The 1200 class was introduced in 1953. They were built at the Vulcan Foundry in the UK by English Electric and then imported to Australia. They were the only full width body loco used in Queensland.

The class were allocated to Mayne in Brisbane, and were worked from this yard their entire career. They were found hauling the ‘Sunlander’ and the ‘Sunshine Express’ trains between Brisbane and Cairns, but could also be found on the ‘Westlander’ between Brisbane and Roma.

A characteristic addition to the 1200 and 1250 class locomotives was a sun visor to help reduce glare 8 years after their construction in 1961.

By 1976, the last 1200 class turned a wheel in service.

1200 has been preserved in non-working order by the Australian Railway Historical Society Qld Division, and is currently stored at Redbank Workshops out in the open. It is thought this locomotive will require a replacement engine to be able to turn a wheel again.

1225 Notes

In 1984, 1208 was rebuilt into 1225. The rebuild used parts from 1252 and 1253, while the body was change to resemble a 1250 class loco. It earned the nickname ‘Hybrid’ after this work. 1225 remained in service until 1987, working mainly on the Wallangarra line. The loco is now privately owned, and is currently under active restoration by the Queensland Diesel Group. It will be moved to Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway at Swanbank for these works in mid-2010.

Notes

The initial plan had been to use these engines on the proposed air-conditioned Mail Trains that were being designed at the time. This never eventuated, although they did regularly haul the “Midlander”, mainly between Emerald and Bogantungan for some years. They were used on the Rockhampton Mail and Sunshine Express in the early 1950s.

The first ten engines were constructed at Beyer Peacock & Co Limited Works in Manchester UK. Owing to the number of orders they had on hand, Beyer Peacock (BP) contracted Societe Franco Belge de Materiel du Chemins de fer, Raismes, France (FRB)to build the remaining twenty.

They were painted Midland red and had chrome yellow lining with large QR monograms on the sides of the front tank and bunker. Unfortunately this attractive livery easily discoloured particularly as a result of priming. The engines were not regularly cleaned when relegated to goods train working in latter years and their appearance rapidly deteriorated.

Originally trialled on the Brisbane – Toowoomba route, they were soon withdrawn from this section due to problems with limited clearances in the tunnels. They were used extensively on North Coast Line between Brisbane and Rockhampton. By 1956, this working had become restricted to mainly north of Bundaberg. They did not work north of St Lawrence on the NCL. On the Central Line they initially ran between Rockhampton and Emerald but from 1957 this was extended to Bogantungan.

A few were attached to Mayne until 1955 and some at North Bundaberg until 1956, when all were allocated to Rockhampton. In later years they worked Moura coal trains via Mount Morgan, prior to the opening of the ‘short line’ to Gladstone. One of their last regular tasks was on limestone trains between Tarcoola and Gladstone. Increasing numbers of diesels saw mass withdrawals of these engines. Twenty two were written off in June 1968.

They were subject to much positive publicity when introduced but failed to live up to all expectations. They were attributed with saving 19,500 miles of assistant and goods engine running on the Bundaberg – Rockhampton – Emerald sections between October 1950 and June 1951. Steaming difficulties were encountered with South Queensland coals; however they performed well on Blair Athol coal. The boilers had a tendency to prime. Limited coal and water capacity caused worries. General overhauls cost about three times those for a B18¼.

They had a number of unique features (for QR steam engines) including Ajax air operated butterfly fire doors, Hadfield power reversers, speedometers and also flow meters; the latter being fitted to the class in 1955.The outer bogies and inner trucks had roller bearings but the coupled axles has plain bearings. Several engines received fabricated stove pipe chimneys to replace the original cast ones that had been damaged.

N°1009, preserved as a static exhibit, was taken into Ipswich Workshops in 1993 and restored to working order. Subsequently due to a leaking fused plug, it has been out of service for quite some time.

* Test weighing proved some engines to be 11 tons over this design weight with 11TAL

Notes

Engine N°204 was an “experimental” engine in that it contained a number of unusual features. It was originally designed to burn coke in an attempt to reduce smoke nuisance caused by south east Queensland coal in Brisbane suburban tunnels. Coke burning proved unsuccessful and the engine operated burning various mixtures of coal and coke until the idea of coke as a fuel was finally abandoned. It was also the only engine to operate in Queensland with Southern Valve Gear and “Prairie” wheel arrangement. Other notable features were that it one of the first superheated engines and also the first to be fitted with a “wide” firebox. A new boiler was constructed in 1926 with a reduced grate area following the abandonment of coke fuel. The engine was originally fitted with the surplus tender from PB15 N° 411 that was altered to carry coke. This was later changed to a standard “C16” type to increase its potential range. The engine spent its working life in the Brisbane – Ipswich area mainly on coal trains. It was withdrawn from traffic in February 1950 as the post war engine shortage was being overcome and written off the books in September of that year.

