| Weight – Loco | 153t |
| Length | 90ft |
| Driving Wheels | 4ft 3ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 200psi Superheated |
| Cylinders | Four Outside – 13¾in x 26in |
| Tractive Effort | 32,770lbf |
This locomotive was built by Beyer Peacock in Manchester in 1950 for the Queensland Railways. It was one of a batch of ten made by Beyer Peacock who subcontracted the remaining twenty to Société Franco-Belge, in France because there was a full order book for work in Manchester.
The Beyer-Garratt class are a type of steam locomotive that is articulated in three parts. Its boiler is mounted on the centre frame, and two steam engines are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of the boiler. Articulation permits larger locomotives to negotiate curves and lighter rails that might restrict large rigid-framed locomotives. Many Garratt designs aimed to double the power of the largest conventional locomotives operating on their railways, thus reducing the need for multiple locomotives and crews.
The initial plan had been to use these engines on the proposed air-conditioned trains that were being designed at the time but this never happened. They did regularly haul The Midlander, mainly between Emerald and Bogantungan for some years and were used on the Rockhampton Mail and Sunshine Express in the early 1950s.
The locomotives were trialled on the Brisbane to Toowoomba line but they were soon withdrawn from this section due to problems with limited clearances in the tunnels. They were used extensively on North Coast Line between Brisbane and Rockhampton. By 1956, this working had become restricted to mainly north of Bundaberg. They did not work north of St Lawrence on the North Coast Line. On the Central West Line they initially ran between Rockhampton and Emerald, and from 1957 their range was extended to Bogantungan.
A few were based at Mayne until 1955 and some at North Bundaberg until 1956, when all were allocated to Rockhampton. In later years they worked Moura coal trains via Mount Morgan, prior to the opening of the short line to Gladstone. One of their last regular tasks was on limestone trains between Tarcoola and Gladstone.
This locomotive was placed on display at the Central Queensland Industries Fair in Rockhampton and Emerald during 1950. It was also featured in the Queensland Railways Centenary celebrations of 1965.
The increasing use of diesels saw resulted in mass withdrawals of these engines with 22 being withdrawn from service in 1968 and the rest followed a year later.
This locomotive was selected to represent the class in preservation at the Queensland Railways Steam Locomotive Museum at Redbank. It was cosmetically restored before being placed on display at Redbank in 1970 where it remained until 1992.
In 1992 the Redbank Museum was closed and most of the exhibits placed in secure storage, pending the opening of The Workshops at Ipswich in 2002. This locomotive was restored for operation by Queensland Rail and returned to traffic in 1995.
After the locomotive developed boiler problems it was withdrawn from service awaiting repairs and is now stored at The Workshop railway museum at Ipswich.
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