Commonwealth Railways GM class
| Commonwealth Railways GM class | |||||||||||||||
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 Three Genesee & Wyoming Australia GM class locomotives in April 2008 | |||||||||||||||
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The GM class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Commonwealth Railways in several batches between 1951 and 1967. As at January 2014 some remain in service with Genesee & Wyoming Australia and Southern Shorthaul Railroad.
History
The design was based on the Electro-Motive Diesel EMD F7 locomotive.[1] The first 11 were delivered with EMD 16-567B, 1119 kW engines and four powered axles with the remainder having 16-567C, 1305 kW engines and six powered axles. The final 11 were fitted with dynamic braking.[2]
Delivered to operate on the Trans-Australian Railway, the first entered service in September 1951. Further orders saw 47 in service by December 1967. They operated on all of Commonwealth Railways's standard gauge lines including those to Broken Hill, Alice Springs and Adelaide when converted to standard gauge in 1970, 1980 and 1982 respectively.
In January 1972, three (31, 32 & 34) were loaned to the Victorian Railways for use on the North East line. The latter two were returned in May 1976, the former in November 1976.[3]
In July 1975 all were included in the transfer of Commonwealth Railways to Australian National. In 1979 a few operated to Lithgow, New South Wales on trials, while in October 1983 three (23, 24 & 28) were hired to V/Line returning in October 1985.[3][4]
Apart from one destroyed in an accident in 1985, withdrawals began in 1988.[2] GM1 was placed on a plinth in Port Augusta, GM2 was donated to the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide and GM3 to Clyde Engineering, Kelso.[5] By October 1994 only 15 remained in service.[6] A locomotive shortage saw Australian Southern Railroad return GM1 to service in December 1997.[7]
In 1998 Great Northern Rail Services purchased 12 from Australian Southern Railroad.[8] Most were scrapped for parts with only three returning to service seeing use in Melbourne and Sydney. Following Great Northern ceasing operations in 2003, these were sold to Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia before being resold to Southern Shorthaul Railroad.[2]
In May 2005 Australian Railroad Group forwarded GM30 to Forrestfield workshops to be receive a 2237 kW engine, as fitted to the CLs. The project was never completed and the shell was scrapped.[2][9]
In November 2010 the Department for Infrastructure & Transport placed GM1 in the custody of Rail Heritage WA.[10] In May 2012 Clyde Engineering sold GM3 to Southern Shorthaul Railroad and it was transferred to their Lithgow State Mine Heritage Park & Railway workshop for overhaul.
As at September 2015 most of the Genesee & Wyoming Australia units are stored servicable due to more modern power available for freight services in South Australia while the Southern Shorthaul Railroad units are used on infrastructure trains in New South Wales.[11][12][13][14]
Status table
| Locomotive | Entered Service | Current Owner | Livery | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM1 | September 1951 | Rail Heritage WA | CR Maroon/Silver | Stored, Dry Creek |
| GM2 | November 1951 | National Railway Museum | CR Maroon/Silver | Static Display |
| GM3 | December 1951 | Southern Shorthaul Railroad | CR Maroon/Silver | Stored, Lithgow State Mine Heritage Park & Railway |
| GM4 | January 1952 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM5 | January 1952 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM6 | February 1952 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM7 | March 1952 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM8 | March 1952 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM9 | April 1952 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM10 | June 1952 | Southern Shorthaul Railroad | SSR Yellow | Operational |
| GM11 | July 1952 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM12 | October 1955 | Greentrains | AN Green | Stored, North Bendigo |
| GM13 | November 1955 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM14 | April 1956 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM15 | April 1956 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM16 | July 1956 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM17 | March 1957 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM18 | April 1957 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM19 | May 1957 | Railpower | AN Green | Overhaul, Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre |
| GM20 | June 1957 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM21 | July 1957 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM22 | July 1962 | Southern Shorthaul Railroad | SSR Yellow | Operational |
| GM23 | August 1962 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM24 | September 1962 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM25 | October 1962 | Braidies Tavern Bendigo | AN Green | Stored |
| GM26 | November 1962 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM27 | January 1963 | Southern Shorthaul Railroad | SSR Yellow | Operational |
| GM28 | February 1963 | Seymour Railway Heritage Centre | CR Maroon/Silver | Under overhaul |
| GM29 | March 1963 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM30 | December 1964 | - | Undercoat | Scrapped |
| GM31 | January 1965 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM32 | January 1965 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM33 | March 1965 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM34 | April 1965 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | AN Green | Stored |
| GM35 | April 1966 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM36 | May 1966 | Seymour Railway Heritage Centre | CR Maroon/Silver | Stored |
| GM37 | June 1966 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | GW Orange | Stored |
| GM38 | June 1966 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | AN Green | Stored |
| GM39 | July 1966 | - | - | Scrapped |
| GM40 | January 1967 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | AN Green | Stored |
| GM41 | February 1967 | - | - | Scrapped, cab preserved |
| GM42 | February 1967 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | GW Orange | Stored |
| GM43 | March 1967 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | GW Orange | Stored |
| GM44 | April 1967 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | GW Orange | Stored |
| GM45 | May 1967 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | GW Orange | Operational |
| GM46 | June 1967 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | AN Green | Stored |
| GM47 | December 1967 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | GW Orange | Stored |
References
Notes
- ^ GM1-class A1A-A1A diesel-electric locomotive No.2 National Railway Museum
- ^ a b c d Oberg, Leon (1980). Diesel Locomotives of Australia. Sydney: AH & AW Reed. p. 283. ISBN 0 589 50211 5.
- ^ a b Bromby, Robyn (1988). Australian Rail Annual 1988. Sutherland: Sherbourne Sutherland Publishing. pp. 10/11. ISBN 1 86275 004 1.
- ^ "Victorian Standard Gauge Report" Railway Digest July 1985 page 201
- ^ "GM3" Railway Digest November 1990 page 395
- ^ "South Australian Motive Power Update" Railway Digest October 1994 page 14
- ^ "SA Snapshot" Railway Digest February 1998 page 31
- ^ "Great Northern Puts Faith in GM Chant" Railway Digest November 1998 page 16
- ^ Issue 104/10 West Australian Railscene e-mag 11 October 2010
- ^ GM1 Rail Heritage WA 2 November 2010
- ^ Standard Gauge GM Chris' Commonwealth Railway Pages
- ^ GM Class (GM1 to GM11) Railpage
- ^ GM Class (GM12 to GM47) Railpage
- ^ GM Class Vicsig
Bibliography
- Fluck, Ronald E; Marshall, Barry; Wilson, John (1996). Locomotives and Railcars of the Commonwealth Railways. Welland, SA: Gresley Publishing. ISBN 1876216018.