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Victorian Railways Y class (diesel)

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Victorian Railways Y class
Y129 in current PTV / V/Line livery at Southern Cross station
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderClyde Engineering, Granville
ModelEMD G6B
Build date1963–1968
Total produced75
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • UICBo-Bo
Gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Length13.28 m (43 ft 7 in)
Loco weight65 t
Fuel typeDiesel
Prime moverEMD 6-567C (first 50)
EMD 6-645 (last 25)
Engine typeV6 2-stroke
AspirationNaturally aspirated
GeneratorEMD D25E
Traction motorsGeneral Electric 237
Performance figures
Maximum speed65 km/h (40 mph);
Y175 upgraded to 95 km/h (59 mph)
Power output480 kW (640 hp)
Career
OperatorsVictorian Railways
Number in class75
NumbersY101–Y175
First run1963
PreservedY127, Y133, Y135, Y137, Y159, Y164
Current ownerPacific National
V/Line
Newport Railway Museum
Ettamogah Rail Hub
Steamrail Victoria
707 Operations
Disposition17 in service, 6 preserved, 8 stored, 43 scrapped

The Y class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Victorian Railways between 1963 and 1968.

History

[edit]
Y109 (as Y145) at Newport Workshops in 2006
Preserved Seymour Railway Heritage Centre Y133 in July 2009
El Zorro Y145 in June 2008
V/Line Y129 at Southern Cross in October 2011
Y127 at Southern Cross in November 2021
Y119 stabled at the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre in April 2023

In 1963, the first of 25 general purpose diesel-electric locomotives was delivered by Clyde Engineering. As a cost saving measure, they were built with bogies and motors retrieved from scrapped Swing Door electric suburban train sets; the re-use of these components reduced the unit cost of the Y class locomotive from around £52,000 ($104,000) to £40,000 ($80,000).[1] Two further orders saw the class total 75 by 1968.

Although built to dieselise Victoria's shunting operations and replace steam locomotives on branch line services, they were also used on mainline goods and passenger services, including between Spencer Street and Werribee.[2]

After closure of branch lines across the state and the end of short pick-up goods trains, use of the class dropped.[3]

In the 1980s, it is thought that four Y Class locomotives were on standard gauge, typically Nos 101–104.

Withdrawals commenced from 1985 and large-scale scrappings commenced during 1991 and 1992.[3]

After the mass-withdrawals of the Y fleet up to 1992, engines 101, 102, 104, 150 and 151 were on standard gauge, as 103 had been withdrawn in the late 1980s. Y101 followed in the early '90s after suffering a collision, but it was not directly replaced.

From 1995, under the newly formed V/Line Freight division, engines Y115, Y151, Y152 and Y169 were running trains on standard gauge, and locomotives Y124 and Y142 were confined to shunting at South Dynon. Within a few years Y150 had replaced Y115 on standard gauge, with the latter engine shifting to Ballarat as a yard pilot. Around the same time, Y169 replaced Y102, and Y152 replaced Y104. These two engines were stored at Newport workshops, then transferred to South Dynon's "rotten row" where they sat for about a decade.

Only two engines—Y152 and Y165—were repainted into the V/Line Freight scheme, which was essentially the same as previous with a new decal and a lighter grey.

The 1999 sale of V/Line Freight to Freight Victoria included engines 110, 113, 115, 118–119, 121–122, 138, 150–152, 157, 165, 169, 171 and 174.[4] Some of these were upgraded by 2002 using traction motors and gear sets cascaded from the Freight Australia A and X Class locomotive upgrades, permitting operation at 80 km/h. This required replacing the original plain whitemetal axle boxes; in the short term they were modified but eventually they were all replaced with custom units, obviating the need for fortnightly lubrication of the bearings. Air conditioning was also fitted.[5]

Today, four are in service with V/Line as carriage yard shunters and fitted with low speed controls,[6] with others owned by freight operator Pacific National.[7][8][9] Seventeen units are officially preserved, though only a handful of those are operational.

