Website: Brad Peadon
Lists: Bradly Coulter
Photos: Both Brads.
December 2025
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The 1200 class locomotives were once the glamorous workhorses of Queensland Rail, dragging The Sunlander up and down the coast between Brisbane and Cairns, hauling The Westlander out to Roma, and lugging The Inlander from Townsville to Mount Isa — basically doing all the hard yakka while passengers pretended to enjoy dining-car food.
In 1961, someone decided the 1200s should look a bit more stylish (or maybe just stop blinding the drivers), so they slapped on sun visors. Yes, sun visors — the pinnacle of locomotive fashion. Sadly, by the late 1970s, when they needed heavy overhauls, QR took one look at the bill and said, “Ah, actually… no,” and quietly shunted them off the roster.
Locomotive 1200 itself has survived the great culling and now sits preserved by the Australian Railway Historical Society at Redbank Railway Workshops — presumably wondering when someone is finally going to give it a wash.
Then there's 1208, which in 1984 received what can only be described as a full identity crisis. Using parts from 1250 class locomotives 1252 and 1253, it got a bigger 1,145 kW (1,540 hp) engine and a body makeover so drastic it practically needed its own reality show. After the transformation, it looked more like a 1250 class and even reminded some people of a Brazilian RFN Class 700 — because why not? It was renamed 1225, nicknamed “Hybrid,” and soldiered on until 1987, bravely proving that spare-parts engineering can work… at least for a few years.
| 1200 CLASS | |
|---|---|
| Road Numbers | 1200 - 1209 |
| Builder | English Electric, Bradford |
| Model | n/a |
| Engine | EE 12SVT MkII |
| Gauge | Narrow 1067mm |
| Wheels | Co-Co |
| Power | 1290HP (960kW) |
| Length | 16713mm |
| Mass | 88t |
| Loco | Build # | Entry | W/Drawn | Owner | Staus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1200 | 1905-D146 | 7/21/1953 | 7/3/1977 | QLD ARHS | Stored Preserved |
| 1201 | 1906-D147 | 7/3/1953 | 5/5/1978 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 05/1984 |
| 1202 | 1907-D148 | 12/11/1953 | 11/9/1971 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 01/1991 |
| 1203 | 1908-D149 | 12/10/1953 | 1/17/1980 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 01/1991 |
| 1204 | 1909-D150 | 12/3/1953 | 9/2/1981 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 01/1986 |
| 1205 | 1910-D151 | 1/26/1954 | 8/19/1978 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 04/1984 |
| 1206 | 1911-D152 | 2/16/1954 | 7/6/1983 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 08/1985 |
| 1207 | 1912-D153 | 9/2/1954 | 7/27/1979 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 08/1985 |
| 1208 | 1913-D154 | 3/8/1954 | 11/16/1987 | Privately Owned | Preserved as 1225 |
| 1209 | 1914-D155 | 4/5/1954 | 1/26/1978 | Queensland Rail | Scrapped 03/1986 |
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208 (1225)
1209
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Graham Ahern, Phil Barker, John Dennis, Bill Dunn, John Elsol, Noel Forster, Ken Lewis,Ray McDermott, Phil Melling, Noel Michael, Peter Neve, Brad Peadon, Bob Richardson, and Graham Watkins.
Interested in everything that we publish online?
A huge amount of locomotive content from the 80s till today can be found on our Link Tree site.
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Kids With Cancer Foundation Website.
Started to help the kids & their families.
$50,000+ raised.
Destroyed by one railfan.
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