"Project 106" - Restoration of Steam Loco No. 106

No. 106 was written off the books on 28th May 1964, having clocked up 1,134,533 miles (1.8 million km)! Now back in her hometown & re-named the "Pride of Toowoomba", DownsSteam's talented team of volunteers are committed to restoring No. 106 to operational order.  Once complete in late 2021, loco 106 will be able to once again impart the pleasure of roaming the Darling Downs and the Granite Belt behind a majestic steam locomotive proudly built & restored in Toowoomba!

Major Sponsor - Clive Berghofer

No. 106 - Southern Cross Works Build 28

Only one loco (No. 106) escaped the scrapper’s torch due to its originality and was placed in the Redbank Rail Museum. No. 106 was built by the Toowoomba Foundry Company in 1914 and is a significant and important part of Toowoomba’s rich railway history as she assisted the official “Drayton Deviation” opening train pulled by No. 694 "Lady MacGregor"; in 1915. No. 106 returned to Toowoomba on 26th of October 2001 and was temporarily stored at Moore Trailers in Pittsworth before being relocated to the newly developed 'Drayton' site. With the exemption of a C17 cab, electric lighting, extra air reservoirs and coal boards on the tender, No. 106 is still the way she was built.  No. 106 spent much of her career in Southern Division, but worked for at least five years in Townsville and finished her career at Cairns.

C16 Class Background

The C16 class was designed in 1903 as an improved 4-8-0 loco for Queensland. The C16 class totalled 152 locos that served in Queensland. In the early 1920’s further developments of the basic design resulted in a new class which was introduced as the C17 “Brown Bombers”. Originally the C16 class had been intended to haul livestock and was painted black, but once in service they were assigned other duties. Three locomotives were used on the Sydney Mail run and were especially painted; No.427 (brown), No.428 (blue) and No.429 (green). Builders: Ipswich Railway Works (51); Evans, Anderson, Phelan & Co (41); Walkers Limited (45); and Toowoomba Foundry (15).