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 NC1 on a work train near Orroroo in 1996 | |||||||||||||||
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The NC class were a class of diesel-hydraulic locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Lakewood Firewood Company, Kalgoorlie in 1956 and later sold to the Commonwealth Railways.
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| NC1 on a work train near Orroroo in 1996 | |||||||||||||||
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The NC class were a class of diesel-hydraulic locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Lakewood Firewood Company, Kalgoorlie in 1956 and later sold to the Commonwealth Railways.
Clyde Engineering advertised the DH series as a light purpose shunt and mainline locomotive, mainly for light railways and sugar cane service. The design allowed for multiple unit operation, the installation of dynamic brakes and a combination of air and vacuum braking systems. [1] Similar, though smaller versions were being built by Clyde. These were the DH1-71 series and totaled 33. [2]
A single General Motors 6/110 two stroke diesel engine provided power through an Allison CRT5630 hydraulic transmission to mechanically coupled wheels. Cabs consisted of two control consoles, both facing the same direction. Maximum design speed was 60 km/h.
The Lakewood Firewood Company (LFC) provided timber to the various mines in the "Golden Mile" region of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Its operations extended to the south and east of Kalgoorlie. This area covered from Kalgoorlie to Lake Lefroy and the Eyre Highway. [3]
At the time of ordering, the LFC were using an aging fleet of small steam locomotives. But by the time the locomotives were delivered, the company were in the middle of a rapid decline for demand for wood as mines closed or switched power sources.
By the time they were delivered, traffic on the LFC network had fallen from two trains a day, to two trains a week. Their introduction led to the end of steam operations on the railway, although they were unpopular with crews "only because they were die-hard steam men". [3] By 1962, the company employed less than 50 people, a far cry from the 550 employed at its peak. The last train ran in December 1964, to clean up the system. All of its rollingstock, except the two diesels, were scrapped.
Commonwealth Railways purchased the two locomotives in 1965. LFC1 was renumbered NC1 and spent time in Port Augusta workshops where the braking systems were modified for the Westinghouse air brake systems, the modified air intake system was removed. In November 1966 it was shipped north to Darwin, where it was employed as yard shunter on the North Australia Railway. It returned south in 1972. [4]
NC2 was used as yard shunter in Port Augusta until 1970, until NB30, returned from duties on the Hawker line. Subsequently, NC1 replaced NB30 as yard shunter in 1972, with NC2 being used as a source of spare parts.
In July 1975 both were included in the transfer of the Commonwealth Railways to Australian National.
By 1982, NC1 had become more or less obsolete. The need to maintain a narrow gauge yard shunter at Port Augusta had diminished with the closure of the Central Australia Railway in 1980. In July 1982, NC2 was sold to the Pichi Richi Railway, [5] and in 1985, NC1 was transferred to the now defunct Steamtown. [6]
NC1 remained in Port Augusta until 1985. Australian National approached Steamtown to gauge availability of a number of tanker wagons that had been collected in Peterborough. At the time, Australian National was handling increasing quantities of Mereenie Crude oil. A deal was struck that saw Steamtown exchange its tanker wagons for NC1 with the locomotive arriving in Peterborough on 15 April 1985. [7]
NC1 went on to be the pivotal engine for the organisation. It hauled a number of passenger trains when steam was not available, was often seen running work trains on the line, and when not hauling passenger trains, provided back up power and braking capacity.
Whilst assisting with the recovery of W901, which had derailed in Eurelia Yard in early 1988, the "rear drive assembly" seized, and required major work. This was reported as being completed by mid-1991. [8] [9]
Steamtown initially painted the locomotive in the "Invisible Green" scheme associated with the Peterborough Division, but in 1998, it was repainted in Commonwealth Railways livery [10] The locomotive is today part of the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre in Peterborough.
In July 1982, NC2 was railed to Stirling North and transferred to the Pichi Richi Railway, Quorn.
