HISTORY OF THE MARY VALLEY RATTLER'S C 17 967
THE LOCOMOTIVES
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967 at Bulcock Beach Courtesy: K. MacDonald. |
With the cessation of World War 2 in 1945, the Queensland Railways was in a situation where locomotives and rolling stock were suffering the effects of six years of heavy use. Queensland Railways was one of the main transport systems supplying the materials for the war in South East Asia and was facing a large re-construction program after 1945. Even though, the need for locomotives was great, due to the nature of the track, only C 17 class locomotives could be utilised on a large portion of QR. (Please see the link to C 17 802). Thus it was decided to order this type of locomotives to help in the post-war years.
In 1947, 20 C 17 type locomotives were ordered from Walkers Limited of Maryborough, Queensland. These would be different from the pre-1939 C 17, in that they had Timken Roller Bearings and weighed about 4 tonnes heavier than the earlier version. Sedan type cabs were utilised, which gave the crew more protection from the weather. They were painted brown with green trimming, and were called the “Brown Bombers”.
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963 sister engine to 967 at Esk Station, Brisbane Valley Line. |
C 17 967 entered service in August 1950 and worked in the Central Division based upon Rockhampton. C 17 class locomotives in the Central Division worked the mail trains west from Emerald and also the Emu Park and Yeppoon seaside trains. Mostly though, they worked the good trains and branch lines, of which there were many in the Central Division. After 19 years of service, 967 was withdrawn from service in November 1969. It was set aside for preservation and placed in a park at Caloundra, near Bulcock Beach.
In 1985, it was bought by the Ghan Preservation Society for preservation in Alice Springs. The Commonwealth Railways NM class (which used to work the famous Ghan train to Alice Springs) were built to the same overall design as the Queensland C17's and 967 was purchased in 1985 by the Ghan Preservation Society, Alice Springs, Northern Territory and exhibited as 'gatekeeper' at their site. In 2000 No. 967 was purchased by Beaudesert Rail and moved to Beaudesert, south of Brisbane, and was restored to operation in early 2003 for use on Beaudesert – Logan Village tourist trains. After Beaudesert Rail was placed into receivership, No. 967 was removed from Beaudesert to the Ipswich Railway Workshops during March 2006.
On 22 August 2007, the MVHR bought C 17 967 outright, through a tendering process with QR. C 17 967 is a welcome addition to the MVHR’s motive power fleet and will ensure the sustainability of the Rattler in the years to come.
Negotiations regarding 967.
The Mary Valley Heritage Railway has operated one steam locomotive for the past ten years. If the present steam locomotive C 17 802 were to fail, the MVHR would lose 70-80% of its patronage and income. Considering that the MVHR carried over 28 000 passengers in the 2006-2007 financial year, then this would be a significant fall in income for the Rattler and would have a knock on effect in the Gympie and Cooloola region.
In July of this year, an application was made to the Jupiter’s Gaming Fund by the MVHR to secure funding for the return of C 17 253 to working order. If this application is successful it will be twelve months before C 17 253 is up and running. The short to medium term issue was that if C 17 802 were to fail before 253 was returned to working order, the MVHR would be without a steam locomotive and face severe financial hardship due to the loss of patronage.
On 1 May 2007, QR advertised to tender locomotive C 17 967, which had formerly been owned by Beaudesert Rail. After Beaudesert Rail went into receivership, QR took possession of the locomotive in 2006. The Mary Valley Heritage Railway submitted a tender for the locomotive, with the intention of securing the locomotive for its motive power fleet. This locomotive was in running order when placed into the Ipswich Railway Workshops and was deemed to be a viable option for the short to medium term goals of the MVHR.
