|
|
BB181/4 No.1086 Downs Steam Tourist Railway & Museum, Toowoomba |
|
No.1086 in covered storage at Mackay.
This view is dated approximately 2004 and was kindly
contributed by Peter Ford.
|
Builder |
Walkers
Limited, Maryborough |
|
Builder’s Number
& Year |
554 of
1957 |
|
Wheel Arrangement |
4-6-2 |
|
No. in class |
55 |
|
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
entered 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 that 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 that No.1037
and No.1086 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, I believe No.1086
remains at Mackay awaiting transport to Toowoomba. |
References
|
a |
Armstrong,
J. 'Locomotives in the Tropics, Volume 2, Queensland Railways 1910 – 1958’, published
by the Australian Railway Historical Society -Queensland Division, 1994. |
|
b |
Information
provided by Peter Ford, Mackay Heritage Railway Inc. |
|
c |
Downs Steam
Facebook page, retrieved 27 February 2024 |
Page updated: 27 February 2024
|
Government Railways: |
|
|||||||||
|
Private & Industrial Railways: |
|