Tasmanian Government Railways V class | |||||||||||
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![]() VA1 on the Bellarine Railway in May 2014 | |||||||||||
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The Tasmanian Government Railways V class are a class of diesel locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways.
The V class were the first diesel locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) with four delivered in 1948. Built by the Vulcan Foundry to a design by the Drewry Car Company, they were similar to the standard gauge British Rail Class 04. In 1951 a further two were acquired, followed by another two in 1955. Between 1959 and 1968 the TGR built four more at its Launceston Railway Workshops. [1] [2] [3]
Two identical locomotives were purchased by the Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Company in 1953. After closure in 1963, Mount Lyell 2405 was sold to the Emu Bay Railway as number 22, while 2406 went to the TGR as V13. All the TGR locos were withdrawn between 1983 and 1987, however Emu Bay 22 remained in service until 2000. [1] [2]
Two units were downgraded by the installation of a 6 cylinder 6L3 Gardner diesel (instead of the 8 cylinder) and a four speed epicyclic gearbox (instead of five speeds), and reclassified VA. Both V1 & V8 were thus converted, although VA8 was later converted back to standard configuration, with its 6 cylinder engine going to V3.
Ten have been preserved:
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