South Australian Railways 830 class

The 830 class are a class of diesel locomotives built by AE Goodwin, Auburn for the South Australian Railways between 1959 and 1966. The New South Wales 48 class and Silverton Rail 48s class are of a very similar design.

South Australian Railways 830 class
SteamRanger locomotive 844 on display at Mount Barker, 26 May 2024
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder AE Goodwin, Auburn Serial number Alco 83721-83730 Alco 83826 Alco 84136-84142 Alco 84702-84719 Alco G-3422-01 to G-3422-03 Alco G-6016-01 to G-6016-06 Model Alco DL531 Build date 1959-1966 Total produced 45 Rebuilder Australian National Rebuild date 1992-1998 Number rebuilt 7
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC Co-Co Gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Wheel diameter 40 in (1,016 mm) Length Over headstocks: 44 ft 3 in (13.49 m), Over coupler pulling faces: 48 ft 5 in (14.76 m) Width 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) Height 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m) Axle load 12 long tons 6 cwt (27,600 lb or 12.5 t) Loco weight 74 long tons 0 cwt (165,800 lb or 75.2 t) Fuel type Diesel Fuel capacity 500 imp gal (2,300 L; 600 US gal) Lubricant cap. 116 imp gal (530 L; 139 US gal) Coolant cap. 90 imp gal (410 L; 110 US gal) Sandbox cap. 10 cu ft (0.28 m3) Prime mover Alco 6-251B RPM range 375-1025 Engine type Four-stroke Inline 6 diesel Aspiration Turbocharged Generator General Electric 5GT 584 Traction motors General Electric 761 Cylinders 6 Cylinder size 9 in × 10.5 in (229 mm × 267 mm)
Performance figures Maximum speed 75 mph (121 km/h) Power output Gross: 950 hp (710 kW), For traction: 900 hp (670 kW) Tractive effort Continuous: 40,200 lbf (178.82 kN) at 8 mph (13 km/h)
Career Operators South Australian Railways Number in class 45 Numbers 830-874 First run December 1959 Preserved 6 Current owner Aurizon QUBE Logistics Junee Railway Workshop Southern Shorthaul Railroad SteamRanger Heritage Railway Disposition 7 in service, 6 preserved, 10 stored, 22 scrapped

History

In 1959, the South Australian Railways placed an order for 10 Alco DL531 locomotives for use in light freight haulage, especially on branch lines where a low axle load was essential. Further orders saw the fleet built up to 44 by February 1970 with 15 narrow gauge, 12 standard gauge and 17 broad gauge examples. In February 1970, an additional unit was purchased second hand from Silverton Tramway.^[1]

In March 1978, 43 were included in the transfer of the South Australian Railways to Australian National with the other two (830 and 845) going to the State Transport Authority before also moving to Australian National. From July 1974 until December 1980 847–849, were loaned to the Public Transport Commission where they were pooled with the 48 class.^[1][2]

Following the conversion of the Adelaide to Alice Springs in the early 1980s and the release of some Commonwealth Railways NJ class locomotives, beginning in April 1980, some 830s were transferred to Australian National's TasRail operation with 20 transferred by August 1986.^[1][3] Withdrawals of the TasRail fleet commenced in late 1987 with only three in service by April 1989. Australian National transferred five back to South Australia while two were sold to Silverton Rail and shipped to Broken Hill.^[1][3][4] One was preserved by the Don River Railway, Devonport.^[5] The remainder were scrapped.^[6][7]

In 1991, six were rebuilt as the DA class with new cabs to allow them to be used as shunters. In December 1994 two 48 class locomotives were purchased from the State Rail Authority.^[8] One was rebuilt as DA7 and the other scrapped.^[1] They were later renumbered as the 900 class.

Australian National's remaining 830 class were all included with the sale of the South Australian freight operations to Australian Southern Railroad in August 1997.

In June 2000, three were sold to ATN Access for use on grain services. All were included in the sale of the business to Pacific National in February 2004, ending up in storage during the first few years of ownership under PN. 833 was scrapped in July 2016, while 845 was given to SteamRanger Heritage Railway, arriving at their Mt Barker depot in July 2017.^[9] 838 remains stored in Junee, still wearing primer paint from its never completed overhaul.^[7]

When Australian Railroad Group was dissolved, 852 passed to QR National (later Aurizon), while the other 830s and 900 class rebuilds went to Genesee and Wyoming Australia. 852 was sold to Junee Railway Workshop in 2008 and after being overhauled returned to service in 2012.

The remaining ex-GWA 830s and 900s passed to Aurizon in 2022 as part of their purchase of One Rail Australia (GWA's successor). The last ex-GWA 830s in service operated on the Eyre Peninsula Railway, only hauling gypsum trains to Thevenard after the cessation of grain services on the Eyre Peninsula Railway in 2019. All remaining operational ex-GWA 830s at Thevenard were stored upon the arrival of 2300 class locomotives from Queensland in 2023.^[10] Some ex-GWA 900s remain as shunters at the Whyalla Steelworks.

Apart from the 2 preserved 830s, most of the operational 830s are based in NSW, usually operating services for Qube Logistics and Southern Shorthaul Railroad.

