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 703 on delivery to the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide by donor One Rail Australia, January 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 700 class is a class of six diesel-electric locomotives based on the Alco DL500G model, built by AE Goodwin, Auburn, New South Wales for the South Australian Railways. They are virtually identical to the New South Wales 442 class locomotive.
The locomotives, built in 1971 and 1972, operated on all main lines in South Australia and interstate to Broken Hill and Melbourne. [1] [2]
The first three were delivered on 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge bogies and the latter three on 1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge bogies. All were initially delivered in the South Australian Railways' red and silver colour scheme. The three standard-gauge locomotives were soon repainted in the South Australian Railways' "mustard pot" colour scheme (orange with brown lining and silver bogies).[ citation needed ]
In 1975, 703 was damaged when a bridge at Crystal Brook collapsed and was repaired at Islington Workshops. [1]
In 1978, all six locomotives were included in the transfer of the South Australian Railways non-metropolitan assets to the Australian National Railways Commission. 703 was transferred back to broad gauge in 1979, to help cover the withdrawal of the first of the 900 class. After the Adelaide to Port Pirie railway line was converted to standard gauge in 1982, all four broad gauge locomotives were converted to standard gauge, marking the first time the entire class was on the same gauge. [1]
In 1986, a new Australian National Railways computer system required the class leaders of the former SAR fleet to be renumbered as the last member of the class; thus 700 became 706. [3] During 1987, all six locomotives were transferred to broad gauge to cover a locomotive shortfall as the older 930 class was withdrawn.[ citation needed ]
In 1994, 702 caught fire near Blackwood; it was scrapped in 1997. [4]
After the conversion to standard gauge of the Adelaide-Melbourne railway line in 1995, all of the remaining 700 class were converted to standard gauge. [5]
In 1997, the remaining five units were included in the sale of Australian National assets to Australian Southern Railroad. 706 was transferred back to broad gauge in 2000 to work on the daily Penrice stone train. Several years later it suffered a mechanical failure and was not repaired; in 2022 its engine unit was sold to the Australian Locomotive and Railway Carriage Company and its (broad-gauge) bogies were donated to the National Railway Museum, to be placed under 703's body, which One Rail Australia had donated. 704 was transferred to broad gauge to replace it, running until 2014, when it was stored after the Penrice stone train service ceased. [1]
The remaining three locomotives (701, 703 and 705) were mostly used on intrastate grain trains (together with GM and 22 class locomotives), especially on the lightly laid branch lines from Tailem Bend to Loxton and Pinnaroo, where more powerful but heavier locomotives were unable to go. They were also used as banker locomotives to assist trains up the steep grades of the Adelaide to Tailem Bend railway line. 701 was named Tailem Bend in 2014. In 2015, after the Loxton and Pinnaroo branch lines closed, 701 and 703 were stored in serviceable condition. 705 had suffered a major mechanical failure earlier in the year, and was deemed to be not economically repairable.[ citation needed ]
Locomotive 701 was transferred to Tailem Bend in July 2022 by Aurizon for operational use by ALRCC. It ran a test trial to Tintinara in November 2022 and was used during May-June 2023 to transfer Steamrail Victoria and V/Line carriages to different groups in Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. [6]
Locomotive 704 was donated to SteamRanger Heritage Railway by One Rail Australia and delivered to Mount Barker in August 2022 for eventual revenue service. [7]
Locomotive 703, also donated by One Rail Australia, was delivered to the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, in January 2023 as a significant display item and for shunt duties.[ citation needed ]
Locomotive 705 was delivered to the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre in August 2023.[ citation needed ]
As of October 2023 [update] , the disposition of the remaining five 700 class locomotives was as follows: [8] [9]
| No. | Owner | Location | Since | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 701 | Australian Locomotive and Railway Carriage Company (ALRCC) | Tailem Bend | Jul 2022 | Test trips in Victoria, returning to Tailem Bend with four ex-VicRail N type passenger cars, May–June 2023 |
| 703 | National Railway Museum | National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide | Jan 2023 | Donated by One Rail Australia |
| 704 | SteamRanger Heritage Railway | SteamRanger Heritage Railway Workshops, Mt Barker | Aug 2022 | Donated by One Rail Australia |
| 705 | Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre | Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre, Peterborough | Aug 2023 | Donated by One Rail Australia |
| 706 | Components: Aurizon, NRM, ALRCC | See note. | Jul 2022 | Body: Aurizon Motive Power Centre, Dry Creek. Bogies: National Railway Museum. Engine unit: ORA Motive Power Centre pending move to ALARC, Tailem Bend. |
Tailem Bend is a rural town in South Australia, 85 kilometres south-east of the state capital of Adelaide. It is located on the lower reaches of the River Murray, near where the river flows into Lake Alexandrina. It is linear in layout since it is constrained by river cliffs on its western side and the Adelaide–Melbourne railway line is dominant on its eastern side. The town grew and consolidated through being a large railway centre between the 1890s and 1990s; now it continues to service regional rural communities. In the 2021 census, Tailem Bend and the surrounding area had a population of 1,705.
