The EL class are a class of diesel locomotives built by A Goninan & Co,
Broadmeadow
Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Australian National in 1990–1991.
Dash 8
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...
locomotives to A Goninan & Co with the first delivered in July 1990. Even though they were the most powerful locomotives to have operated by Australian National, they were fitted with lightweight traction motors which reduced their tractive effort by 33% compared to the preceding DL class locomotives. They were ordered for use on passenger and fast freight services and geared for a top speed of 140 km/h."The EL class locomotives" ''Railway Digest'' October 1999 page 40
They regularly hauled ''
The Ghan
''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...
'' and ''
Indian Pacific
The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – thus, l ...
'' until replaced by CLP class locomotives in 1994. They were transferred to
National Rail
National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
, however, following the delivery of the
NR class
The NR class are a class of Australian diesel locomotive built by A Goninan & Co for National Rail between 1996 and 1998. They are currently operated by Pacific National. The C44aci model locomotives built by UGL Rail at Broadmeadow adopted ...
, 13 were returned to Australian National and by November 1997 were stored at
Islington Railway Workshops
The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.Australian Southern Railroad in late 1997.
In November 1998, the remaining 13 were sold to Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia. All were overhauled by A Goninan & Co, Bassendean, during which they were re-geared, reducing their top speed to 125 km/h, but resulting in their tractive effort increasing by 19%. All have been repainted into Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia's yellow, blue and silver livery and named after famous Australian racehorses. They have been leased to a variety of operators and have run in all mainland states.EL Class Railpage