The public-unseen and sometimes unsung hero of Shelley Railways' fleet, SMR 1 was originally built as a shunter for Cudgewa yard and to trial the Life Like SW1200 chassis on which she (as the photos show) still used much of. However in practice the train locomotive accounted for Cudgewa shunting requirements (per prototype) and hence SMR 1's use then varied from occasional revenue trains, standing in for failed Shelley Railways locomotives, Snowy Mountain Railways (SMR) construction trains, and the myriad service trains for the layout - track testing after cleaning and/or rebuilding, testing new rollingstock, and demonstrating the layout to visitors.The Life Like chassis has proven to be outstandingly reliable, very smooth running and quite powerful for it's size and weight.
Recently her chassis was considered for the coming Ya Class, and, having suffered cab damage during the last move, this will not be repaired and SMR 1 has now been effectively withdrawn from service pending her re-birth as a Ya.
Farewell good servant, Rest in Peace SMR 1.