Queensland Rail 150 years

[rogerf]

'What is significant about 31st July 2015?'

As my first effort as a newbie, I will ask the above question and see if you'll know what it is.

No prizes for the first to recognise this date, but any older Qld railwayman (like me) SHOULD know this !!!



Regards
Roger Fullwood
brisbane.roger@gmail.com

[ozbob]

Welcome!

150 years!!  Will be a big year!   

[techblitz]

As my first effort as a newbie, I will ask the above question and see if you'll know what it is.

No prizes for the first to recognise this date, but any older Qld railwayman (like me) SHOULD know this !!!



Regards
Roger Fullwood
brisbane.roger@gmail.com

Hehe didnt take long for ozbob to clue on

Welçome roger,
Good to see you up and was good to have a chat yesterday on the 460
Hopefully you will find railbot a good place to tell some anecdotes but also put across any suggestions on the current rail network. 

[ghostryder]

I am from NSW and i knew what that date meant, a month after this Coffs Harbours rail connection turns 100.

Scott

[ozbob]

http://t.co/LMaBGDGT9V

Queensland Rail

On this day in 1864, work on Queensland's first rail line began when Lady Roma Bowen, wife of Governor George Bowen, turned the first sod with silver spade in hand.

The first line would run for about 40km from Ipswich to Bigges Camp, now known as Grandchester. Nearly everything the railway needed to begin operations was imported from Great Britain including staff, locomotives and carriages.

[ozbob]

--> http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/21829710

QUEENSLAND RAILWAYS, 1863-1909

[ozbob]

Queensland Railway Centenary (1965)

[ozbob]

Queensland Rail home page > http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/Pages/Default.aspx  has started a promotion for steam trips Jan and Feb 2015.  Link through is presently protected, I have notified QR ...

http://www.queenslandrailtravel.com.au/Specials/Pages/150yearsofrailinQueensland.aspx  is the link ...

[ozbob]

Link has been removed for now ..

[ozbob]

Twitter

Chris Campey ‏@Chris_Campey

On @7NewsBrisbane - Mighty #steam loco 1079 rolls at #Ipswich Railyards. ready for 150yr bday trip to #Cairns in Jan

[ozbob]

Twitter

Peter Doherty ‏@PeterDoherty7

If you're into trains - a significant @QueenslandRail milestone is coming up @7NewsBrisbane 6pm @RailMuseum_Qld

[ozbob]

Twitter

Queensland Rail ‏@QueenslandRail 2m

Steam engines will whistle their way to Cairns to celebrate our 150th from Jan next yr. @7newsBrisbane has more: http://ow.ly/A2LuA

[ozbob]

7 News --> Queensland Rail set to celebrate 150 years

[red dragin]

Time to up the limit on the credit card! 

[ozbob]

Now active --> http://www.queenslandrailtravel.com.au/Specials/Pages/150yearsofrailinQueensland.aspx

Steam train journeys through Queensland January to February 2015

Journeys between Brisbane and Rockhampton
Thu 15 January    Brisbane to Gympie
Fri 16 January    Gympie to Maryborough
Sat 17 January    Maryborough to Bundaberg
Tue 20 January    Bundaberg to Gladstone
Wed 21 January    Gladstone to Rockhampton

Journeys between Rockhampton and Townsville
Fri 30 January    Rockhampton to Mackay
Sun 1 February    Mackay to Ayr
Mon 2 February    Ayr to Townsville

Journeys between Townsville and Cairns
Wed 11 February    Townsville to Tully
Thu 12 February    Tully to Innisfail
Wed 13 February    Innisfail to Cairns

Journeys between Cairns and Mareeba
Mon 16 February    Cairns to Mareeba
Tue 17 February    Mareeba to Cairns

Journeys between Cairns and Brisbane
Fri 20 February    Cairns to Townsville
Sat 21 February    Townsville to Mackay
Sun 22 February    Mackay to Rockhampton
Tue 24 February    Rockhampton to Bundaberg
Wed 25 February    Bundaberg to Brisbane

Fares Brisbane to Gympie just $49* per adult

Tickets on sale from 29 September 2014

[Derwan]

Could be fun to do the Brisbane to Gympie trip and return on electric the same day (if times allow for it).

