Happy Valley Railway
This image shows C17 No.967 when in the care of the Ghan Preservation Society, Alice Springs (1985-2000).
Here No.967 was statically presented as the gate guardian at the MacDonnell West station and workshop.
No. 967 is one of Queensland Railways’ highly successful C17 class 4-8-0 locomotives of which 227 units were constructed by a variety of builders between 1920 and 1953. No 967 represents the final batch of 40 ‘Brown Bomber’ C17’s of the ’1950 design’, which featured Timken roller bearings on all axles together with the ‘1938 design’ improvements of piston valves, Laird crossheads, a wider & taller sedan cab, a slender stovepipe chimney with capuchion lip and a higher-capacity tender.
No. 967 was placed in Queensland Government Railways service during August 1950 and written off in November 1969 after a working life of 19 years.
Move to Happy Valley, Caloundra
Following retirement, No. 967 was initially placed in a park (Happy Valley) at Bulcock Beach, Caloundra for the Caloundra Rotary Club, however it has made a number of subsequent moves around Australia during its preservation career:
- 1985 No.967 was purchased by the Ghan Preservation Society and transported to their base near Alice Springs
- 2000 967 was purchased by Beaudesert Rail and moved to Beaudesert
- 2006 967 was moved to the Ipswich Railway Workshops for storage
- 2007 on 22 August 967 was purchased by the Mary Valley Heritage Railway (MVHR) and by late -2007 it had moved to Gympie.
- Unfortunately The Valley Rattler train is not currently running, pending maintenance and upgrade of railway infrastructure on the Gympie - Imbil branch, and accordingly 967 is laid-up in the Gympie loco shed together with other MVHR locomotives.
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No.967 in steam on a Beaudesert Rail service at
Beaudesert station on 7 February 2004
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No.967 on a Mary Valley Heritage Railway
“Valley Rattler” service on 26 April 2008
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No.967 rides the turntable at Aramoor.
26 April 2008
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No. 967 and crew rest at Gympie
26 April 2008.
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Rotary Club of Caloundra involvement
Steam railway engine restoration at Happy Valley
[more to come]
967 to be Back on Track in December 2017
Come on board, everybody! Not long now and customers will be welcomed on the Mary Valley Rattler to experience the sights and wonders the Gympie Region offers along with the alluring magic the steam train sounds create.They expect to be #backontrack in December 2017.
To stay in touch and be one of the first to know when tickets are on sale, join their e-newsletter https://www.maryvalleyrattler.com.au/newsletter
Of course, the Rattler is none other than No. 967 - one of Queensland Railways’ highly successful C17 class 4-8-0 locomotives which, following retirement, was initially placed in a park (Happy Valley) at Bulcock Beach, Caloundra for the Caloundra Rotary Club.