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BB181/4 No.1086 Downs Steam Tourist Railway & Museum, Toowoomba |
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No.1086 in covered storage at Mackay.
This view is dated approximately 2004 and was kindly
contributed by Peter Ford.
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Builder |
Walkers
Limited, Maryborough |
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Builder’s Number
& Year |
554 of
1957 |
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Wheel Arrangement |
4-6-2 |
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No. in class |
55 |
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No.1086
was one of the final twenty BB181/4 Class 4-6-2 passenger
locomotives constructed by Walkers Ltd, Maryborough between 1955 and 1958,
among the last new steam locomotives to enter service in Australia. It began service
with Queensland Railways in October 1957 and was retired in October 1969
after a working life of only 12 years. Following
withdrawal from service, Queensland Railways donated No.1086 to the Emerald
Chamber of Commerce and it was plinthed in a park at Emerald. No.1086
was acquired by Mackay Heritage Railway Inc. circa 2000 for intended
restoration to operation (together with sister No.1037) and transferred to
Mackay for storage. Photos show the locomotive was kept in covered storage at
Mackay while restoration work was focussed on sister No.1037. An
excellent reference for further information about the BB181/4
Class locomotives is ‘Locomotives in the Tropics, Volume 2, Queensland
Railways 1910 – 1958’ by John Armstrong. Update: A Facebook
post by Downs
Steam Tourist Railway & Museum on 3 November 2022 announced they had
acquired No.1037 and No.1086 and they were being transferred to their
Toowoomba restoration base, with an initial focus on completing 1037’s
restoration and 1086 to follow as a longer-term project. No.1037 was
subsequently transferred to Toowoomba in components, with the boiler arriving
first and the chassis following in February 2023. Downs Steam volunteers
subsequently made rapid progress with No.1037, culminating in a return to
steam in late 2023. In the meantime, No.1086 remained at Mackay awaiting
transport to Toowoomba. A further
update to the Downs Steam Tourist Railway & Museum social media pages
reported that No.1086 was safely delivered to Toowoomba in early July 2025
via road haulage. I understand a start on restoration is planned. |
References
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a |
Armstrong,
J. 'Locomotives in the Tropics, Volume 2, Queensland Railways 1910 – 1958’, published
by the Australian Railway Historical Society -Queensland Division, 1994. |
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b |
Information
provided by Peter Ford, Mackay Heritage Railway Inc. |
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c |
Downs Steam Facebook
page, retrieved 27 February 2024 |
Page updated: 11 February 2026
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