The trip to Gympie is on a Thursday so if you do enough journeys from Monday to Thursday morning, the return trip from Gympie will be free.

[Stillwater]

Alternatives:

Walk from Gympie North railway station, through the formed bush track, to Victory Hotel/Motel and stay the night.  (Good pub meals.)  Catch the morning Gympielander (leaves just before 6am), arriving Brisbane in time for work, uni.  www.victoryhotelmotel.com.au

Catch the free QR bus from Gympie North to Gympie City, stay night and visit the fleshpots.  Up early, catch the free bus from Gympie City at 5.30am, arriving at Gympie North at 5.45am, ready for the trip back to Brisbane on the ICE.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Scott Emerson ‏@scottemerson 4m

Celebrate @QueenslandRail's 150 years! From Monday, book your tickets on the Brisbane to Cairns steam train ride

[dancingmongoose]

Full timetable:

Station	Arr	Dep	Date
Roma Street	-	8:50	15/01/2015
Caboolture	9:59	10:04
Landsborough	10:37	10:40
Nambour	11:37	11:39
Cooroy	12:06	12:38
Gympie Nortd	14:15	15:15
Maryborough West	17:55	-
Maryborough West	-	13:00	17/01/2015
Howard	13:27	13:32
Bundaberg	14:15	-
Bundaberg	-	9:25	20/01/2015
Miriam Vale	12:25	12:50
Gladstone	14:00	-
Gladstone	-	12:45	21/01/2015
Mount Larcom	13:31	13:36
Rockhampton	15:00	-
Rockhampton	-	8:15	30/01/2015
St Lawrence	11:27	12:30
Sarina	14:53	15:08
Mackay	15:45	-
Mackay	-	9:15	1/02/2015
Proserpine	12:01	12:31
Bowen	14:30	14:40
Ayr	17:00	-
Ayr	-	13:50	2/02/2015
Giru	14:30	14:35
Townsville	15:30	-
Townsville	-	10:20	11/02/2015
Ingham	14:30	-
Ingham	-	8:30	12/02/2015
Tully	10:48	10:48
Innisfail	12:20	-
Innisfail	-	8:15	13/02/2015
Babinda	8:50	9:20
Gordonvale	10:30	10:42
Cairns	11:15	-
Cairns	-	10:00	16/02/2015
Kuranda	12:10	12:40
Mareeba	13:50	-
Mareeba	-	11:30	17/02/2015
Kuranda	12:40	13:20
Cairns	15:10	-
Cairns	-	9:30	20/02/2015
Gordonvale	10:02	10:07
Babinda	10:48	10:58
Innisfail	11:35	11:45
Tully	13:45	14:05
Cardwell	14:55	15:00
Ingham	16:05	16:35
Townsville	18:35	-
Townsville	-	8:45	21/02/2015
Giru	10:15	10:35
Ayr	11:27	11:49
Home Hill	12:05	12:07
Bowen	13:50	14:05
Proserpine	15:10	15:30
Mackay	18:00	-
Mackay	-	9:20	22/02/2015
Sarina	9:57	10:17
St Lawrence	12:45	13:30
Rockhampton	17:15	-
Rockhampton	-	8:40	24/02/2015
Mount Larcom	10:05	10:10
Gladstone	10:55	11:40
Miriam Vale	12:40	13:10
Bundaberg	15:15	-
Bundaberg	-	8:35	25/02/2015
Howard	9:35	9:37
Maryborough West	10:05	10:20
Gympie Nortd	12:08	12:25
Cooroy	13:23	13:28
Nambour	13:48	14:05
Landsborough	14:53	15:15
Caboolture	16:27	16:32
Roma Street	17:40	-

Your best journey if you've only got one day off would be to catch the ICE to Cooroy and then the steam back to Brisbane an hour and a half later

No rowspan or th option for the table plugin

[Stillwater]

If a few are interested, a chicken and liquid lunch could be possible at Gympie North Station.  (private catering.)  OR nearby Victory Hotel (with Maxi Cab travel between station and pub.)