The QR train numbering system, in its present format, has been in use since the late 70’s. The first version was very limited. Mainly numeric but the letters A to F were used in the Brisbane Suburban Area (BSA) for second character only. Since then, it has grown to a very complex system that describes a train in great detail. With today’s train numbering system, a seasoned employee or rail fan will know what sort of train it is, what is hauling it, how fast it can go, where it is going and in the case of EMU’s, how many cars long. No other numbering system in Australia provides as much information.

With the exception of suburban passenger traffic, all trains are provided with a second identification, known as a “service” number. In most cases, the service number is the last 3 characters of the “Train” number with an alpha suffix that identifies the business group to which the train belongs (e.g. Q301/301T – ‘T’ = Traveltrain). At present, control software does not support the use of 5 character train numbers but this is being worked on. When complete, the service number will disappear and 5 character train numbers will be introduced. Some train numbers you might hear might be – 1119C, 0FB9Z, C742X, 9Y32M or M594H. So here we go with a character by character description of the QR Train Numbering system.

1st Number designation

2nd Number designation (in order of code)

0 Bowen Hills/Mayne Area
1 Caboolture (Suburban)
1 Saraji mine (Mackay Coal System)
2 Townsville
2 Goonyella (Mackay Coal System)
3 Rockhampton
3 Peak Downs (Mackay Coal System)
4 Gympie North
4 Norwich Park (Mackay Coal System)
5 Beyond Darra to Grandchester (except Rosewood EMU services)
5 German Creek (Mackay Coal System)
6 Rosewood (suburban EMUs only, even numbers)
6 Beyond Grandchester to Toowoomba (all other traffic)
6 Oaky Creek (Mackay Coal System)
7 Beenleigh line (Suburban)
7 Moolabin/Clapham/Acacia Ridge (Freight)
7 Blair Athol (Mackay Coal System)
8 Cleveland (Suburban)
8 Fisherman Islands (Freight)
8 Riverside (Mackay Coal System)
9 Roma Street
9 North Goonyella (Mackay Coal System)
A Shorncliffe line (Suburban)

A Abbott Point (Bowen Coal System)
A Clermont
A Forsayth
B Pinkenba line (Suburban)
B Curragh (Gladstone Coal System)
B Box Flat (Brisbane Coal System)
B Sonoma Mine (Newlands)
B Clermont
C Corinda via South Brisbane (Suburban)
C From Corinda to Yeerongpilly (Suburban)
C Cairns
C Yongala (Gladstone Coal System)
D Darra via Toowong (Suburban)
D Proserpine
D Callemondah (Gladstone Coal System)
D Dalby
E Ferny Grove line (Suburban)
E East End (Gladstone Limestone traffic)
E Cloncurry
E Emerald
E Warwick
E Ensham (Gladstone Coal System)
E Ebenezer (Brisbane Coal System)
F Golding (Gladstone Coal System)
F Various destinations as determined by Control
– 0-79 Brisbane District
– 80-89 Rockhampton District
– 90-99 Townsville District
G Beyond Beenleigh to Robina (Suburban)
G Gladstone
G Hay Point (Mackay Coal System)
G From Maryborough to Monto
G Glenmorgan
H Boorgoon (Gladstone Coal System)
H Dirranbandi
H Hughenden
I Boonal (Gladstone Coal System – see note 4)
J Bundaberg
J Jilalan (Mackay Coal System)
J Jandowae
K Kingaroy
K Kinrola (Gladstone Coal System)
K Kuranda
K Springfield
L Cobarra
L Fishermans Landing (Gladstone Limestone traffic)
L Wandoan
L Yandina (Suburban)
L Laleham (Gladstone Coal System)
L Lake Vermont (Goonyella)
M From Cleveland to Bowen Hills (Suburban)
M Gregory (Gladstone Coal System)
M Mount Isa
M Mareeba
M Maryborough
M From Gladstone to Monto
N Exhibition via Brisbane Central (Suburban)
N Newlands (Bowen Coal System)
N Koorilgah (Gladstone Coal System)
P Barney Point (Gladstone Coal System)
P Pring (Bowen Coal System)
P Saint Lawrence
P Milmerran
P Springsure
P Airport Spur (Suburban)
Q Moura Mine (Gladstone Coal System)
Q Mary Valley Branch (Tourist Railway only)
Q Bowen
Q Quilpie
Q South Walker (Mackay Coal System)
R From Shorncliffe to Roma Street (Suburban)
R Roma
R Gracemere
R Callide Coalfields (Gladstone Coal System)
R Collinsville (Bowen Coal System)
R Burton (Mackay Coal System)
S From Shorncliffe to South Bank/Yeerongpilly (Suburban)
S McNaughton (Bowen Coal System)
S Boundary Hill/Callide to QAL Gladstone (Gladstone Coal System)
S Boorgoon to Stanwell Powerhouse (Gladstone Coal System)
S Sarina
S Charleville
T Theodore
T Phosphate Hill
T Stuart – Calcium (Limestone traffic only)
T Moranbah North (Mackay Coal System)
U Mackay
U Rolleston
U Beaudesert (Tourist Railway)
V Cunnamulla
V Biloela
V Dalrymple Bay (Mackay Coal System)
W Boundary Hill (Gladstone Coal System)
W Coppabella (Mackay Coal System)
W Beyond Emerald to Winton
W From Hughenden to Winton
W Wallangarra
W MacArthur (Mackay Coal System)
W Zillmere Area
X Exhibition Direct (Suburban)
Y Gordonstone (Gladstone Coal System)
Y Yaraka
Y Chinchilla
Y Yeppoon
Y Kippa Ring / Petrie
Z Exhibition (Suburban)
Z Gladstone Powerhouse (Gladstone Coal System)
Z Mackay Harbour