On the morning of 22 August 2007, MVHR representatives were invited to and attended a meeting with QWI officials to discuss the offer of QWI gifting money to the MVHR so the MVHR could secure outright ownership of C 17 967. The offer of the money was accepted-for it meant that the MVHR could own the locomotive and enter it into traffic earlier than originally planned and the financial resources the MVHR was going to spend to acquire C 17 967, could be directed to other infra-structure projects such as the upgrading of the MVHR’s Repair and Maintenance Facility in Chapple Street.
When the MVHR representatives and the QR representatives commence negotiations, concerning the transfer of ownership of C 17 967 from QR to the MVHR, the MVHR stated it had the immediate funds to secure ownership of C 17 967 as opposed to repayments structured over a number of years. This assisted the negotiations to the point where QR and the MVHR agreed that the locomotive’s ownership would be transferred from QR to the MVHR. Since then the locomotive has been inspected by MVHR personnel. It will soon be transported to the MVHR’s locomotive maintenance facility and returned to working order to support the Rattler’s present operating steam locomotive C 17 802.
The MVHR’s locomotive strategy is to have three serviceable steam locomotives-one operating, a second on standby and a third undergoing routine and heavy maintenance. Considering that 802 is 80 years old and completes over 12 500 rail kilometres a year, the need for a support steam locomotive is paramount. The acquisition of C 17 967, will make sure that the Rattler has a steam locomotive “up front” and this dovetails with the MVHR’s strategy as 967 is a short to medium term resolution if C 17 802 fails. C 17 967 will ensure that the Rattler continues to provide Quality Rail Heritage Experience.
Progress on C 17 967
An update on the progress on the work on C 17 967.
The MVHR has decided to paint C 17 967 black with red trim and to retain the brass boiler bands (as per C 17 802). The reasons for this decision were:
- The above colour scheme is the colour scheme of MVHR’s steam locomotive fleet. Please see graphics of C17 45 and C 17 802.
- For practical reasons a black colour scheme is the easiest to maintain and clean. MVHR has two trips on a Saturday and to have a steam locomotive presented in a favourable light for the travelling public on the Sunday-which is our biggest day - then a colour scheme was needed that was easy to maintain and clean. Cleaning of C 17 802 often occurs on a Sunday morning during light up by the operating crew.
- For practical purposes tenders of various locomotives have been interchanged on the MVHR and to have locomotive tenders of two different colour schemes would be impractical for the MVHR’s purposes.
- While 967 is of the “Brown Bomber” type of locomotive-towards the end of the end of the steam era, various locomotives of Queensland Railways were painted in the above colour scheme. Note C 17 991 at Gilla painted in black and also BB 18 ¼ 1072 was painted black in the closing period of steam.
- Various Heritage Railways have painted their locomotives in colour schemes that were different from the locomotive’s operating colour scheme when they were operating in Government Railways.
Restoration work continues on C 17 967. MVHR maintenance staff have been inspecting and working on 967 since its arrival at the MVHR in October. The locomotive has not been in steam for four years and so the locomotive had to be worked on so it would be deemed to be safe for the crews of the MVHR. It was hoped to have a fire in 967 by Christmas 2007 but this was decided to be inappropriate as more corrective work on the boiler and fittings was needed before a steam pressure test was undertaken.
On the 7 January 2008 a test run was undertaken with C 17 967 and a train comprising eight carriages and 198 tonnes. The train ran from Gympie to Amamoor and return - a distance of 46 kms. It was determined that further remedial work is required on C 17 967 before its return to operational service.
A further test run occurred on 15 February 2008 with C 17 967 hauling atrain of sevn carriages weighing 164 tonnes. The train ran from Gympie to Imbil and return-a distance of 80 kms. Further remedial work is required before 967 enters service.
A decision has been made to enter C 17 967 into service on the MVHR on the weekend of 23/24 February 2008. It will make its first revenue run on the morning of 23 February 2008 and will continue to be in service thereafter. A decision is pending on the date for a formal commissioning ceremony.
Locomotive in the Tropics Vol 2. John Armstrong. ARHS.1994.
Historical Archives: QR. Accessed 19 September 2007.
