Foxton96
DQ 6347 in Levin 4/3/1998
A view of ex Queensland Rail No. 1481 at the head of a ballast train standing in the goods yard at Levin station on Wednesday, 4 March 1998. In the background is Levin-based shunter of the time, TR 649.
TR 649 was built in 1958 at A&G. Price Ltd, Thames (183) as TR 161 (livery: NZGR Carnation/Midland Red), entered service 12/1958, renumbered c1978 to TR 649, altered c1984 (livery: NZR `Fruit Salad' International Orange/Yellow BS 08e51/Grey BS 11A11). Written Off 2004 and preserved in 2004 at Reefton.
At one time TR 407 was based in Levin c1983.
The DQ class locomotives are a class of mainline diesel-electric locomotives in New Zealand and Tasmania, Australia.
Originally Queensland Rail 1460 and 1502 class, they were purchased by New Zealand Rail Limited in 1995 to be rebuilt, as a cheaper alternative to buying new locomotives.
They arrived in New Zealand as the QR classes 1460 and 1502, most of which were then rebuilt by Hutt Workshops into the DQ class. During rebuilding their cabs were modified with the addition of two large windows, short hood lowered, a computerised control system installed, upgrading of the engines, fitting of dynamic brakes and the addition of noise insulation. The QR locomotives that were not rebuilt received only minimal alteration before being used as trailing locomotives. All were painted in Tranz Rail's corporate livery of light blue and yellow before being put into service.
They are not favoured however by their crews due to complaints of rough riding and excessive cab noise.
They are also considered unreliable by senior management (DQ units in Tasmania have a high rate of generator failure), so they are now mainly used for short-haul runs, such as on the final leg of coal trains from the West Coast between Christchurch and the port of Lyttelton and on the Ohai Branch Line to and from Invercargill, hauling containerized coal trains. They are also used as bankers to help trains up the steep grade out of Picton.
As of 2011, there were only three DQ locomotives in service (all in the South Island); the remaining QR units that were not rebuilt have been sold after lengthy periods of storage at the Hutt Workshops. DQ 6347 suffered damage when toppled onto its side after derailing on entry to the Picton yard in late 2009, after which it was sent to Hutt Workshops for repair. It remained out-of service with little work undertaken on it for months but was eventually repaired and returned to service in October 2011. DQ 6376 is currently out of service after it was derailed when the freight train it was part of struck a slip south of Kaikoura in June 2011. In both cases the DQ was operating as the trailing locomotive (in multiple with another) and unoccupied at the time of derailment.
In 1998 Tranz Rail began to export locomotives to Tasmania for use on TasRail, then part-owned by Tranz Rail. In total, twelve DQ were exported, along with three unrebuilt QR class. On 2 September 1998 the first two locomotives in the planned replacement of Tasmania’s mainly English Electric locomotive fleet arrived in Tasmania from New Zealand. The first GM-powered locomotives in Tasmania were originally two ex-Queensland Railways 1502 class purchased by Tranz Rail for use in New Zealand in 1996. All DQ class locomotives were rebuilt and modified at Tranz Rail’s Hutt workshops at Wellington, before being shipped to Tasmania.
Most recent report on this locomotive is that it is operated by a cement company to work at a site near the Nacala Corridor in Mozambique as RRL22-02.
DQ 6347 in Levin 4/3/1998
A view of ex Queensland Rail No. 1481 at the head of a ballast train standing in the goods yard at Levin station on Wednesday, 4 March 1998. In the background is Levin-based shunter of the time, TR 649.
TR 649 was built in 1958 at A&G. Price Ltd, Thames (183) as TR 161 (livery: NZGR Carnation/Midland Red), entered service 12/1958, renumbered c1978 to TR 649, altered c1984 (livery: NZR `Fruit Salad' International Orange/Yellow BS 08e51/Grey BS 11A11). Written Off 2004 and preserved in 2004 at Reefton.
At one time TR 407 was based in Levin c1983.
The DQ class locomotives are a class of mainline diesel-electric locomotives in New Zealand and Tasmania, Australia.
Originally Queensland Rail 1460 and 1502 class, they were purchased by New Zealand Rail Limited in 1995 to be rebuilt, as a cheaper alternative to buying new locomotives.
They arrived in New Zealand as the QR classes 1460 and 1502, most of which were then rebuilt by Hutt Workshops into the DQ class. During rebuilding their cabs were modified with the addition of two large windows, short hood lowered, a computerised control system installed, upgrading of the engines, fitting of dynamic brakes and the addition of noise insulation. The QR locomotives that were not rebuilt received only minimal alteration before being used as trailing locomotives. All were painted in Tranz Rail's corporate livery of light blue and yellow before being put into service.
They are not favoured however by their crews due to complaints of rough riding and excessive cab noise.
They are also considered unreliable by senior management (DQ units in Tasmania have a high rate of generator failure), so they are now mainly used for short-haul runs, such as on the final leg of coal trains from the West Coast between Christchurch and the port of Lyttelton and on the Ohai Branch Line to and from Invercargill, hauling containerized coal trains. They are also used as bankers to help trains up the steep grade out of Picton.
As of 2011, there were only three DQ locomotives in service (all in the South Island); the remaining QR units that were not rebuilt have been sold after lengthy periods of storage at the Hutt Workshops. DQ 6347 suffered damage when toppled onto its side after derailing on entry to the Picton yard in late 2009, after which it was sent to Hutt Workshops for repair. It remained out-of service with little work undertaken on it for months but was eventually repaired and returned to service in October 2011. DQ 6376 is currently out of service after it was derailed when the freight train it was part of struck a slip south of Kaikoura in June 2011. In both cases the DQ was operating as the trailing locomotive (in multiple with another) and unoccupied at the time of derailment.
In 1998 Tranz Rail began to export locomotives to Tasmania for use on TasRail, then part-owned by Tranz Rail. In total, twelve DQ were exported, along with three unrebuilt QR class. On 2 September 1998 the first two locomotives in the planned replacement of Tasmania’s mainly English Electric locomotive fleet arrived in Tasmania from New Zealand. The first GM-powered locomotives in Tasmania were originally two ex-Queensland Railways 1502 class purchased by Tranz Rail for use in New Zealand in 1996. All DQ class locomotives were rebuilt and modified at Tranz Rail’s Hutt workshops at Wellington, before being shipped to Tasmania.
Most recent report on this locomotive is that it is operated by a cement company to work at a site near the Nacala Corridor in Mozambique as RRL22-02.