South Australian Railways 900 class | |
Powertype: | Diesel-electric |
Builder: | Islington Railway Workshops |
Nicknames: | Magnificent Beasts |
Builddate: | 1951-1953 |
Totalproduction: | 10 |
Uicclass: | A1A-A1A |
Wheeldiameter: | 3feet |
Wheelbase: | 52feet total, 16feet bogie |
Length: | 63feet over headstocks, 66feet over coupling faces |
Width: | 9feet |
Height: | 13feet |
Axleload: | 21LT |
Weightondrivers: | 84LT |
Locoweight: | 121LT |
Fueltype: | Diesel |
Fuelcap: | 1000abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
Primemover: | English Electric 16SVT Mk I |
Rpmrange: | 450–750 rpm |
Enginetype: | Four-stroke, 2 valves per cylinder |
Aspiration: | Turbocharged |
Generator: | English Electric 822 type |
Tractionmotors: | 4 type 523A air cooled |
Cylindercount: | 16 Vee |
Cylindersize: | 10x |
Multipleworking: | X 3 |
Poweroutput: | 1760-1NaN-1 gross, 1600-1NaN-1 net |
T/E Starting: | 560001NaN1 |
T/E Continuous: | 340001NaN1 at 15-1NaN-1 |
Locobrakes: | Westinghouse Compressed Air, and Electric Dynamic |
Operator: | South Australian Railways |
Numinclass: | 10 |
Fleetnumbers: | 900-909 |
Firstrundate: | 10 September 1951 |
Lastrundate: | 18 June 1985 |
Preservedunits: | 900, 907, 909 |
Disposition: | 3 preserved, 7 scrapped |
The 900 class were a class of diesel locomotives built by Islington Railway Workshops for the South Australian Railways between 1951 and 1953.
The 900 class were the first mainline diesels operated by the South Australian Railways. Ten were built at Islington Railway Workshops to replace steam locomotives on the heavily graded Mount Lofty Ranges. They operated both heavy freight trains and passenger services including The Overland. After the arrival of more powerful diesel, they were concentrated on the easier-graded lines from Adelaide to Port Pirie and Peterborough.[1]
In March 1978, all were included in the transfer of the South Australian Railways to Australian National. Withdrawals commenced in May 1979[1] with the last two withdrawn on 18 June 1985 after operating a cement train from Angaston to Dry Creek.[2] [3] Three have been preserved with the other seven scrapped.[4]
Three units have been preserved:
English Electric brochure TD120 https://www.flickr.com/photos/29903115@N06/6747430491