Status table

[edit]
Key: In Service Stored Preserved Scrapped
Locomotive Entered service Current status Name Owner(s) Notes
Y101 (1st order) Tuesday, 17 September 1963 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y102 Tuesday, 17 September 1963 Preserved - Operational VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), SRHC (2015)
Y103 Wednesday, 25 September 1963 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y104 Wednesday, 25 September 1963 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), SRHC (2015)
Y105 Friday, 4 October 1963 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y106 Friday, 4 October 1963 Scrapped – 1991 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y107 Tuesday, 15 October 1963 Scrapped – 1991 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y108 Tuesday, 15 October 1963 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), 707 Operations (2015)
Y109 (as Y145) Friday, 25 October 1963 Preserved VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), 707 Operations (1996),[10][11] El Zorro (2005), Yarra Valley Tourist Railway (2014)
Y110 Friday, 25 October 1963 Scrapped – 2011 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y111 Wednesday, 6 November 1963 Scrapped – 1991 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983) As per all VR locos that ever carried the number "111" was known as "Lord Nelson" by Drivers and Fitters (1 x eye; 1 x arm; 1 x bottom). Had A7-EL Automatic Brake handle in cab (instead of No.4; Independent was a Westinghouse "W" type self lapping brake as per other Y class) but did NOT have full A7EL brake equipment.
Y112 Wednesday, 6 November 1963 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y113 Tuesday, 19 November 1963 Scrapped – 2011 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y114 Tuesday, 19 November 1963 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y115 Thursday, 28 November 1963 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), Ettamogah Rail Hub (2015)
Y116 Thursday, 28 November 1963 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y117 Tuesday, 10 December 1963 Scrapped – 1991 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y118 Tuesday, 10 December 1963 Scrapped – 2015 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y119 Thursday, 19 December 1963 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), Ettamogah Rail Hub (2015) Used as a shunter at SRHC.
Y120 Thursday, 19 December 1963 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y121 Tuesday, 7 January 1964 Scrapped – 2011 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y122 Tuesday, 7 January 1964 Scrapped – 2015 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y123 Friday, 17 January 1964 Scrapped – 1991 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983) FIRST Diesel-Electric Commissioners' Locomotive. Only geared as standard for 40 M.P.H. / 65 km/h. Interior of cab painted non-standard plain white for Commissioners' Train use. Replaced steam locomotive D3 639 (really D3 658) until arrival of 60 M.P.H. geared Y 175 in August 1968. Commissioners' Driver at change-over from steam to diesel was Tommy Donnelly.
Y124 Friday, 17 January 1964 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y125 Monday, 10 February 1964 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), DERMPAV (2015)
Y126 (2nd order) Tuesday, 4 May 1965 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y127 Tuesday, 4 May 1965 Preserved – Operational VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), 707 Operations (????) Repainted into V/Line orange & grey 2021
Y128 Saturday, 22 May 1965 Scrapped – 1988 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y129 Saturday, 22 May 1965 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), V/Line Passenger (1995) PTV livery. Southern Cross and Geelong Yard pilot
Y130 Saturday, 22 May 1965 Scrapped – 2011 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y131 Friday, 4 June 1965 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y132 Friday, 4 June 1965 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y133 Thursday, 17 June 1965 Preserved – Operational VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), VicTrack Heritage (????). Allocated to the Victorian Goldfields Railway
Y134 Thursday, 17 June 1965 In Service Yoda (unofficial) VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), Progress-Rail Cardiff Was EDi / Downer pilot at Cardiff.

Now Progress Rail pilot at Cardiff, not used, in storage.