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Queensland Rail celebrates 150 years with steam train journey from Brisbane to Cairns and back

Queensland Rail celebrates 150 years with steam train journey from Brisbane to Cairns and back
By Patrick Williams and Courtney Wilson

Two of the last steam locomotives to be built in Australia have being restored for a historic journey from Brisbane to Cairns and back to celebrate Queensland Rail's (QR) 150th birthday this year.

Thousands of hours of labour at QR's Ipswich workshop have gone into restoring the BB18 one-quarter 1079 and 1089, and the nine wooden carriages capable of carrying 300 passengers up to north Queensland.

The entire trip from the Queensland capital to the far north will take two months but is broken up into seperate journeys, stops at major towns and day trips in different regions along the coast

But that has not stopped some train enthusiasts from snapping up enough tickets to take them from the Queensland capital to the state's far north and back again.

Both heritage steam engines to be used were built in Maryborough, with the BB18 one-quarter 1089 being the last mainline steam locomotive to be built in Australia in 1958.

The oldest of the carriages was built in 1902.

Steam fitter Marc Ferrar, who specialises in locomotive restorations and overhauls, has been working on both trains for the past six months at QR's Ipswich rail yard.

He became involved in the historic locomotives in 2000 when he completed an adult apprenticeship specialising in steam locomotives in operations and maintenance.

"I work on anything from repairing the buffer on the the front of the headstock to the rear headstock and everything else in between - overhauling injectors, turbo generators and side rods," he said.

"The parts are very heavy. You need assistance with overhead cranes."

Mr Ferrar will be tagging along for two legs of the journey - first from Rockhampton to Townsville, then Townsville to Brisbane.

"I'll have the job to fire the locos in the yards and depots in the morning, then crew take over from then on," he said.

"Basically ... you check the water level and you load the fire box with timber and you light the wood. It starts raising pressure in the boiler, creating the steam and then the pressure in the boiler the pipes through to the cylinders which drive the wheels.

"I'll be virtually maintaining and making everything runs as its supposed to."

He will be joined on the engine by Queensland Rail drivers and firemen.

He said the trip for anyone who has never been on a steam train before would be "astronomical".

"They'll be in awe of the whole trip if they ride just a small sector," Mr Ferrar said.

QR's travel and tourist executive general manager Martin Ryan said the trains would be run by QR staff and heritage volunteers.

"To run a steam train from here to Cairns and back is a major effort for something built in 1956," he said.

"But these are very skilled people and very passionate people and they make sure it works."

The train drivers will be made up of those trained up to drive heritage fleet, as well as some coming out of retirement.

"To drive these trains is a skill and they are trained up by the current drivers and we keep on replenishing our driving stock so we can continue this offer to experience the past today," Mr Ryan said.

Train trips in days of old would have had a bit of "bump and rattle" to them, he added.

"They would have sat in the back of the wooden cars, the steam would have been billowing out the front... but at the end they might of been dusting the cinders out of their hair and dusting off their Sunday best," Mr Ryan said.

"People would have been sitting down and engaging with each other and talking with each other.

"Not using iPads and iPhones, but actually engaging in discussions."

He said the steam trains offered passengers "the chance to go back and romanticise about train journeys as it was back then".

"Customers are coming forward to tell us about how they met on our trains, how they had their honeymoons on our trains, how they went to school or work on our trains," Mr Ryan added.

"These trains have very much been part of growth and history of Queensland. We invite all to come down and celebrate."

Queensland Rail historian Greg Hallam said steam locomotives were the main diver for economic development in Queensland.

"There are many towns in Queensland that actually owe their existence to the Queensland railway, to the steam locomotives," he said.

"It's interesting that it's going up that railway line it was really the last one that brought the whole patchwork story - the Queensland railways together from north to south, [it] wasn't completed until 1924.

"The fact it's rolling up the north coast I guess is a way of bringing the entire Queensland railway story together in one piece, at one place and at one time."

The first steam train journey will be from Brisbane to Maryborough and sets off on Thursday January 15.

More stories from Queensland

[brissypete]

I booked Roma St to Nambour for $39, should be fun.

[ozbob]

https://www.facebook.com/QueenslandRail/posts/923721977646163

Queensland Rail

Today our steam train departed The Workshops Rail Museum, ahead of our 150th rail celebrations kicking off from Roma Street station, platform 10 tomorrow.

Join us at the station prior to the trains departure at 8.50am in your best period costume and for your chance to have a photo with the train. Remember to share your photos using ‪#‎Rail150‬

For a full steam train timetable, visit our website: http://ow.ly/HhS2I

[ozbob]

Media release 14th January 2015

Congratulations Queensland Rail - 150 years strong!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has congratulated all who have been part of Queensland Government Railways and today's Queensland Rail on achieving 150 years of continuous operation.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Tomorrow (15 Jan 2015), a steam hauled passenger service sets out from Roma Street station for a commemorative journey to Cairns (1)."

"Since 1865, over 13,000 kilometres of railway have been built in Queensland."

"Rail was the transport mode that opened up Queensland and Australia."

"Congratulations to all involved in the 150 years of continuous operation of rail services in Queensland and best wishes for the celebrations."


Trainee soldiers at Roma Street Station, Brisbane, waiting to embark on a train to Caloundra Camp during World War II, 1940
http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?docId=slq_digitool102308 accessed 21/4/2012

Reference:

1. http://www.queenslandrailtravel.com.au/Specials/Pages/150yearsofrailinQueensland.aspx

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[darthcaligula666]

amazing picture! such incredible history. at lot of the guys in that picture would be a lot younger than i am now. i hope to get to roma street tomorrow; have organised the day off to be a part of the celebrations. would love to jump aboard the steamer! 

[red dragin]

Aiming for some pictures around Lawnton but no idea on timing so will be difficult.

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

amazing picture! such incredible history. at lot of the guys in that picture would be a lot younger than i am now. i hope to get to roma street tomorrow; have organised the day off to be a part of the celebrations. would love to jump aboard the steamer! 

[ozbob]

Queensland Railways, Roma St Activity 1966

[ozbob]

Twitter

Queensland Rail ‏@QueenslandRail 5 minutes ago

Our #Rail150 celebrations are underway at Roma St. You've got time to join us before the steam train departs 8.50am

[red dragin]

Aiming for some pictures around Lawnton but no idea on timing so will be difficult.

Famous last words!!!

About 50 metres from the station steps when 1079 came passed full speed down the grade and through the station - didn't even have time to grab my phone!

Sounded great though 

[DayboroStation]

My mum took my 5 year old son to Lawnton Station to see the train go through. According to my 5 year old, it was "faster than the tilt train."

[red dragin]

My mum took my 5 year old son to Lawnton Station to see the train go through. According to my 5 year old, it was "faster than the tilt train."

The tilt had passed southbound about 5 minutes before at around 40km/hr so it was 

Was definetly doing around 70km/hr if not maxed at 80 

[ozbob]

^   

=============

Twitter

Scott Emerson @scottemerson  3 hours ago

With driver John & guard Mick as QR kicks off 150th birthday celebrations with steam train trip nth #Rail150 #qldpol

[ozbob]

Twitter

Joel Dry ‏@JoelDry9 3 hours ago

150 years old today. @QueenslandRail celebrates its birthday by stepping back in time,rolling out Bety @9NewsBrisbane

[ozbob]

612 ABC Brisbane --> On board for Queensland Rail birthday celebrations

15 January 2015 , 1:13 PM by Terri Begley

Like the smell of coal smoke, the feel of cinders in your hair and an ever changing scene outside your window?

That's what hundreds of people lined up for this morning at Roma Street Station.

Many of them are on a trip of a lifetime to Cairns - via steamtrain!

It's also part of a very special birthday celebration.

Terri Begley missed buying her ticket, but had a chat with those on board.

[brissypete]

I did Roma St to Nambour, was a great journey.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Shane Barnes ‏@barnesshane 13 minutes ago

@QueenslandRail northgate today

[ozbob]

Quest --> Cannon fired at steam train as it passes through Caboolture to mark 150 years of rail in Queensland

[ozbob]

QR 150th Anniversary Steam tour with 1079 up front. Locations incude, Eudlo, Palmwoods, Sunrise, Pomona, Cooran and Traveston

--> https://www.flickr.com/photos/47626638@N02/sets/72157647969647364/