The Z class are a class of diesel locomotives built by

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

Rocklea Rocklea is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,595 people. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The west of the suburb is bordered by the Oxley Creek. The ...

for the

Tasmanian Government Railways The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian Na ...

in 1973. They were a development of the WAGR RA class and were the last of a line of very successful locomotives fitted with the

12CSVT Mk II engine.

History

With the construction of a new line from Launceston to Bell Bay,

placed an order for four 1752 kW locomotives with

. However, with the locomotive still under development, it was decided to purchase four 1380 kW locomotives that were an evolution of the Western Australian RA class locomotives with a low nose profile and

vacuum brake The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum bra ...

s. At 96 tons, they were considerably heavier than the previous heaviest locomotives on the network, the Y class at 58 tons, requiring significant upgrades to infrastructure. In March 1978 the Z class were included in the transfer of the Tasmanian Government Railways to Australian National. In 1984-1985 all had their vacuum brakes replaced with air brakes. In June 1998 all were renumbered as the 2110 class."Tasrail Loco Renumbering" ''Railway Digest'' October 1998 page 36 All four locomotives were modified for driver-only operation between 1998 and 2001, by having their noses lowered further and the size of the front cab windows increased. All remained in service with

TasRail TasRail is the trading name of Tasmanian Railway Proprietary Limited, a Tasmanian Government state-owned enterprise that has operated the mainline railways in Tasmania since September 2009. It operates only freight services. History Establis ...

until stored in May 2014 with the entry into service of the new TR class, new drivers having ceased training on these locos 8 months prior. In 2022, after being awarded a grant,

Bellarine Railway The Bellarine Railway, formerly the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, is a volunteer-operated steam-driven tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a 16 km section of a formerly disused branch line on the Bellarine Penin ...

was able to purchase two of the class, this being Z1&4. Z1 was delivered in March and Z4 in May. Z3 was also donated and delivered in May to

Don River Railway The Don River Railway is a volunteer-run vintage railway and museum in Don, a suburb of Devonport, Tasmania. It runs a passenger train ride from Don to Coles Beach (operationally known as Don Junction) and return. The current line follows a re ...

Status table

References

{{Reflist Co-Co locomotives English Electric locomotives Diesel locomotives of Tasmania Railway locomotives introduced in 1973 Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia

History

Status table

See also

References