Y135 Sunday, 27 June 1965 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), South Gippsland Railway (????), Yarra Valley Railway (2016)[12]
Y136 Sunday, 27 June 1965 In Service James W Ryan (preserved) VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), EDI-Rail (????) Newport Workshops pilot
Y137 Saturday, 10 July 1965 Preserved – Static VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), VicTrack Heritage (????) Allocated to Newport Railway Museum
Y138 Saturday, 10 July 1965 Scrapped – 2011 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y139 Wednesday, 21 July 1965 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y140 Wednesday, 21 July 1965 Scrapped – 1996 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y141 Saturday, 31 July 1965 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y142 Saturday, 31 July 1965 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), ERH (201?) Leased to the VGR IN 2019.
Y143 Thursday, 12 August 1965 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), 707 Operations (2015)
Y144 Thursday, 12 August 1965 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y145 Thursday, 26 August 1965 Scrapped – 2014 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983); Great Northern Rail Services (1994 – frame only), El Zorro (2003)
Y146 Thursday, 26 August 1965 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y147 Thursday, 16 September 1965 In Service Leased to the VGR IN 2019. VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), ERH (201?)
Y148 Thursday, 16 September 1965 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), BlueScope Steel (????) Long Island pilot
Y149 Saturday, 2 October 1965 Scrapped – 1996 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y150 Saturday, 2 October 1965 Scrapped – 2011 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004)
Y151 (3rd order) Thursday, 21 December 1967 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), Ettamogah Rail Hub (2015)
Y152 Thursday, 21 December 1967 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), VicTrack Heritage (2009) Stored Seymour.
Y153 Saturday, 13 January 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y154 Saturday, 13 January 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y155 Wednesday, 31 January 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y156 Friday, 23 February 1968 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), V/Line Passenger (1995) PTV livery. Southern Cross and Geelong yard pilot
Y157 Wednesday, 28 February 1968 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), ERH (201?) Used as a shunter at SSR Bendigo Workshops. Leased to the VGR IN 2019.
Y158 Thursday, 14 March 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y159 Thursday, 14 March 1968 Preserved – Operational VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), Daylesford Spa Country Railway (????)
Y160 Wednesday, 3 April 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y161 Wednesday, 3 April 1968 In Service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), V/Line Passenger (1995) PTV Livery. based at Southern Cross or Geelong Yards as yard pilot
Y162 Saturday, 27 April 1968 Scrapped – 1988 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y163 Saturday, 27 April 1968 In service VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), V/Line Passenger (1995) PTV Livery. Southern Cross and Geelong Yard Pilot
Y164 Saturday, 18 May 1968 Preserved – Operational VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), VicTrack Heritage (1991) Allocated to Steamrail Victoria. Currently Newport Workshops West Block pilot.
Y165 Saturday, 18 May 1968 Scrapped (Jan 2020) VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004–2020)
Y166 Wednesday, 5 June 1968 Scrapped – 1991 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y167 Wednesday, 5 June 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y168 Tuesday, 18 June 1968 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), DERMPAV (????)
Y169 Tuesday, 18 June 1968 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), Ettamogah Rail Hub (2015)
Y170 Saturday, 13 July 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y171 Saturday, 13 July 1968 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), Ettamogah Rail Hub (2015)
Y172 Thursday, 25 July 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983)
Y173 Thursday, 25 July 1968 Scrapped – 1996 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), Australian Paper Mills (may have been leased only; was painted yellow)
Y174 Thursday, 8 August 1968 Stored VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983), FV/FA (1999/2000), PN (2004), Ettamogah Rail Hub (2015)
Y175 Thursday, 8 August 1968 Scrapped – 1992 VR (Built), VicRail (1976), V/Line (1983). Downgraded to "standard" Y class 65 km/h gearing circa 1980 when T class locomotives (399, 400, 403, 406, 410) took over Commissioners' Train role. Was only Y fitted with a 64 Volt power outlet (above main reservoir on Driver's side) for powering batteries on Norman Car on Commissioners' Train overnight).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS UPON DERAILMENTS ON THE VICTORIAN RAILWAY SYSTEM" (PDF). Parliament of Victoria. 8 December 1964. p. 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  2. ^ Oberg, Leon (1984). Locomotives of Australia 1850-1980s. Frenchs Forest: Reed Books. pp. 247, 248. ISBN 0-730100-05-7.
  3. ^ a b Railmac Publications (1992). Australian Fleetbooks: V/Line locomotives. Kitchner Press. ISBN 0-949817-76-7.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Hewison, P, Kimpton, R. (2002) Freight Australia's Rollingstock Initiatives, Conference on Railway Engineering, Wollongong, 10–13 November 2002, p.294-295
  6. ^ Newsrail February 1997 p. 89
  7. ^ Y Class diesel electric locomotives Archived 7 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Mark Bau's VR website
  8. ^ Y Class Archived 26 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Railpage
  9. ^ Y Class Archived 29 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Vicsig
  10. ^ ":: 707 Operations Inc – Steam Trains of Australia ::". 12 July 2005. Archived from the original on 12 July 2005.
  11. ^ ":: 707 Operations Inc – Steam Trains of Australia ::". 12 July 2005. Archived from the original on 12 July 2005.
  12. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
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