Southern Downs Steam Railway

[ozbob]

SDSR are planning to conduct their first official passenger steam services over the long Australia Day weekend.  That's coming up!!!

View website for details: http://www.southerndownssteamrailway.com.au/news_events/aust_day.php


http://www.southerndownssteamrailway.com.au/news_events/images/IMG_7996.jpg

Congratulations SDSR for a job well done!

All aboard our Australia Day Steam Train Trips!

SDSR is pleased to confirm the running of steam trains over the Australia Day long weekend in 2009.

With 3 days of trains running, SDSR will link up with two local towns - Allora and Clifton, offering a variety of experiences to link you up with the train.

The Allora Heritage Weekend will be on over the weekend and is a great time for all those vintage and veteran vehicle enthusiasts. On display will be vintage and veteran cars and motorcycles, horse drawn machinery, stationary engines, trucks, tractors and machinery, and hay making equipment through the ages.

The main feature of the Allora Heritage Weekend will be 100 years of T-Model Ford, Mack Trucks, rare tractors and English vehicles.

There will also be working displays all weekend as well as a swap meet.

Other entertainment includes the Heritage Highlanders and pipe band, country and western music, crafters and quilters and a bar and barbecue will also be operating.

[ozbob]

Article from the Courier Mail click here!


http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,6456543,00.jpg
BACK on track ... the Brown Bomber steams between Warwick and Clifton after a restoration project put it back in service. Pic: David Martinelli

Brown Bomber steam locomotive back in action on Darling Downs

Brown Bomber steam locomotive back in action on Darling Downs
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Peter Morley

January 25, 2009 11:00pm

AFTER eight years of restoration the Brown Bomber has steamed back into life with a run from Warwick to Clifton on the southern Darling Downs.
Built by Walkers Ltd of Maryborough in 1951, the locomotive was retired in 1969 when Queensland Rail was fully dieselised.

There was no place for a coal-burning train of the C17 class that had hauled freight and passengers from Warwick to Thallon, fruit from the Granite Belt, grain from Roma and ran on Brisbane's suburban network.

So it was acquired by the Chinchilla Historical Society and exhibited until 2000, when the Southern Downs Steam Railway used a low loader to haul it back to Warwick for restoration.

Yesterday, tears glistened in the eyes of the Dad's Army of mainly retired railway employees watching as the locomotive pulled out of Warwick hauling two restored passenger carriages.

It was the end of a marathon for the society's workers who toiled to put new life into the old girl - painted brown and nicknamed after then world champion heavyweight boxer Joe Louis.

The team stripped down engine No. 971, found replacements for missing brass and copper parts, renewed the roof that had been removed and installed a new boiler.

Finally, last month, the society convinced Queensland Rail that the locomotive was up to the task and it was certified to operate on the state's network.

Initially it will be used to haul tourists from Warwick to centres like Clifton and Allora, on the Darling Downs, and Stanthorpe and Wallangarra, on the Granite Belt.

[Dean Quick]

Congratulations to the members and hard working volunteers of SDSR! Its great to see genuine interest in rail heritage.

[ozbob]

On 04/04/2009 Southern Downs Steam Railway ran their first train from Warwick to Wallangarra. It was hauled by ex-QR C17 steam locomotive No 971.

http://www.southerndownssteamrailway.com.au/index.php


Part 1


Part 2


Cheers
Bob