SDS MODELS HOn3.5 QR 1620 Class Locomotive #1639 Late Scheme 1970 – 1980s SDS MODELS

SDS MODELS HON3.5 QR 1620 CLASS LOCOMOTIVE #1639 LATE SCHEME 1970 – 1980S

In the late early 1960’s Queensland Railways placed an order for 18 for 34 units, contracted over 3 batches. Class-leader 1620 was delivered to QR on 4th January 1967, and the last unit built (1653) entered service on 5th May 1969. They followed the design styling of the New Zealand D1 class built by English Electric in the mid 1960s, these were a departure of the classic English diesel look of earlier units.

The 1620 Class was powered by an 862 hp 6-cylinder EE 6CSRKT engine which through improvements to air and fuel intake was able to produce an extra 30 hp compared to the earlier 1600 Class. Other improvements over the 1600 Class were low weight transfer bogies and automatic couplers.

The first nine 1620’s delivered were sent to the Northern Division and based at Cairns and Townsville where they displaced the 1170 Class on branch line duties.. The Cairns based 1620’s began working trains between Cairns and Mareeba, as well as the branches of the Atherton Tablelands. Kuranda tourist trains were exclusively hauled by 1620’s up until the early 1990’s.

In the Central Division the 1620’s were largely based in Rockhampton, and during the sugar season in Mackay. They often worked the “Midlander” between Emerald and Winton, typically in multiple with a 1600 Class leading on the Drummond Range section as far as Alpha. The 1600s and 1620s worked all of the Central Division branches, occasionally in multiple on cattle and grain specials.

For the majority their career with QR, the 1620 Class saw very little use in the Southern Division, although 1645 had been used for several years in the mid-1970s on trains on Brisbane’s southside. In the later years of their service 1620-1623 subsequently appeared on almost all of the Southern Division branches.

By the early 1990’s most of the remaining branch lines in the Northern Division were closed, and those in the Central Division were upgraded to accommodate 90 ton diesels. The remaining 1620s were then sent to Mayne, where they joined 1620-1623 on Southern Division branches and local goods trains. The reduced need for 60-ton class locomotives and coupled with a decision by QR to withdraw all English Electric locomotive types from its fleet, resulted in retirement of the 1620 class by late December 1995.

After retirement from QR service, several were sold to a private operator for service in the Philippines and Malaysia. Many of the class have been scrapped, however six have been preserved. In 1996 Mary Valley Heritage Railway at Gympie purchased 1632, 1639 and 1649. 1632 was restored to operational standard, and remains operational at Gympie with Rattler Railway Company. In 2008, Queensland Rail restored class-leader 1620 to working order for use in heritage operations and now wears its original 1967 paint scheme. During 2021, 1620 was placed into storage at Ipswich due to the deterioration of the electrical wiring. 1650 and 1651 also remain stored at Ipswich.

Model Features:
– Highly detailed Ready-to-Run 1/87 scale model
– Available in HOn3.5 gauge
– Precisely tooled body
– Genuine Kadee scale head whisker coupler 
– Separately applied handrails and detail parts
– All wheel electrical pickup
– LED head lights
– Models are equipped with an MTC 21 pin motherboard 
– 18″ Minimum radius recommended