Victorian Railways B class (diesel)

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The B class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Victorian Railways in 1952–1953. Ordered and operated by the Victorian Railways, they initiated the dieselisation of the system and saw use on both passenger and freight services, with many remaining in service today, both in preserved and revenue service. Some were rebuilt as the V/Line A class, while others have been scrapped.

History

File:Builders plate for VR loco B85.jpg
Clyde Engineering reproduction builder's plate on B74's fuel tank valance. Incorrect numbers due to records error.[1]

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File:Cfcla-b-class-melbourne.jpg
Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia B76 in Melbourne in August 2006

The B class were the first mainline diesel locomotives ever built for the Victorian Railways. The design was based on the successful Electro-Motive Diesel F-unit locomotives with the distinctive bulldog nose. They were unusual in having a streamlined drivers cab at each end.

Inception

After World War II, the Victorian Railways was severely run down from years of Depression-era under-investment and wartime over-utilisation.[2] Chief Mechanical Engineer Ahlston traveled the world studying railway rehabilitation. Britain leaned towards steam locomotives, while France was moving towards main line electrification. The United States was more divided, with General Motors' Electro-Motive Division at La Grange, Illinois turning out modern E and F-units diesels.[3] However the EMD units axle load was too heavy for the Victorian tracks, and the Commonwealth Government would not allow the use of foreign currency to purchase United States diesels. As a result, the £80 million Operation Phoenix featured steam locomotives and electrification of the Gippsland line, either locally built or imported from the United Kingdom.[3]

To achieve a lighter axle load, a six axles / six motor Co-Co wheel arrangement was required. By 1949, the then-head of Electro-Motive Diesel Dick Dilworth was convinced that lighter axle load locomotives would be popular in Australia and other foreign countries. Frank Shea of Clyde Engineering had also negotiated with EMD to build the new locomotive locally, in order to overcome the foreign exchange restrictions.[3] The order for what would become the B Class was placed in 1951 and the first of the class was delivered on 14 July 1952.[4]

Into service

The 26 members of the class operated on broad gauge lines throughout Victoria, working the majority of the important passenger trains, as well as fast freights. Many timetables were accelerated, and steam locomotives began to be 'euthanized' in large numbers.[3] The visit of Queen Elizabeth in 1954 saw her ride behind B60 on a special train.

While costing £80 per horsepower compared to £60 for steam, the new locomotives ran 130,000 miles per year, compared to 35,000 and 60,000 miles per year for main line steam locomotives. The Chief Engineers Office found that one B class did the work of three steam locomotives.[5] Their success led to further dieselisation, with the delivery of the T class branch line units from 1955, and the single ended S class mainline units from 1957.[5]

Demise, reactivation and preservation

As part of the 1980s New Deal plan to reinvigorate country passenger services, it was decided to rebuild the B class with new traction equipment as the A class. The rebuild contract was let in January 1983 to Clyde Engineering, Rosewater, with the first unit entering service in May 1984. The project was abandoned in mid 1985 after rising costs due to structural fatigue, with the eleventh and final rebuild delivered in August 1985.[6]

At the same time newer high power locomotives had been delivered, including the N class passenger units and the more numerous G class freight locomotives. The remaining B class units were gradually decommissioned by V/Line from 1982 with some scrapped. Six were purchased by West Coast Railway in the early 1990s for use on their Melbourne to Warrnambool passenger service.[7] While running with West Coast Railway, units B61 and B76 had dual marker lights and ditch lights fitted at the No.1 end. They also received shunter's steps at each end, in late 2001 or early 2002.[8][9][10][11] B65 was painted in the simplified West Coast Railway "freight" livery, and did not receive any of these upgrades.[12][13]

In May 2004, the Victorian Department of Infrastructure issued an alert on stress cracks on the underframes of the B class locomotives, including the units owned by West Coast Railway. Following West Coast Railway's demise in August 2004, these were sold to Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia and refurbished with B61 and B65 later being resold to Southern Shorthaul Railroad. This saw some converted to standard gauge and their sphere of operation increased to include New South Wales. Seymour Railway Heritage Centre have B74 preserved in operating condition and is the only preserved locomotive in operation.[14][15][16][17]

In 2014, B75 was recommissioned for Southern Shorthaul Railroad, with the unit having been stored at Seymour under multiple previous owners. She wore the CRL colours of red, yellow, silver and black. SSR purchased the remaining CFCLA (now RailFirst Asset Management) units, B76 and B80, in 2022, and returned them to service. As of May 2024, SSR operates B61 and B75 on standard gauge, with B61 under major engine repairs. B76 and B80 are operational in Victoria on the broad gauge, and B65 is currently stored at North Bendigo workshops following a major engine failure.

