Railways and Tramways of Australia

5 September

3900 Class electric locomotive 3917 with another 3900 Class unit haul a northbound goods train on the North Coast Line with Mt Tibrogargan in the background, 22 February 2014. Photo: Ellis678, Wikimedia Commons.

Electric locos to Rocky

Queensland’s first 3900 Class electric locomotive entered service on 5 September 1988.

Electrification of the North Coast Line between Caboolture and Gladstone in 1989 was Stage Four of Queensland Railways’ electrification project. It completed electrification between Brisbane and Rockhampton.

Queensland Railways had ordered 70 electric locomotives planned for use in coal train haulage. However, the contract was altered so that 20 units of the order, plus an additional 10 units, would be built for working passenger and freight trains between Brisbane and Rockhampton. The 50 dedicated coal locomotives entered service as the 3500 Class and 3600 Class, while the 30 passenger and freight units commenced operating as the 3900 Class.

The 3900 Class were built by Walkers Limited at Maryborough in Queensland. Modifications to the original order saw them geared to operate at speeds up to 100 km/h, whereas the 3500 and 3600s were limited to 80 km/h. Although both types had the same body, the traction motors of the 3900 Class were mounted on the body instead of the axles; this reduced bogie force on the track when running at high speeds.

3902 was the first of the 3900 Class to enter service and all were in operation by the end of March 1990. They were very successful on the Brisbane–Rockhampton route, working passenger and express freight services. They also saw some use on Brisbane suburban services and train operations west of Rockhampton.

Number 3902’s working life was short-lived. It was involved in a head-on collision near Beerburrum in July 1994, was damaged beyond repair and subsequently scrapped.

The remaining 3900 Class units were modified for dedicated coal haulage, and from 2003 they commenced operating as the 3551 Class.

Electric locomotive haulage on the Brisbane–Rockhampton route soon came to an end.

Bibliography

J Armstrong, Locomotives in the tropics, volume 3, The Workshops Museum, Australian Railway Historical Society (Queensland Division), Brisbane, 2003.

M Green, ‘QR’s 3900 to 3551 Class overhauls’, Railway Digest, vol. 43, no. 4, April 2005, pp 50–1.

C Malone, ‘A short history of QR’s electric loco fleet: part 1 - concept to implementation’, Motive Power, no. 22, June/July 2002, pp 34–41.

C Malone, ‘Farewell to the QR 3900 Class’, Motive Power, no. 40, June/July 2005, pp 44–5.

B Russell, ‘Queensland electric locomotives: a change has come’, Motive Power, no. 74, March/April 2011, pp 38–49.

3551 Class electric locomotive 3524, Queensland, 13 November 2008. Photo: Andreas Nagel, München, Wikimedia Commons.