MABEL an ALCO S-2 diesel electric built in the USA in 1940, and now one of the oldest diesel-electric locomotives in Australia.
The former Spokane Portland & Seattle locomotive was purchased by Hamersley Iron in 1965 and transported to Australia in the same ship carrying the first three Alco C-628 locomotives. Mabel as she was affectionately known, was used on ballast and work trains, and later relegated to pushing loaded ore cars through through the Parker Point Dumper. Taken out of service in 1972, Mabel was donated to the Pilbara Railways Historical Society Museum by Hamersley Iron in 1976.
Mabel is now resting peacefully at 6 Mile Karratha, she's old and tired, severely rusted with holes digging through the body, baked by the relentless Pilbara sun, each view point is etched by lines of decay, flaked over time, a remnant of a bygone age (see photo below).
The Alco S-2 HO scale model locomotive (mid image) was made by Atlas, a company acclaimed for manufacturing detailed and very reliable models. This one is no exception! It was originally produced in a Burlington (USA) livery but I've recently repainted and detailed it in the Hamersley Iron livery sporting the road number 007. It has flywheel drive to all wheels, Kadee knuckle couplers, and is fitted with an ESU Loksound v5 sound decoder.
The main photograph at top on this page is by Weston Langford July 1972.
