The Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway is located near

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and runs through the former

West Moreton West Moreton is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, consisting of the entire rural western portion of South East Queensland. It sits inland from both the Brisbane metropolitan area and the Gold Coast and to the east of the Darling Do ...

pioneering coal fields. It was first opened in 1881 by colliery proprietor and politician

Lewis Thomas Lewis Thomas (November 25, 1913 – December 3, 1993) was an American physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher. Thomas was born in Flushing, New York and attended Princeton University ...

(1832-1913) as a tramway to his coal mines. The right-of way was later taken over by Queensland Railways, extended to take in over 20 mines before reaching to its present termini at Swanbank Loop where it served the

Swanbank Power Station The Swanbank Power Stations are located in Swanbank within South East Queensland, Australia. The original power station was coal fired, but the site has since moved to gas. By 2007 the site had consisted of the highly efficient gas-fired Swanb ...

s. The branch remains the oldest continuously operating

branchline A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An indust ...

in Queensland. Since 1978, Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway has operated passenger trains on this branch line using heritage rollingstock.

Operations

The

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Steamlocomotive.info - Queensland Government Railways No. 448
/ref> Railway conducts steam/heritage diesel train trips from Bundamba Racecourse on the Swanbank Branch Line to either

Swanbank Power station The Swanbank Power Stations are located in Swanbank within South East Queensland, Australia. The original power station was coal fired, but the site has since moved to gas. By 2007 the site had consisted of the highly efficient gas-fired Swanb ...

, near

, Australia, or to '3 Mile 8 Chain' Box Flat balloon loop. Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway (QPSR) operate heritage railway excursions through the scenic and historic country side of the

Bundamba Bundamba is a suburb of Ipswich in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the Bundamba had a population of 6,514 people. Geography The Bremer River forms the western part of the suburb's northern boundary. The Warrego Highway enter ...

and

Swanbank Swanbank is an industrial locality in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the Swanbank had a population of 0 people. Geography The predominant land usage in Swanbank is industrial, including the Swanbank Power Station (). There ...

area's. The train operates using heritage locomotives and rollingstock ranging from 100 year old timber carriages to former Sunlander carriages. The Swanbank Branch line is made up of the old

Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line and The Swanbank Extension The Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line was a branch line off the Main Line railway near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built to convey coal from the Bundamba and Redbank areas of the Ipswich coalfields. The Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line ran genera ...

. There are diverse gradients and negotiating winding curves throughout the trip.

History

Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway (QPSR) Co-operative Ltd was registered as a non-profit railway society in 1978 by a small group of railway enthusiasts from Ipswich and Brisbane. QPSR was formed to manage the restoration and operation of a vintage steam train which the group had rallied together earlier in 1977 to purchase, ex-Queensland Railways Steam locomotive PB15 No 448 from the defunct Pioneer Valley Heritage Park at Kuraby. The group obtained the permission of

Redbank Malt Factory Redbank may refer to: Places ;In Australia * Redbank, Queensland, a suburb in Ipswich * Redbank, Victoria * Redbanks, South Australia ;In the United States * Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania * Redbank Township, Clarion County, Pen ...

to store the locomotive on their privately owned rail siding. After investigating many proposals for a permanent home, the Queensland Electricity Generating Board agreed to allow QPSR access to their branch railway from Box Flat to Swanbank. QPSR ran its first steam train rides at Swanbank during the 1978 Ipswich Colour City Carnival, using carriages hired from QR. Steam trains ran again for the 1979 Colour City Carnival and in 1980 a full season of operation weekends was planned.

Stations

Swanbank

Located next to the Swanbank lake, the heritage station located at

park was formerly located at Forest Hill and survived under Queensland Rail until 2003 It was relocated to this spot and restored. It has been fitted with 1930s vintage communication equipment, luggage conveyance and weighing systems as well a souvenir shop. This building took over from the former Albion Station waiting shed that had served previously as the station since 1981.

Box Flat

Westfalen Collieries allowed QPSR to use part of its property at Box Flat to establish a depot, a commitment today continued by the Gunne organization that own the land. Track laying started into the depot site, a compound was erected and in 1981 a shed was started and then completed.

