AN EXCITING time.

At the end of November, the 25th birthday of Mary Ann was celebrated with a party on Sunday, December 1, at the Maryborough Goods Shed behind the old railway station.

Mary Ann’s story dates back over 150 years, to 1873, when she was built by John Walker & Co. for sawmill owners William Pettigrew and William Sims.

She hauled Kauri pine logs from Tin Can Bay to the Mary River, where they were towed upriver by the paddle steamer Hercules.

After several years, she was replaced by a stronger locomotive, Dundathu, and became a stationary engine at the sawmill.

Unfortunately, the sawmill was destroyed by a fire, and Mary Ann was believed to be lost.

However, that was not the case.

A century later, engineer Peter Olds, inspired by the original, dreamed of building a replica.

Armed with engineering knowledge and two photographs of the original, he set out to create a small model.

This dream grew into a full-size replica, and in the late 1990s, he and his friends constructed it.

On November 29, 1999, Mary Ann steamed up and began carrying passengers.

For the past 25 years, Mary Ann has proudly hauled passengers along the Maryborough Wharf Branch Line and, on special occasions, across the Bruce Highway to Railway Lane.

She has also traveled the Mary Valley Branch Line from Gympie to Amamoor and the Mungar to Monto Branch Line near Biggenden.

The Maryborough City Whistle Stop volunteers are proud to announce the celebration of 25 years of caring for Mary Ann, Locomotive B15 No. 299, and the Whistle Stop Museum.

The community was invited to join the festivities at the Goods Shed behind the old Maryborough Railway Station for the special occasion.