Walkers Limited was an Australian engineering company, based in

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Maryborough had a population of 15,287. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mary River in Queensland, Australia, approximate ...

. It built ships and railway locomotives. The Walkers factory still produces railway locomotives and rolling stock as part of

Downer Rail Downer Rail is a business unit within the Downer Group. As well as manufacturing and maintaining railway rolling stock it holds maintenance contracts to maintain rail infrastructure. The head office is located in North Ryde. History The EDI ...

History

In 1863 John Walker and three friends set up the ''Union Foundry'' of John Walker & Co in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

. In 1867 a branch was opened in Maryborough. The Ballarat assets were disposed of in 1879 and in 1884, the business became a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

under the title ''John Walker & Co Limited'', being renamed ''Walkers Limited'' in 1888. The company produced most of the parts for machinery at sugar mills. In 1980 Walkers Limited was sold to Evans Deakin Industries. It was included in the purchase of Evans Deakin by

Downer Group Downer Group is an integrated services company active in Australia and New Zealand. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and New Zealand Stock Exchange as Downer EDI (DOW), Downer is an ASX 100 company. Downer Group employs approximat ...

in March 2001 and today the Maryborough factory continues to operate as part of

. In 2003 Bundaberg Foundry Engineers completed the acquisition of the Walkers Sugar Business and moved to change the operating name to Bundaberg Walkers Engineering in January 2008.

Ships

In 1884, the firm began work on five hopper barges for the Queensland Department of Harbours & Rivers. During construction the decision was taken to convert them to also serve as auxiliary gunboats, which made them the largest warships built in Australia before federation. During World War II, Walkers constructed two s, a and seven s, in addition to other smaller vessels. Post war naval contracts included seven s in the late 1960s and eight in the early 1970s. After the completion of the latter, Walker's Maryborough shipyard closed in 1974.

Royal Australian Navy ships

*1 Bay-class frigate: *2 River-class frigates: and *7 ''Bathurst''-class corvettes: , , , , , and *7 ''Attack''-class patrol boats: , , , , , and *8 ''Balikpapan''-class landing craft heavy: , , , , , , and *9 ''Koala''-class boom defence vessel: HMAS ''Kimbla'' *2 '' Explorer class general-purpose vessels'': HMAS ''Bass'', HMAS ''Banks''

Trains

The company's first locomotive was built at Maryborough in 1873 for William Pettigrew's (now heritage-listed) Cooloola Tramway; it was called "Mary Ann" as it was the name of the daughter of William Pettigrew and also the name of the daughter of his business partner William Sim. The first major contract for locomotives came in 1896, when an order for thirty B15 class

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s was placed by

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 ...

. In the 1960s Walkers offered a diesel-hydraulic unit to Queensland's sugar operators. Although not successful, it did sell six to

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta ...

from 1962. It had more success with its DH class shunter with over 130 built 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 ...

, the

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differe ...

Emu Bay Railway The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyell ...

and

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

Steam locomotives

*46 Queensland B class *122 Queensland PB15 class *45 Queensland C16 class *138 Queensland C17 class *6 Queensland C19 class *83 Queensland B18¼ class *25 Queensland BB18¼ class *20 Victorian D^D class *20

Commonwealth Railways KA class The Commonwealth Railways KA class was a class of tender locomotives of the Commonwealth Railways, Australia. The class operated on the Trans-Australian Railway. History Between September 1918 and June 1920, Commonwealth Railways took delive ...

Commonwealth Railways C class The Commonwealth Railways C class was a class of passenger locomotives built in 1938 by Walkers Limited, Maryborough, Queensland, Maryborough, for the Commonwealth Railways, Australia. History Following the extension of Commonwealth Railways' ...

*40 South Australian T class *3

Tasmanian Government Railways Q class The Tasmanian Government Railways Q class was a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways. History In 1922/23, the Tasmanian Government Railways took delivery of six 4-8-2 locomotives from Perry Engineering, ...

Diesel electric locomotives

*12 Queensland 1170 class

Diesel hydraulic locomotives

*6 BHP Whyalla DH class *3 Emu Bay Railway 10 class *73

Queensland Railways DH class The DH class was a class of diesel-hydraulic locomotives built by Walkers Limited, Maryborough for Queensland Railways between 1966 and 1974. History In 1966, Queensland Railways tested a Walkers Limited built diesel-hydraulic shunting locomot ...

*50 New South Wales 73 class *7

Emu Bay Railway 11 class The Emu Bay Railway 11 class were a class of diesel-hydraulic locomotives built by Walkers Limited, Maryborough for the Emu Bay Railway between 1969 and 1971. History Between 1969 and 1971, the Emu Bay Railway took delivery of seven diesel-hyd ...

*5 Western Australian Government Railways M class

Electric locomotives

*50 Queensland Rail 3500/3600 class *30 Queensland Rail 3900 class

Electric multiple units

*264 Queensland Rail EMU carriages *36 Queensland Rail SMU200 carriages *90 Queensland Rail SMU220 carriages *20 Queensland Rail ICE carriages *30 Queensland Rail IMU100 carriages *12 Queensland Rail IMU120 carriages *96 Transperth A series carriages *90 Kuala Lumpur Metro Line 3 & 4 light rail vehicles

Tilt Trains

*12 Queensland Rail Tilt Train carriages

Awards

In 2017, Walkers Limited was inducted into the

Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame In 2009 State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Qu ...

. Walkers Limited is regarded as being one of Queensland's greatest companies spanning 150 years in the engineering manufacturing sector.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame – 2017 Inductee digital story – Walkers Limited
Companies based in Queensland Engineering companies of Australia Defunct locomotive manufacturers of Australia Maryborough, Queensland Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of Australia Shipbuilding companies of Australia Shipyards of Australia Australian companies established in 1863 Queensland in World War II