Racecourse

The Bundamba Racecourse station was on TL Cooney Av opposite the entrance to

Bundamba Racecourse Bundamba is a suburb of Ipswich in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the Bundamba had a population of 6,514 people. Geography The Bremer River forms the western part of the suburb's northern boundary. The Warrego Highway enter ...

and is located a short distance (1 km) from

Bundamba railway station Bundamba railway station is located on the Main line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the suburb of Bundamba in the City of Ipswich. To the west of the station, the Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line branches off.PB15 448

Ex-Queensland Railways PB15 class locomotive, Number 448 has been the main stay of the railway and following a 10-year overhaul is fully restored in working order. It is one of over two hundred locomotives of this class to be purchased by the Queensland Railways, this engine was built by Walkers Ltd. Maryborough, Queensland to the design of locomotive engineer H. Horniblow, and was allocated construction number 91 of 1908. The tender, which is carried on two four wheel bogies carries 4 Ton (4064 kg) of coal and 1800 gallons (81231) of water. It was sold to K.R. Hunter's Pioneer Valley Amusement Park after its retirement in August 1970, from where a group of Ipswich and Brisbane enthusiasts purchased it on that venture's failure.

Kilrie

The second locomotive is known as

Kilrie Kilrie is a railway locomotive, built in South Australia. Built by Perry Engineering of Gawler (S/N 265) in November 1924 this tiny locomotive was one of twelve similar units purchased by the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission of Victoria fo ...

which was built in 1924 by Perry Engineering, Gawler, South Australia. One of twelve 0-4-0T locomotives purchased by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria for construction of the Hume Weir on the Murray River, near Albury. At completion of construction duties in 1935 it was sold to the Pioneer Sugar Mill, Brandon, Queensland where it received the name "Kilrie". In 1960 it was modified from 0-4-0T to 0-4-2T wheel arrangement, together with conversion from coal to oil firing. Kilrie entered preservation when sold to the Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Preservation Society (ANGRMS) at Woodford. Being 3’ 6" gauge, Kilrie perhaps did not easily fit with their 2’ gauge collection and operating railway, so Kilrie was placed on long-term lease to the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway (QPSR) at Swanbank, west of Brisbane. In 2008, Kilrie was purchased outright by the QPSR following donations made by the Ipswich City Council, Babcock & Brown and Payce. Kilrie has served as an operating loco at Swanbank for many years, during which time it has been restored to coal firing and fitted with Westinghouse automatic air braking.

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...
1616

The eighteen members of the 1600 class diesel electric locomotive were designed and constructed by the

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

Co. at their Rocklea Brisbane, works. Two contracts were let of which the first was for twelve with a follow on contract for another six. The first batch were delivered between December 1962 and June 1963, with the others arriving between October 1963 and January 1964. A lengthy delay occurred before delivery owing to the first four being over the design weight. This resulted in numbers 1604 and 1605 being the first to enter service. All others were delivered after the weight problem had been overcome. The unit at Swanbank is 1616 (construction number A079 of December 1963). It was condemned by the

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

ways during April 1991 and was purchased by QPSR in August 1991. Designed for branch line use these units are a hood-type with a full width cab across one end. They are fitted with dual driving stations to permit operation in either direction without the requirement to turn the locomotive

Mount Isa Mines Mount Isa Mines Limited ("MIM") operates the Mount Isa copper, lead, zinc and silver mines near Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia as part of the Glencore group of companies. For a brief period in 1980, MIM was Australia's largest company. It has ...
5802

In November 2020, QPSR (assisted by Ipswich City Council) acquired Ex-Mount Isa Mines Diesel-Hydraulic shunter 5802 from

Zig Zag Railway The Zig Zag Railway is an Australian heritage railway, situated near Lithgow, New South Wales. It was opened by the not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-op as an unpaid volunteer-staffed heritage railway in October 1975, using the alignment of th ...

. This locomotive has a repainted in a facetious livery of deep blue and cream lining, inspired by the NSWGR 40 Class. It is planned to operate in conjunction with other locomotives such as Kilrie.

Guest Locomotives

During special events or during periods of high patronage QPSR has hired in Queensland Rail Heritage Locomotives. Most recently locomotive 221a, a member of the American built AC16 class, joined the running fleet as part of the Troop Train Event of 2016 as a representative of US involvement in the Australian war effort of WW2. In 1991, the railway played host to A10 number 6

C17 761

This C17 locomotive was built by

Walkers Limited Walkers Limited was an Australian engineering company, based in Maryborough, Queensland. It built ships and railway locomotives. The Walkers factory still produces railway locomotives and rolling stock as part of Downer Rail. History In ...