Status

The disposition of 830 class locomotives as of 2023^[update] was as shown in the following table:

Running number	Serial number	In service	Current/last owner	Status	Notes
830	83721	Dec 1959	Aurizon	Operational	Renumbered 875, rebuilt as DA5, renumbered 904
831	83722	Feb 1960	Aurizon	Stored, Dry Creek
832	83723	Apr 1960	One Rail Australia	Stored	Rebuilt as DA2, renumbered 902
833	83724	Apr 1960	Pacific National	Scrapped	Ex ATN Access
834	83725	May 1960	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
835	83726	May 1960	Australian Southern Railroad	Scrapped	Rebuilt as DA3
836	83727	Jun 1960	Aurizon	Stored	Rebuilt as DA6, renumbered 905
837	83728	Jun 1960	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
838	83729	Jun 1960	Pacific National	Stored, Junee	Ex ATN Access
839	83730	Jun 1960	Aurizon	Stored	Rebuilt as DA4, renumbered 903
840	84138	May 1962	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
841	84139	Jun 1962	One Rail Australia	Stored, Dry Creek
842	84140	Aug 1962	Genesee & Wyoming Australia	Scrapped
843	84141	Sep 1962	Pichi Richi Railway	Under Restoration, Quorn	Ex One Rail Australia
844	84142	Oct 1962	SteamRanger	Preserved, Operational, Mt Barker	Ex One Rail Australia
845	84714	Oct 1963	SteamRanger	Preserved, Under Restoration, Mt Barker	Ex ATN Access and Pacific National
846	84715	Nov 1963	Pichi Richi Railway	Stored, Quorn	Ex AN Tasrail and One Rail Australia
847	G-6016-1	Jun 1969	Genesee & Wyoming Australia	Scrapped
848	G-6016-2	Jul 1969	Genesee & Wyoming Australia	Scrapped
849	G-6016-3	Sep 1969	Aurizon	Operational	Rebuilt as DA1, renumbered T02, renumbered 901
850	84136	Mar 1962	Eyre Peninsula Railway Preservation Society	Preserved, Port Lincoln	Ex Genesee & Wyoming Australia.[11] Operated only on the Port Lincoln Division
851	84137	Apr 1962	Aurizon	Stored	Operated only on the Port Lincoln Division
852	84716	Sep 1963	Junee Railway Workshop	Operational	Ex Australian Railroad Group and AN Tasrail
853	84717	Oct 1963	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
854	84718	Sep 1963	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
855	84719	Oct 1963	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
856	84702	Feb 1963	Silverton Rail	Scrapped	Ex AN Tasrail
857	84703	Apr 1963	Greentrains	Scrapped	Renumbered 48s31, ex AN Tasrail
858	84704	May 1963	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
859	84705	May 1963	Aurizon	Stored	Ex AN Tasrail
860	84706	May 1963	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
861	84707	Jun 1963	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
862	84708	Jun 1963	Silverton Rail	Scrapped	Ex AN Tasrail
863	84709	Jun 1963	Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre	Preserved, Peterborough	Ex Genesee & Wyoming[12]
864	84710	Jul 1963	QUBE Logistics	Operational	Renumbered 48s30, ex AN Tasrail
865	84711	Jul 1963	Genesee & Wyoming Australia	Scrapped	Ex AN Tasrail
866	84712	Jul 1963	Don River Railway	Preserved, Operational, Devonport	Ex AN Tasrail
867	84713	Aug 1963	AN Tasrail	Scrapped
868	G-6016-4	Nov 1969	Australian Railroad Group	Scrapped
869	G-6016-5	Jan 1970	Southern Shorthaul Railroad	Operational
870	G-6016-6	Jan 1970	Australian National	Scrapped
871	G-3422-1	Feb 1966	Genesee & Wyoming Australia	Scrapped	Operated only on the Port Lincoln Division
872	G-3422-2	Mar 1966	QUBE Logistics	Operational
873	G-3422-3	Apr 1966	Aurizon	Stored	Operated only on the Port Lincoln Division
874	83826	Dec 1960	Aurizon	Operational	Ex Silverton Tramway 27 Feb 1970, rebuilt as T01, renumbered 907

Gallery

	833 in South Australian Railways livery, to which "ANR" branding has been added, in 1983		841 (in 1983) in the livery introduced by AN after it took over the SAR		830 class general arrangement drawing by South Australian Railways		832 (in 2008) after a "chopped nose" rebuild to DA class and re-numbering as GWA's 902

References

1. Oberg, Leon (2007). Locomotives of Australia 1854-2007. Rosenberg Publishing. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-877058-54-7.
2. Railway Digest December 1984 page 391
3. 830 Class Archived 11 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine Rail Tasmania
4. "Silverton" Railway Digest August 1990 page 286
5. Steam & Diesel Locomotives & Railcars Archived 13 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine Don River Railway
6. Broad, Standard and Narrow Gauge 830-class diesel locomotives Archived 14 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Chris' Commonwealth Railways Pages
7. 830 Class Archived 31 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Railpage
8. "State Rail's Locomotive Auction Results" Railway Digest January 1995 page 36
9. "Did you see an engine on a semi rolling into Mt Barker today? Welcome Home 845!". Facebook. Steamranger Heritage Railway. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
10. Wenck, David. "Aurizon Investor Day Presentation". ListCorp. Aurizon Holding Limited. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
11. Archived 17 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Eyre Peninsula Railway Preservation Society
12. "Preservation & Tourist" Railway Digest May 2016 page 58

External links

Media related to South Australian Railways 830 class at Wikimedia Commons