September is the time of year when Toowoomba holds its Carnival of Flowers and is about the only time we see passenger trains. I nearly missed it but just happened to look to the right at the right time. The diesel featured in the pics below is fresh out of the paint shops in Brisbane (Redbank). I caught the driver just as he was leaving for lunch and had a bit of a talk with him. He was dishy too. ....I digress. The colour scheme is 'heritge' in that it is the colour scheme used in Queensland when diesels first came on the scene. The cars of the time where wooden and the colour scheme on those was a continuation of the diesel along the length of the train. Ernie I will have a job for you soon. The cars for the Carnival are stainless steel Pic 1: The diesel has just finished pulling the Carnival train into Toowoomba Station. Pic 2&3: The diesel is going down yard to change tracks to go to the tail end of the train. Pic 4: Diesel has just coupled for its next run The rest: More to take in and enjoy A brief History(taken from a flyer): "This locomotive was manufactured in 1966 by English Electric at Rocklea in Brisbane entering service on 4 January 1967. It has seen service in most areas of Queensland including hauling Brisbane suburban trains early in its life. 1620 performed its last main line trip on 13 August 2000 and was placed into storage in Rockhampton on 12 July 2001. On 12 January 2008, arrangements were made by QRs (Queensland Rail) Heritage Operations for 1620 to be transferred from Rockhampton to Ipswich Workshops for assessment and possible re-entry to service for heritage use. Inspection revealed that 1620 was in very good condition, and various tasks were carried out at Ipswich replacing items which were either worn out or needed replacement to ensure the integrity of the locomotive. It was then transfered to Redbank Workshops for testing on the load box and repainted in the original colour scheme in which is was released to traffic in 1967. This loco has been repainted by staff at Redbank Workshops using two pack paint with a clear lacquer finish. Extensive research was carried out to ensure that everything including precise colour matching, font for the numerals and placement of numbers on the loco sides and ends is correct. With 1620 available for use, it will help to provide additional interest in QR's heritage program, and also provide additional flexibility for locomotive usage on tour work."
A few pics of Toowoomba's station where the Carnival Train was terminating. I personally don't like the choice of colours but they are heritage based.
Very nice photos, thank you. How many carriages was 1620 hauling, it's hard to tell from the photos? Also, is 1620's bogie configuration B-C, with B being under the cab?
Not sure how many cars they used on the Carnival of Flowers runs, Vicky56 might be able to enlighten us, but the stainless steel SX sets were built for Brisbane commuter service and were normally seven car trains, shortened to five on weekends or on occasions four cars as stand ins for railcars. They were ordered as electric multiple units in the early sixties but a change of government ended the electrification plans, the SX sets were completed as unpowered coaches but the vans, or end cars, came with end cab windows, headlights and destination blinds. They last ran in regular service on peak hour runs in the late 90's and were retired after the belated completion of electrification and, except for a couple of sets retained by QR for uses like the Carnival of Flowers and as display cars, have migrated to places as far afield as southeast Asia and New Zealand. I'm starting to show my age because I remember riding in them behind regular service steam in the 60's. I'm glad someone else doesn't like the present colour of Toowoomba station, it may well be heritage colours but it just doesn't look right. P.S. over on the International Railways forum are some shots I took of 1620's trip to Dirranbandi on the Australia Day long weekend. Australia Day weekend fantrip to the Land of the Croaking Frog - TrainBoard.com
QR Corporate - About QR - Heritage services This is from the QR website, not much info but the future of QR's heritage division was in doubt until the announcement of Queensland's 150th anniversary celebrations this year which includes the Q150 Steam Train. Queensland Government - Q150 There are other websites with photos and info if you google 'qr heritage' or something similar. QR Heritage is similar to UP's steam program, QR owns and maintains the locomotives and cars unlike other Australian states where steam is all privately owned, railfan groups hire them for excursions and QR uses them for publicity and occasionally runs their own excursions like the 'Steam Train Sunday' runs around Brisbane's suburbs on the first Sunday every month. QR kept a few steamers for excursions after steam ended in 1969 but looked like it might come to an end during the eighties as the locos started to get a bit run down, then there was a revival under QR Commissioner Vince O'Rourke. The serviceable engines were overhauled, new ones restored and crews trained to operate them. Since then QR was then corporatised and everything had to run at a profit and bean counters put in charge rather than operating men, naturally one of the things they set their sights on was QR Heritage. Last year the fleet was going to be sold off to railfan preservation societies but with the Q150 steam train tour it looks like QR management and their government minders have realised the value of keeping steam. There are also several railfan societies that operate on abandoned branchlines or over QR tracks using third party accreditation.
You really are a font of information. :tb-biggrin: I am very glad you have added your info here. I had a look at your Dirranbandi pics. They are really good. In that thread, post 1, pic 2, imagine the paint work continued on from the loco down the full length of the train. That is what the driver said the original paint work on heavy weight carriages was like when they were first painted. Now that would be something to model in N. I have added this little project in my To-Do list.
After you've been around long enough you pick up a few things. I'd like to see at least a baggage car painted in the old colours and coupled behind the engine for photos.