It was stripped of its motor and other mechanical devices, and "child-proofed". It was repainted in LFC colours and in November 1982, was trucked to Port Lincoln, where she replaced Yx141 as a playground fixture in Hermitage Park. [11]
Despite being described as a "public toilet", [12] NC2 remains in Port Lincoln. During 2008, the Council undertook work to enclose the cab and to tidy the hulk for child safety purposes.
| Locomotive | Entered service | Owner | Status |
| LFC1 - NC1 | 1956 | District Council of Peterborough | In Store Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre |
| LFC2 - NC2 | 1956 | City of Port Lincoln | Displayed Hermitage Park, Port Lincoln |
Quorn is a small town and railhead in the Flinders Ranges in the north of South Australia, 39 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Port Augusta. At the 2016 census, the locality had a population of 1,230, of which 1,131 lived in its town centre.
The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society (PRRPS) is a non-profit railway preservation society and operating museum formed in 1973. The society, managed and staffed by volunteer members, operates heritage steam and diesel trains on the restored 39 kilometre section of track between Quorn and Port Augusta in South Australia.
The former Central Australia Railway, which was built between 1878 and 1929 and closed in 1980, was a 1,241 km (771 mi) 1067 mm narrow gauge railway between Port Augusta and Alice Springs. A standard gauge line duplicated the southern section from Port Augusta to Maree in 1957 on a new nearby alignment. The entire Central Australia Railway was superseded in 1980 after the standard gauge Tarcoola–Alice Springs Railway was opened, using a new route up to 200 km to the west. A small southern section of the original line between Port Augusta and Quorn has been preserved as the Pichi Richi Tourist Railway.
The first railway in colonial South Australia was a horse-drawn tramway from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854. Today the state has 1,600 mm broad gauge suburban railways in Adelaide, a number of country freight lines, as well as key 1,435 mm standard gauge links to other states.
The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the eastern states, the line is strategically important.
The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975.
The Steamtown Peterborough Railway Preservation Society Inc. was a not-for-profit incorporated society which operated a heritage steam railway from Peterborough, South Australia, north along a section of the Peterborough to Quorn railway line, between 1977 and 2002. The society based its operations on the former South Australian Railways Peterborough roundhouse and purpose-built sheds and yard at Peterborough West.
Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it.
The WAGR W class was a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between 1951 and 1972.
The Commonwealth Railways NSU class was a class of diesel-electric locomotives built in 1954 and 1955 by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, England, for the Commonwealth Railways for use on the narrow-gauge Central Australia Railway and North Australia Railway.
The NT class were a class of diesel locomotives built by Tulloch Limited, Rhodes for Commonwealth Railways for use on the Central and North Australia Railways between 1965 and 1968.
The Commonwealth Railways NM class locomotive was a class of 4-8-0 locomotives of the Commonwealth Railways, Australia. The class operated on 1,067 mm narrow gauge lines in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
The 500 class were a class of diesel locomotives built by Islington Railway Workshops for the South Australian Railways between 1951 and 1953 using English Electric traction equipment.
The Commonwealth Railways NB class originated in a shipment of four 0-6-0, 1067 mm gauge, saddle tank steam locomotives imported to Australia in 1916 from the Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Their first use was in constructing a naval base in Western Australia. In 1925 two of them were acquired by the Commonwealth Railways, transferred to Quorn, South Australia, and numbered as NB29 and NB30.
The South Australian Railways T class was a class of 4-8-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
The South Australian Railways W/Wx class was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways and some by the Commonwealth Railways.
Port Augusta railway station is a rail station located on the Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line in Port Augusta, South Australia.
Quorn railway station was located on the Central Australia Railway serving the South Australian town of Quorn.
The Silverton Tramway W class was a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Silverton Tramway Company.
The Peterborough–Quorn railway line was a 3 ft 6 in railway line on the South Australian Railways network. Located in the upper Mid North of South Australia, it opened from Peterborough to Orroroo on 23 November 1881, being extended to Quorn on 22 May 1882.