Ipswich Railway Workshops to the Historic Grandchester Station

Join us as we welcome back Queensland Railways Heritage Steam Locomotive “Bety” BB18 1/4 1089 to a passenger trip on the mainline. It has been more than five years since 1089 was last in service on a Sunshine Express tour and we are looking forward to having her back working in steam.

Locomotive 1089 has special significance as when it entered service for Queensland Railways on the 13^th March 1958 it was the last Steam Locomotive built and placed into mainline service in Australia.

1089 will be taking passengers on a special journey from its home at the Ipswich Railway Workshops to the historic Grandchester Station and back on Sunday the 26^th November 2023.

Following our departure from the Workshops we will travel through the Riverlink Shopping Centre crossing the Bremer River before joining the mainline travelling past the Thomas Street Station at Sadliers Crossing extending to a rambling journey past the historic towns of Wulkuraka, Walloon and Rosewood before travelling through open country and farming land to the Grandchester Railway Station where the first section of railway opened in Queensland in 1865.

Several food vans will be setup at the Grandchester Station for passengers to purchase food and drinks.

Our last trip back in October sold out in three days so secure your tickets onboard now so you don’t miss out! 

PASSENGER COMFORT

Our special Steam Train trips utilise wooden bodied carriages from the QR Heritage Fleet many of which are more than 100 years old. Unfortunately, one of the design and construction differences between these carriages and the carriages utilised today is the narrow width of many of the seats.

For your comfort and for that of our other travelling passengers we ask that if you feel it may not be possible for two passengers to be seated comfortably “side-by-side” in these narrow seats please purchase an additional ticket (at a child’s ticket price) allowing a single person to be allocated the full use of the seat.

MOBILITY

Due to the heritage nature of our carriages, access and egress from the carriages requires the ability to climb stairs and safely negotiate the gap between the platform and the carriage. Some of the platforms are much shorter than our trains which may necessitate walking through a number of carriages when boarding or alighting. These points should be considered by passengers who may have mobility issues

FARES

Children under 4 travel for free but are not allocated a seat

TIMETABLE

Our journey will commence at the Ipswich Railway Workshops Platform at 9.00am. Passengers are asked to arrive at the workshops and be ready for loading by 8.30am to ensure a smooth departure.

We will arrive at the Grandchester Station at 10.00am. We will have a 1.5hr dwell at Grandchester before our departure at 11.38am. Our train will arrive back at the Ipswich Railway Workshops Platform at 12.15pm.

The times supplied are subject to alteration in the event of changes to Queensland Rail’s Citytrain Operational Timetable and may be reviewed in the event of alterations to planned maintenance work.