The GT42CU ACe is a model of diesel electric locomotives manufactured by EDi Rail, Maryborough between 2007 and 2013 under licence from

Electro-Motive Diesel Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its sub ...

, for use on narrow gauge railways in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

History

The GT42CU ACe is an evolution of the GT42CU AC being fitted with a different computer system and traction motors. In 2006,

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

placed an initial order for 15, with a further orders increasing the number to 75. These were designated as the 4100 class. Following Queensland Rail purchasing

Australian Railroad Group Australian Railroad Group (ARG) was an Australian rail freight operator. It began operations in Western Australia on 17 December 2000 following its purchase of the Westrail freight business. It was purchased by QR National in June 2006. The mai ...

in June 2006, 19 were transferred to

and reclassified as the ACN class, but retain their original numbers. The

based units are primarily used on the Blackwater, Moura and

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbur ...

coal networks, and on phosphate trains between

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...

and

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

. The Western Australian-based units are primarily engaged hauling iron ore trains. All were included in the transfer of Queensland Rail's freight business to QR National in July 2010.

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...

placed an order for 13 units for coal haulage on the Blackwater system that later grew to 46. These were designated as the 83 class. In July 2012,

One Rail Australia One Rail Australia is an Australian rail freight operator company. Founded by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 1997 as Australian Southern Railroad, and later renamed Genesee & Wyoming Australia, it was renamed One Rail Australia in February 2020 af ...

placed an order for five for use in

. Designated the GWN class, they operated on the

Arrium Arrium was an Australian mining and materials company, employing nearly 10,000 workers, that went into voluntary administration in 2016 with debts of more than $2 billion. In 2017 it was acquired by British-owned Liberty House Group. Hist ...

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

railway to

Whyalla Steelworks The Whyalla Steelworks is a fully integrated steelworks and the only manufacturer of rail in Australia. Iron ore is mined in the Middleback Range to feed the steelworks, resulting in the distribution of finished steel products of over 90 different ...

. They were transferred to Queensland after being displaced by 5 Queensland Railways 2250 class locomotives returning to Australia from South Africa. A further six were built as a speculative order for Locomotive Demand Power as the LDP class. One was painted in Pacific National livery and numbered 8347 in anticipation of a lease that failed to eventuate, the others were numbered LDP016-LDP020 with all six placed in store in Maryborough. All were included in the sale of Downer Rail's locomotive business to

Progress Rail Services Progress Rail Services Corporation , a fully owned subsidiary of Caterpillar since 2006, is a supplier of railroad and transit system products and services headquartered in Albertville, Alabama. Founded as a recycling company in 1982, Progress R ...

and in December 2017, were moved to

Redbank Railway Workshops Redbank Railway Workshops are a major workshops for the repair and heavy maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock for Aurizon, located in Redbank, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. History With its North Ipswich Railway Workshops becom ...

entering service as 8347–8352 with Pacific National in April and May 2018."LDP Class locomotives become additional 83 Class following Pacific National purchase from Progress Rail" ''Railway Digest'' June 2018 page 17

Fleet

Related Development

UGL Rail C44aci The C44aci is a model of Australian heavy duty diesel electric locomotive designed by UGL Rail and built at the Broadmeadow factory. It is operated by a number of rail freight operators. The design is based on the National Rail NR class but w ...

Downer EDI Rail GT46C ACe The GT46C ACe is a model of Australian diesel electric locomotive designed and built by Downer Rail at its Cardiff Locomotive Workshops using Electro-Motive Diesel components from 2007. The first units were built as the SCT class for freight op ...

* Downer EDI Rail GT42CU AC

References

{{QueenslandLocos, state=collapsed Aurizon diesel locomotives Diesel locomotives of Queensland Diesel locomotives of Western Australia Pacific National diesel locomotives Queensland Rail locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 2007 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia