Exports To Tasmania
In 1998, Tasmanian rail operator TasRail, owned by Tranz Rail and its parent company Wisconsin Central, was suffering from a motive power shortage. As a result, it bought eight 1460 class rebuilt for it, and Tranz Rail DQ 6007, 6353 and 6330, and QR 3032. All were rebuilt and repainted in the new red and yellow TasRail livery.
They were tested on the North Island Main Trunk, receiving temporary TMS numbers that might have become permanent had they remained in New Zealand. The first two, DQ2001 and DQ2002, were loaded on the MV Polar Queen in mid-1998; the last group of locomotives arrived in 1999, along with four other ex-Tranz Rail locomotives and two rebuilt ex-Westrail D class locomotives.
QR class 2056, 2065 and 2102 were also sent to Tasmania, initially on loan, with DC4588. All were later purchased by TasRail, but retained their Tranz Rail Cato Blue livery, the only change being the substitution of TasRail for Tranz Rail on the hood logo. In 2013 the QR class were stored at East Tamar Locomotive Depot in a stripped state, with proposals to convert them to DQ class or sell them for scrap, as with 4588.
The DQ class has not been overly reliable in Tasmania either, although de-rating the prime movers resulted in slightly better reliability. 2001 was rebuilt by TasRail and received its new charcoal grey and yellow livery.
Read more about this topic: NZR DQ Class