Victorian Railways C class (diesel)

Victorian Railways C class

C501 at the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre in December 2007

Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder Clyde Engineering, Rosewater Model Electro-Motive Diesel GT26CW Build date 1977/78 Total produced 10

Specifications UIC class Co-Co Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in), 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Length 20.73 m (68 ft 0 in) Loco weight 135 tonnes (133 long tons; 149 short tons) Fuel type Diesel Fuel capacity 10,130 L (2,230 imp gal; 2,680 US gal) Prime mover Electro-Motive Diesel 16-645-E3 Engine type V16 diesel engine Aspiration Turbocharged Alternator Electro-Motive Diesel AR-10 alternator Traction motors D77/78 DC, 6 of Cylinders 16 Cylinder size (? x ?)

Performance figures Maximum speed 133 km/h (83 mph) Power output 2,237 kW (3,000 hp)

Career Operators Victorian Railways Number in class 10 Numbers C501-C510 First run 14 May 1977 Preserved C501 Current owner CFCL Australia Southern Shorthaul Railroad Disposition 9 stored, 1 preserved

The C Class are a class of diesel locomotive built by Clyde Engineering, Rosewater for the Victorian Railways in 1977/78.

History

Silverton Rail Cs1 in July 1998

Southern Shorthaul Railroad C503 on Kooragang Island in January 2011

The C class were purchased by the Victorian Railways for heavy freight haulage. They are fitted with safety cabs. Initially the first four were placed on the North East line to haul services from Melbourne to Albury while the latter six were put on the broad gauge to haul services on the Serviceton line. Following upgrades to the infrastructure they were also able to operate on the Ballarat to Geelong line and from January 1982 through to Adelaide with the standard gauge units transferred to the broad gauge.^[1]

In September 1988, two were transferred back to the standard gauge and began to operate services through to Sydney.^[2][3]

Following the Melbourne-Adelaide railway being closed for gauge conversion, all remaining broad gauge units were converted to standard gauge and operated services from Melbourne to Parkes until the converted line reopened in July 1995. All were transferred by V/Line to National Rail in June 1995.^[4]

Following the delivery of National Rail's NR class locomotives, the C class were put into storage at Junee Locomotive Depot in 1997 before being moved to Islington Railway Workshops, Adelaide.^[5][6] Unlike the other locomotives National Rail initially used, ownership of the C class passed to National Rail.^[7] In August 1999 two were repainted in National Rail livery and returned to service as Melbourne shunters.^[8]

The class was then sold with one going to Seymour Railway Heritage Centre and the other nine to Allco Rail with two leased to Pacific National and seven to Silverton Rail as the Cs class.^[4] Following the collapse of Allco Finance three were sold to Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia and six to Greentrains in January 2008 with all resuming their original identities.^[9][10][11] In April 2016, the six Greentrains units were sold to Southern Shorthaul Railroad.^[12]

Locomotives

Locomotive	Name	Entered service	Owner	Operator	Livery	Status
C501	George Brown	14 May 1977	Seymour Railway Heritage Centre	Qube Logistics	VR Blue & gold	Preserved Operational
C502		22 June 1977	CFCL Australia	Qube Logistics	CFCLA Blue & yellow	Stored Goulburn
C503		19 July 1977	CFCL Australia	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	SSR yellow & black	Stored Goulburn
C504		18 August 1977	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	Qube Logistics	Blue & yellow	Stored Lithgow
C505		13 September 1977	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	Sydney Rail Services	Blue & yellow	Stored Lithgow
C506		6 October 1977	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	Sydney Rail Services	Greentrains Green & yellow	Stored Lithgow
C507		4 November 1977	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	Sydney Rail Services	Blue & yellow	Stored Lithgow
C508		16 December 1977	CFCL Australia	Qube Logistics	CFCLA Blue & yellow	Stored Goulburn
C509		10 March 1978	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	Sydney Rail Services	Greentrains Green & yellow	Stored Lithgow
C510		11 July 1978	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	Qube Logistics	Greentrains Green & yellow	Stored Lithgow

References

1. Oberg, Leon (1984). Locomotives of Australia 1850s - 1980s. Frenchs Forest: Reed Books. p. 288. ISBN 0-730100-05-7.
2. "C Class" Railway Digest October 1988 page 378
3. "C Class" Railway Digest November 1988 page 406
4. C Class diesel electric locomotives Mark Bau's VR website
5. Antony Fitzgerald (April 2000). "The Dash 9 in Australia: National Rail's NR class". Australian Model Railway Magazine. p. 27.
6. Railway Digest October 1998 page 41
7. "One Nation - A retrospective and perspective" Railway Digest August 1997 page 21
8. Railway Digest October 1999 page 4
9. C Class (C501 - C510) Railpage
10. C Class Vicsig
11. "The 80 Class in Private Operation" Motive Power issue 80 March 2012 page 33
12. Disposal of Greentrains rollingstock Engenco 28 April 2016

External links

Media related to Victorian Railways C class diesel locomotives at Wikimedia Commons