Community & Business
19 August, 2026
Celebrating Ruby’s new place of residence
A PERMANENT home for “Ruby” the stationary steam engine will be celebrated this Sunday at Tolga.
Advanced Rural and the Tolga Museum are inviting the community to attend the building launch for “Ruby”, an historic steam engine that played a significant role in maize processing for 70 years.
Ruby was built by Robey & Co in Lincoln, England and shipped to Atherton in 1924 to power the newly-constructed maize silos.
The engine has two cylinders and produces 100 Hp, weighs 8.5 tons and originally operated with a belt made from woven camel hair.
The Atherton maize silos operated from 1924 until 2000, and once they were closed, they were demolished to make way for the IGA shopping complex. “Ruby” was put on display in the complex for many years before being removed to a farmers shed.
The Tolga Historical Society then formed a sub-committee to approach the owners of “Ruby”, a company called Advanced Rural, to put the steam engine back on display.
Eventually an agreement was reached and arrangements were made to construct a purpose-built shed to house the stationary steam engine and put it back on display.
It is believed that “Ruby” is one of only two of these machines left in the world.
Sunday’s event will be staged from 10am-3pm and will feature a sausage sizzle, coffee van, Girl Guides with cakes and biscuits as well as a vintage car and machinery display.
The Tolga Museum will be open to all visitors, with the facility’s own range of locally made jams on sale. This year’s entrants in the Maize Festival Queens competition will also be there.
