The 1270 class were a class of diesel locomotive built by

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 ...

Rocklea Rocklea is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,595 people. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The west of the suburb is bordered by the Oxley Creek. The ...

for

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 between 1964 and 1966.

History

The 1270 class was devised by

engineer Stan Lyons, based on the body design of North American

road switcher A road switcher is a type of railroad locomotive designed to both haul railcars in mainline service and shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar types have been used elsewhere. A road s ...

but using the same engine and generator as the 1250 class. The first 12 units had the same English Electric 525 traction motors as the 1250 class. The remaining units had improved English Electric 548 traction motors with a slightly higher

tractive effort As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion. In railway engineering, the term tr ...

. The final six units had

dynamic brakes Dynamic braking is the use of an electric traction motor as a Electric generator, generator when slowing a vehicle such as an electric locomotive, electric or diesel locomotive, diesel-electric locomotive. It is termed "Resistor#Adjustable resis ...

. In 1965, 1281 was named ''Century'' and painted in a commemorative gold and white livery to mark the centenary of the first railway in Queensland.English Electric 1270 Class
Queensland's Railway Interest Group They were used on grain trains between the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generall ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, ore trains on the Mount Isa line and coal trains on the Moura line. With higher power diesel locomotives becoming available in the 1970s, the 1270s were moved to general freight.

Withdrawal & disposal

The 1270 class were displaced from coal traffic with the electrification of coalfields lines from 1986. All were withdrawn between 1987 and 1989. Two units were retained by the

Heritage DivisionDiesel Locomotives
Association of Tourist Railways Queensland 13 March 2011 and the remainder were scrapped.

Fleet summary

References

{{QueenslandLocos, state=collapsed Co-Co locomotives Diesel locomotives of Queensland English Electric locomotives Queensland Rail locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1964 Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia