Community & Business
4 October, 2023
Another day closer...
Tourist trips aboard DownSteam’s steam train should be possible by the end of the year if all goes to plan.
A team from DownSteam brought C16 Class locomotive No. 106, hauling a water tank and three passenger carriages, on a trip through the Pittsworth district last Thursday, which turned a few heads.
The train did a return trip between Drayton and Brookstead.
The run was the final live run of the accreditation process for the tourist railway.
Officers from Queensland Rail were on board for the trip.
If Queensland Rail is happy with the progress of the project, it is envisaged that tourist trips could begin around the end of November or early December.
During last week’s trip through the district the train had no passengers although it enabled carriage attendants to learn more about their roles.
DownSteam has a well established museum on Cambooya Street at Drayton.
Volunteers have been working for many years to reach the point where regular tourist trips can be scheduled.
The C16 Class locomotive which is now part of the DownSteam fleet was put into service on Anzac Day, the 25th of April 1915, as one of a batch of 15 built on the Darling Downs from 1914 by the locally-based company Toowoomba Foundry Ltd.
