Queensland Locomotives at Port Lincoln

The impact of drought and the reduction in grain train operations out of Port Lincoln meant a lessening of the need for workshop services for most of 2007. To avoid laying off staff and to keep his talented workshop team intact, the EDI Port Lincoln manager has arranged for some 'outside' contract work to be passed on to Port Lincoln workshops from EDI Port Augusta.

Recent amalgamations and changes in the rail industry in Australia have seen Queensland Railways take over (amongst other things) the narrow gauge railways of Western Australia. QR contracted EDI to refurbish a number of ex-Queensland locomotives for further service in WA, and five of these were forwarded to EDI Port Lincoln for this work to be carried out.

QR locomotives 2101, 2105 and 2117 arrived in Port Lincoln by road at the end of May 2007. By September they had been joined by 2109 and 2120. The process involved the complete stripping of the units. They were then rebuilt with components which had been refurbished at other workshops, reassembled and repainted.

The completed locomotives were repainted in ARG's new Western Australian colours and were renumbered as the DD class, 2355 series. Ex-QR 2105 was the first to be completed, being outshopped as DD2356 and shipped to Western Australia in September 2007, and the delivery of 2109 (DD 2357) completed the project in June 2008.

	The first three photos show the early arrivals in various stages of stripping, at the workshops at Port Lincoln on 21 May 2007.
	This view shows DD2356 (ex 2105) in the paint shop at Port Lincoln on 14 September 2007, with stored GWA Alco 850 lurking on the right.
	Back on 26 May 1976, QR locos 2111, 2109 and 2117 are less than five years old as they head a Goonyella coal train at Oonooie, just south of Sarina. The second and third locos in the trio are now in Western Australia after rebuilding at Port Lincoln. This scene is now very different, with double track and electrification changing it forever.

All photos: Peter Knife