3rd Character – Part of the train ID or additional information

Mainly part of the trains actual number but in many cases, the 3rd character is used to supply additional information on the train. If the 3rd character is numeric, there is no additional information. 3rd character alpha codes are not found in any manual or text book. They are usually locally agreed characters and can vary in different parts of the state. Here are some of the codes I do know.

Pacific National Queensland:-

Pacific National Queensland freights use ‘P’ as the third character in the train ID to signify which trains they are operating (eg. 8CP1)

Brisbane district:-

NOTE – ‘a’ = Alpha, ‘n’ = numeric, ‘x’ = alpha/numeric. All descriptions have examples, except “work trains”.

Work trains:
0FBn – Ballast
0FCn – Concrete sleepers
0FPn – Pantograph test train
0FRn – Railset
0FSn – Spoil/sleepers
0FTn – Test engine/train
0FWn – Wiring

Suburban:
xDYn – Via South Brisbane to Darra (1DY2)
x5Yn – Via South Brisbane to Ipswich (15Y2)
xxPn – School train (18P4) (may be cancelled during school holidays)
xxTn – Extra service for special events etc. (1GT4)
xFXn – Exhibition Circular Services (1FX5)

With the new timetable, third character alpha’s are just a continuation of the numerals (IE: 0,1, 2 -> 8, 9, A, B etc. EG: 4 successive Airport trains might be TP97, 1P99, TPA1, 1PA3 etc).

Gladstone coal system:-

Boonal Loop:
EInn – Jellinbah coal (EI21)
EIYn – Yarrabee coal (EIY5)

Rockhampton district:-

63Rn: Livestock trains from Gracemere to Rockhampton (63R1)

There are many more around the state that I am not aware of. Someone else might be able to add to this?

Livestock trains:-

Livestock trains are represented by either a C, N or S as the the third digit.
xxNx
xxCx
xxSx
eg. C0N0, CEC7, etc.

These represent the sector of the state the livestock originated from:-

N – Northern Division
C – Central Division
S – Southern Division

4th character – part of the train ID and direction

The 4th character is ALWAYS numeric and forms part of the train ID. In most cases, an odd 4th character is a Down Train, even for Up trains. The following exceptions apply:-

Notes:-

1. Where the 2nd character is ‘F’ (Various destinations), the 4th character can be odd or even, irrespective of direction. This is usually for “trip shunts” (7F30) and work trains (0FB9).

2. In the BSA, if a freight train changes direction to complete its journey, the Train Number assigned when the train entered the BSA is retained. (e.g. 6749 Toowoomba – Acacia Ridge freight travels in the Down direction from Toowoomba to Yeerongpilly thence in the Up direction to Acacia Ridge. The odd number is retained).

3. 2800 class loco’s are “Out of Dimension of Standard Transit (ODST – outside the rollingstock gauge) which is why they have a separate train ID. Oddly enough, if a train is NOT hauled by a 2800 class, but has one as a vehicle in tow, then the applicable train number is used (6, 7, 8, C, D, F) and an OOG Authority is generated for that train.

4. Boonal loadout serves two mines. See “3rd Character” for train number differentiation.

5. With coal and BSA suburban traffic, trains are usually numbered progressively starting from either xxx1 (Down) or xxx2 (Up) at midnight each day. For all other traffic, there is no real pattern to numbering.

That’s about it. Like I said, it is a very complex system but, once you’re used to it, it works fine! – Matthew Smith