, Maryborough given the plate number 422 with the locomotive being built in 1927. In April 1927, 761 entered service lasting for 42 years until being written off from the books in October 1969. The locomotive was then displayed at the Mitchell Memorial Park in

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

, a town west of Roma. The locomotive was purchased by the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway in March 2019, with the main intention being that C17 761 would be restored as a second steam locomotive (with PB15 448 being the main locomotive). The locomotive was planned to be given a name - 'Booringa' - in honour of the

Booringa Shire Council The Shire of Booringa was a local government area in the Maranoa region of Queensland, Australia. The largest town and home of the shire administration was Mitchell. It existed from 1879 to 2008. The shire is now part of the Maranoa Region. H ...

. The locomotive formally arrived at Ipswich in February 2020 with C17 761 arriving in a better condition (perhaps due to the arid climate of Mitchell). C17 996 was traded in for C17 761, with C17 996 being sold to the

Mary Valley Rattler The Mary Valley Rattler (formerly Mary Valley Heritage Railway) is a heritage railway line that conducts steam train trips and tours from Gympie through the Mary Valley using the former Mary Valley railway line in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Au ...

for spare parts.

Carriages

Most day time trips use the Co-ops timber set, built between 1885 and 1950 this set of well appointed coaches offer a cross section of rail travel in Queensland in the 1950s ranging from the oldest operating side door coach in Queensland (Van 110), to the last operating "Prison Van" in Australia, right through to a Kuranda Parlour coach. "The Queensland Pioneer" Dinner Trains feature former Sunlander, Mid and Westlander coaches completed in 1954. These carriages showed a style and opulence in Queensland Rail travel that has never quite been matched on general intercity travel.

Special & Notable Events

Troop Train

Annually Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway holds a Troop Train. These recreations of the World War 1 and 2 military operations that operated across Australia during hostilities feature re-enactors, returned service vets, multiple military and war department vehicles as well as period dance and music.

Murder Mystery Trains

Murder Mystery Trains have become a staple feature of the QPSR calendar and generally form part of Dinner TraTin Experiences and see passengers trying to work out "who dun it".

The Train Tea Society

In May 2016, QPSR and the Flowers Theatre company broke new ground in hosting the play "Train Tea Society" at the Swanbank Station as part of the

Anywhere Theatre Festival Anywhere Festival is an annual Brisbane based festival for performance anywhere but traditional theatre spaces. The first anywhere-but-in-a-traditional-theatre concept was brought to Brisbane in 2011 by creative director Paul Osuch and his part ...

- which had been converted to theatre seating for the event. Train Tea Society at QPSR

The award-winning work by writer and comedian Emily Vascotto was directed by Gabriella Flowers and tells the story of Mrs J.A "Eliza" Cameron and her team of Ipswich women who served tea to returning troops during the First World War. This is believed to be the first documented staging of a theatrical production with a steam locomotive operating under its own power.

References

* Behan, D.D. (November 1998). "The Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line and the Swnabank Extension". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin: 410–420. * Turner, Jim (1997). Australian Steam Locomotives 1896–1958. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. pp. 21, 88. . * Armstrong, John (1994). Locomotives in the Tropics Volume 2. Brisbane: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 79–83, 102–106. . * Oberg, Leon (2010). Locomotives of Australia 1850s-2010. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 106–108, ''p. 240.''. .
1600 Class Diesel ElectricArchived
24 January 2014 at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

. Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway * Behan, D.D. (January 1999). "The Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line and the Swnabank Extension". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin: 12–18. * ''Behan, D.D. (April 1999). "The Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line and the Swnabank Extension". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin: 139–145.'' * ''Armstrong, J. (September 1965). "The Special Racecourse Trains to Bundamba". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin: 164–167.'' * ''Kerr, J.D. (June 1968). "The Redbank-Bundamba Loop Line". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin: 129–147''

Notes

External links

Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway
{{Railway lines in Queensland , state=expanded Rail transport in Queensland Railway lines in Queensland Mining railways in Australia 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia Ipswich, Queensland Tourist railways in Queensland Coal mining in Queensland