Rail transport in the Australian state of South Australia is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 1435 mm standard gauge links to other states, the 1600 mm broad gauge suburban railways in Adelaide, a freight-only branch from Dry Creek to Port Adelaide and Pelican Point, a narrow-gauge gypsum haulage line on the Eyre Peninsula, and both copper–gold concentrate and coal on the standard-gauge line in the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor north of Tarcoola.
The BL class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Rosewater, for Australian National between 1983 and 1986. All but BL35 remain in service with Pacific National.
Gauge conversion is the changing of one railway track gauge to another.
The C Class are a class of diesel locomotive built by Clyde Engineering, Rosewater for the Victorian Railways in 1977–1978.
The Adelaide–Wolseley railway line is a 313 kilometre line running from Adelaide to Wolseley on the Australian Rail Track Corporation network. It is the South Australian section of the Melbourne–Adelaide railway.
The South Australian Railways 930 class was a class of diesel-electric locomotives built for the South Australian Railways between 1955 and 1967 by AE Goodwin, Auburn, New South Wales, the Australian licensee of the American Locomotive Company (Alco). Based on the Alco DL500B World series model, they were fitted with Alco 12-251B four-stroke V12 turbocharged diesel engines that developed 1600 horsepower for traction. The first six of the class had a driving cab at one end only; the remaining 31 locomotives had two. The latter series, up-rated, were the basis of the almost identical New South Wales 44 class, of which 100 were built from 1957.
The 600 class are a class of diesel-electric locomotives manufactured by AE Goodwin, Auburn for the South Australian Railways between 1965 and 1970.
The 500 class were a class of South Australian Railways diesel shunter locomotives built at Islington Railway Workshops between 1964 and 1969.
The Silverton Tramway 48s class are a class of diesel locomotives built by AE Goodwin, Auburn for the Silverton Tramway in 1960–1961. The State Rail Authority 48 class and South Australian Railways 830 class are of a very similar design.
The 900 class were a class of diesel locomotives built by Islington Railway Workshops for the South Australian Railways between 1951 and 1953.
The Pinnaroo railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It ran east from the Adelaide to Melbourne line at Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo near the South Australia / Victoria state border. The route continues into Victoria via the Victorian Railways line to Ouyen, where it joined the Mildura line.
The Barmera railway line was the second railway built to develop the Murray Mallee region of South Australia, in 1913. It followed the success of the Pinnaroo railway line in 1906. Both lines branched east from Tailem Bend to the north of the main Melbourne–Adelaide railway. The Brown's Well line was the more northerly, and extended into country which had not been developed much before the railway, partly due to the absence of any viable transport route for produce. The original terminus of the Brown's Well railway was at Meribah, not far from the Victorian border.
The South Australian Railways 700 class was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
The South Australian Railways 710 class was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
Tailem Bend railway station is located on the Adelaide-Wolseley line in Tailem Bend, South Australia. It is also the junction point for the Loxton and Pinnaroo lines.
Port Pirie railway station (Mary Elie Street) was the fifth of six railway stations for passengers that operated at various times from 1876 to serve the small maritime town (later city) of Port Pirie, 216 kilometres (134 miles) by rail north of Adelaide, South Australia. As with several of Port Pirie's other stations before it, the station was built to accommodate a change of track gauge on railway lines leading into the town.
Between 1936 and 1942, South Australian Railways built 36 steel carriages at its Islington Railway Workshops. All were painted cream and green being repainted maroon and silver in the 1960s. Aside from a few written off after accidents, all passed to Australian National in March 1978.
Eighteen South Australian Railways K class (broad-gauge) locomotives were built by Beyer, Peacock and Company for the South Australian Railways (SAR) between 1878 and 1884. Despite having a fundamental design flaw that affected their original role as light-line passenger locomotives, they eventually performed shunting duties exclusively. They operated for six decades.
Pinnaroo railway station was located on the Pinnaroo railway line from Tailem Bend to Ouyen. It served the town of Pinnaroo.