NZR DQ class
Encyclopedia
The NZR DQ and QR class locomotives are two classes of mainline diesel-electric locomotive
s 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.
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
.
, only three DQ locomotives are 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 was toppled on its side after derailing at Picton in late 2009, it was then sent to Hutt Workshops for repair. Little work had been done on it for months, however it has since been repaired and returned to service. DQ 6376 is out of service after it derailed, caused by hitting a slip while on a freight train south of Kaikoura in June 2011.
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.
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, Australia. Originally Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail, also known as QR, is a government-owned railway operator in the state of Queensland. Under the control of the Queensland Government, Queensland Rail operates the inner-city and long-distance passenger services, as well as some freight operations and gives railway access to other...
1460 and 1502 class, they were purchased by New Zealand Rail Limited
Tranz Rail
Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Ltd , was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003.- Formation :...
in 1995 to be rebuilt, as a cheaper alternative to buying new locomotives.
Introduction
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, nose 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.Service
They are not favoured 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 CoastWest Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...
between Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
and the port of Lyttelton
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....
and on the Ohai Branch Line to and from Invercargill, hauling containerized coal trains. They are also used as bankers
Bank engine
A bank engine or helper engine or pusher engine is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a grade...
to help trains up the steep grade out of Picton
Picton, New Zealand
Picton is a town in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It is close to the head of Queen Charlotte Sound near the north-east corner of the South Island. The population was 2928 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 72 from 2001...
.
, only three DQ locomotives are in service (all in the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
); the remaining QR units that were not rebuilt have been sold after lengthy periods of storage at the Hutt Workshops
Hutt Workshops
The Hutt Railway Workshops is a major railway engineering facility in the Lower Hutt suburb of Gracefield in the Wellington region of New Zealand’s North Island...
. DQ 6347 was toppled on its side after derailing at Picton in late 2009, it was then sent to Hutt Workshops for repair. Little work had been done on it for months, however it has since been repaired and returned to service. DQ 6376 is out of service after it derailed, caused by hitting a slip while on a freight train south of Kaikoura in June 2011.
Exports to Tasmania
In 1998 Tranz RailTranz Rail
Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Ltd , was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003.- Formation :...
began to export locomotives to Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
for use on TasRail
TasRail
Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978...
, then part-owned by Tranz Rail. In total, twelve DQ were exported, along with three unrebuilt QR class.
Class register
| QR no. | TMS no. | TasRail no. | Allocated to | Current livery | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1460 | DQ 6382 | South Island | Tranz Rail Blue | In service | ||
| 1462 | QR 2027 | Stored Mount Vernon, Illinois | ||||
| 1465 | DQ 6416 | DQ 2006 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
|||
| 1466 | QR 2033 | DQ 2010 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
|||
| 1467 | DQ 6376 | South Island | Tranz Rail Blue | Out of service after hitting a slip in Kaikoura | ||
| 1468 | DQ 6330 | DQ 2005 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
|||
| 1472 | DQ 6353 | DQ 2008 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
|||
| 1473 | DQ 6324 | South Island | Toll Rail "Corn Cob" | In service | ||
| 1475 | QR 2056 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... . Withdrawn. |
||||
| 1477 | QR 2062 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... . Withdrawn. |
||||
| 1481 | DQ 6347 | South Island | Toll Rail "Corn Cob" | In service | ||
| 1485 | DQ 6399 | DQ 2007 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
|||
| 1488 | QR 2079 | Stored Mount Vernon, Illinois | ||||
| 1489 | QR 2085 | Stored Mount Vernon, Illinois | ||||
| 1491 | DQ 2009 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
||||
| 1493 | QR 2102 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... . Withdrawn. |
||||
| 1495 | DQ 2011 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... . |
||||
| 1497 | DQ 2012 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
||||
| 1499 | Frame only, stored Hutt Workshops. | |||||
| 1500 | Stored Mount Vernon, Illinois | |||||
| 1501 | Stored Mount Vernon, Illinois | |||||
| 1502 | QR 3032 | DQ 2004 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... . |
|||
| 1508 | DQ 6036 | DQ 2003 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
|||
| 1521 | DQ 6007 | DQ 2001 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... . Rebuilt 2010. |
|||
| 1522 | DQ 6013 | DQ 2002 | Sold to TasRail TasRail Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978... |
External links
- TasRail - Class DQ
- TasRail - Class QR
- Queensland Rail - Class 1460
- Queensland Rail - Class 1502
- http://www.railsoc.org.nz/pub/books.htm Parsons, David - New Zealand Railway Motive Power 2002