Walkers/Caterpillar DH Class

The DH class were built by Walkers Ltd. between 1966 and 1974. The first prototype emerged from the factory numbered W1 as a demonstrator unit which was loaned to QR for a while.

The DH class was quite successful at shunting in yards, and also have been used to haul short freights on lightly laid lines such as the Mareeba - Forsayth section. They were an asset during flood times as they could operate in 2' high waters, whereas Diesel-electrics can't move through 200mm of water. The DHs were grossly underpowered though and they were quickly superseded in the 80s by the 60-ton Diesel Electrics of the 1700/1720 and 1620 class.

DH72 and DH73 were the last two in QR service, shunting electric locos at Callemondah and Mackay depots, and both have moved on since. DH72 was bought by the Walhalla Goldfields Railway in Victoria in June 2012, and DH73, the last DH built, has gone back to where it started. It's the works shunter at Downer Rail in Maryborough, the old Walkers factory, and carries the name Hugh Boge.

Plenty of DHs got a second life on the cane railways. 29 were rebuilt to 610 mm gauge for Queensland sugar mills, and another 4 went to 900 mm for the Yallourn railway in Victoria first before ending up on 610 mm cane lines too. 13 more went to Vietnam and 2 to Malaysia as metre gauge shunters.

A fair few have been preserved, and there's been a lot of shuffling around over the last 15 years. DH2 is still with the QR Heritage Division at the Workshops Rail Museum in North Ipswich, pulled apart and waiting its turn for restoration, and DH71 is at Ipswich too, waiting to go to DownsSteam at Drayton, who've bought it. DownsSteam also bought DH41 from Bundaberg Sugar in September 2024 and is restoring it to mainline condition. DH38 had a crankcase explosion blow a hole in its block before it was withdrawn in 1991, but the ARHS Qld rebuilt it and it runs at the Rosewood Railway Museum. DH45 ran on the Mary Valley Rattler until 2012 and has been leased to the Southern Downs Steam Railway at Warwick since 2015, where it backs up their C17.

Interstate, the Puffing Billy Railway bought DH59 in 1995 and regauged it to 762 mm. It ran as Dh31 for a while before getting its own number back by 2017, and DH5 has since joined it. They fill in for the steam locos on total fire ban days. The Walhalla Goldfields Railway bought DH37 in 2010 to go with DH72, and both are sitting on a bit of 3'6" track in the yard waiting for the money to regauge them. DH14 ended up at the Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum near Alice Springs, where it's stored in a version of Australian National green and gold.

References

'Queensland Railways DH class', Wikipedia (accessed October 2026)
'DH Class', Railtram Australia (accessed October 2026)