File:B76.jpg
B76 (no.1 end) at Hawthorn heading back to North Dynon on a MTM works train.

In February 2024, B72, which is under the custody of Steamrail, moved under its own power for the first time since its withdrawal in 1986. On 7 March, it was unveiled in full VicRail teacup scheme (its No. 1 end had previously been painted in teacup, with the No. 2 end being painted in V/Line orange, for the 2020 open day).

File:B72 Teacup Steamrail.jpg
B72 Runs back from a freight demonstration during the biannual Newport Workshops Open weekend. March 9th, 2024

Fleet summary

Key: In Service Withdrawn Preserved Converted Scrapped
Number Name In service Out of service Km Current owner Previous owners Status
B60 Harold W Clapp Template:Dts Template:Dts 5,669,690 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A60, renamed Sir Harold Clapp Preserved SRHC
B61 Bernie Baker Template:Dts Southern Shorthaul Railroad (SG) Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line, West Coast Railway In service. Streamliners 2016 livery.
B62 Template:Dts Template:Dts 5,541,730 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A62 Preserved 707 Ops
B63 Template:Dts 5,918,480 VicTrack Heritage, allocated to Steamrail Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Stored Newport
B64 Template:Dts 5,989,509 Receivership – Hoskins Hurst Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Scrapped Bendigo Workshops 2025, Bendigo
B65 Template:Dts Southern Shorthaul Railroad Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line, West Coast Railway Auscision Models livery, Scrapped – North Bendigo 2025
B66 Template:Dts Template:Dts 5,169,500 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A66
B67 Template:Dts Template:Dts 5,217,740 Scrapped Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Scrapped April 1988, one nose preserved privately
B68 Template:Dts Template:Dts 5,217,740 Scrapped Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Scrapped April 1988, one nose preserved Geelong.
B69 Template:Dts Template:Dts 5,283,950 Scrapped Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Scrapped June 1992
B70 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,967,250 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line, Southern Shorthaul Railroad Converted to A70
B71 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,754,520 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A71 (Scrapped 1 June 2019)
B72 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,754,520 Steamrail Victoria Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line, Private Owner[18] Under restoration
B73 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,575,930 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail Converted to A73 (Scrapped 14 January 2019)
B74 J.A. Hearsch Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,754,520 VicTrack Heritage, allocated to Seymour Railway Heritage Centre Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Preserved operational, main line registered, name applied after preservation
B75 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,754,520 Southern Shorthaul Railroad (from 2011) (BG) Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line, West Coast Railway (for spares), Great Northern Rail Services (c.2002), privately owned by members of the Yarra Valley Railway[19] In service
B76 Template:Dts Southern Shorthaul Railroad Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line, West Coast Railway, Rail First Asset Management Stored
B77 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,808,610 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A77 (Scrapped 14 January 2019)
B78 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,853,800 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A78
B79 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,992,440 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A79 (Scrapped 17 May 2019)
B80 Template:Dts 4,754,520 Southern Shorthaul Railroad Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line, West Coast Railway, Rail First Asset Management In service
B81 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,944,760 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A81 (Scrapped 14 January 2019)
B82 Template:Dts Template:Dts Scrapped Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Scrapped August 1996
B83 Template:Dts Template:Dts VicTrack Heritage, allocated to the Newport Railway Museum. Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Preserved static at Newport Railway Museum
B84 Template:Dts Template:Dts Scrapped Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Scrapped May 1992
B85 Template:Dts Template:Dts 4,610,040 Converted Victorian Railways, VicRail, V/Line Converted to A85 (Scrapped 14 January 2019)

Gallery

References

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  1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/groups/VictorianRailwayEnthusiasts/permalink/1114720471897307/?comment_id=1114722718563749&reply_comment_id=1114778235224864 Template:User-generated source
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ B class diesel electric locomotives Mark Bau's VR website
  15. ↑ A Class (A60 – A85) Railpage
  16. ↑ B Class (B60 – B85) Railpage
  17. ↑ B Class Vicsig
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/groups/VictorianRailwayEnthusiasts/permalink/1114720471897307 Template:User-generated source

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Further reading

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