Vale Merv Inions

Mervyn Inions

It is with great sadness that the S class has lost another one of its long time friends, that of Merv Inions. Not many would know Merv, but without him the road to restoring S549 in the 90's would have been that much more difficult.

Merv was a boilermaker who started with the WAGR in the 1950's and retired when the workshops closed in 1994. In the later years after steam died, he looked after the workshops boilers which included the four ASG locomotive boilers and the workshops air receivers also assisting the boiler inspector with annual inspections of these vessels also.

He also helped with the various preservation groups in the state and his score card goes something like this, but not limited to;

• Worked on the two G class overhauls in the 70's
• He returned the boiler of DD592 to operating condition in the 80's
• He assisted with re-tubing a couple of Hotham Valleys W class boilers
• Assisted Bennett Brook Railway with various projects including work on the Mallet boiler and another locomotive possibly the Perry, Betty Thompson

So where does he fit into S549's story.?

Once Merv found out about the work on 549, he assisted with the loan of tools and equipment to get the boiler up to spec. Most of all, he allowed access to his wealth of knowledge which was priceless, he unselfishly trained and passed on his skills to me (whilst assisting him on the projects listed above) of which I have now been passed onto others with the current S class re-tubing project.

He was also responsible for restoring various parts of her (at the Midland Workshops) in the early 90's including various boiler fittings and the spark arrestor components prior to them being installed into the smokebox.

I last saw Merv around 6 months ago when I went to see him to obtain advice on the selection of new tube expanding equipment and beading tools to be used on the recent re-tubing of 549's boiler. Like always, very willing to help where and when he can.

He will be sadly missed.