Queensland Government Railway No. 967

Queensland Government Railway No. 967 is a class C17, 4-8-0 built by Walkers Limited in 1950 for the Queensland Government Railway.
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. Following retirement, No. 967 was initially placed in a park at Bulcock Beach, Caloundra for the Caloundra Rotary Club, however it has made a number of subsequent moves around Australia during its preservation career.
In 1985, No.967 was purchased by the Ghan Preservation Society and transported to their base near Alice Springs, Northern Territory, where it was exhibited as the gatekeeper outside their MacDonnell station and workshop precinct. This acquisition reflected the fact that the Commonwealth Railways NM class 4-8-0’s (which used to work the famous Ghan train to Alice Springs) were copies of the Queensland Government Railways C17's class (albeit the original 1920 design rather than the modernised 1950 design) and accordingly No.967 provided some reference to The Ghan’s historical motive power.
On August 22, 2007 No. 967 was purchased by the Mary Valley Heritage Railway (MVHR) and by late -2007 it had moved to Gympie. Here it was repainted to lined black livery and added to the MVHR stud of C17 locomotives running tourist trains on The Valley Rattler operation between Gympie and Imbil. The Valley Rattler train recommenced operation in 2019 after a period of maintenance and upgrade of railway infrastructure on the Gympie - Imbil branch. No. 967 had been laid-up in the Gympie loco shed (together with other MVHR locomotives) during the shutdown, but was overhauled and returned to service in 2019 as flagship for the renewed MVHR operation.
As of Today the locomotive operates on the Mary Valley Heritage Railway.
==Trivia==
*In January 2023, the locomotive came to the historic Gympie Station to celebrate the very special centenary birthday of Sister locomotive No. 45 which first started service in January 1923, and was one of Queensland’s oldest surviving C17 steam engines.
*A third move came in 2000 when No. 967 was purchased by Beaudesert Rail and moved to Beaudesert, south of Brisbane, where it was restored to operation in early 2003 for use on Beaudesert - Logan tourist trains. No. 967 wore lined blue livery during this period of operation for Beaudesert Rail. Unfortunately the Beaudesert Rail operation failed after a short period and during March 2006 No. 967 was moved to the Ipswich Railway Workshops for storage.
*In early 2007 Queensland Rail invited tenders for the purchase and removal of No. 967 from Ipswich Railway Workshops.
*The Valley Rattler train recommenced operation in 2019 after a period of maintenance and upgrade of railway infrastructure on the Gympie - Imbil branch. No. 967 had been laid-up in the Gympie loco shed (together with other MVHR locomotives) during the shutdown, but was overhauled and returned to service in 2019 as flagship for the renewed MVHR operation.
Category:Australian Locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Built in 1950
Category:Eight-coupled locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:4-8-0 steam locomotives
Category:4-8-0 locomotives
Category:Australian Steam Locomotives
Category:Queensland Locomotives