The 2000 class railcars are a class of self-propelled railcars built by

Commonwealth Engineering Commonwealth Engineering (often shortened to Com-Eng, later Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams. History Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth E ...

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 the

Queensland Railways 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 ...

between 1956 and 1971.

History

In 1956, two 2000 class

railmotor Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it. Steam railcars Overview In th ...

prototypes were constructed by

at its

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 ...

Railway Workshops sheeted in satin finished aluminium. They were powered by AEC engines."2000 Class Railmotors" The Workshops Rail Museum 23 October 2003 In 1959, ten units were ordered from

. These differed from the prototypes in having sheeted stainless steel and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

engines. In 1963, a further five were ordered, followed in 1971 by a further ten. The last four were completed as Passenger Luggage Driving Trailers with access doors at both ends instead of a streamlined front, allowing the formation of three-car (and occasionally four-car) trains. They operated services around

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 ...

as well as being allocated to

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

and

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. Most were withdrawn in the early 1990s, with the last operating in regular service on the Corinda-Yeerongpilly line in January 2000.

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 ...

retains nine units, of which three operate ''The

Savannahlander The Savannahlander is an Australian passenger train service (primarily serving tourists) that operates in Far North Queensland. It travels on the Tablelands railway line and the Etheridge railway line from the coastal city of Cairns to Forsa ...

'' tourist train, three are operational with the QR Heritage Division (and occasionally used by Queensland Rail for track inspections) and three are stored at Ipswich Workshops.

Aurizon Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...

inherited two units from QR National which are used for track inspections. These units are now with

DownsSteam Tourist Railway & Museum The DownsSteam Tourist Railway & Museum was founded in 2001 in the Toowoomba suburb of Drayton in Queensland. The station building on the complex was originally situated at Yuleba, between Roma and Miles servicing the town of Yuleba from 187 ...

. Many others are preserved. In October 2022, two units were road transferred from Ipswich to Longreach for Outback Aussie Tours for their upcoming “Outback Rail Adventure” tours.

Summary

References

External links

Queensland's Great Trains gallery
{{QueenslandLocos, state=collapsed Railcars of Queensland