastructure link that facilitated the expansion of the mining and pastoral industries in the Northern Territory and played a crucial role in the defense of northern Australia during the Second World War.

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The Sandfly was the only locomotive of its class to operate along the NAR and is one of three remaining steam locomotives associated with the NAR left in the Northern Territory. The Sandfly is evocative of the bygone and romanticized steam era of the NAR between 1887 and 1958. Following its retirement, the Sandfly was relocated to South Australia in 1959 for restoration and display. In 2005, the Sandfly was returned to the Northern Territory as a gift to commemorate the completion of the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway, finally completing the transcontinental railway from the north to the south, as agreed upon in 1911.

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Upon its return to the NT, the Sandfly was originally located at the Berrimah (Darwin) terminal of the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway. It was then moved to Darwin’s Stokes Hill Wharf, but in 2008, it was relocated to the historic QANTAS Hangar for maintenance work.

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The PDF file is a short slideshow of the Sandfly's rrestoration by MVEC members.