The S class are a class of

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s built by

Clyde Engineering Clyde Engineering was an Australian manufacturer of locomotives, rolling stock, and other industrial products. It was founded in September 1898 by a syndicate of Sydney businessmen buying the Granville factory of timber merchants Huds ...

, Forrestfield for

Westrail Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

in 1998.

History

The S class were the first and only dual-cab locomotives purchased by

. In May 1996 nine were ordered from

as part of an order that also included 15 Q class locomotives. The order later extended to eleven. They are an evolution of the FreightCorp 82 class. All were assembled at a facility established by Clyde Engineering within Westrail's Forrestfield Depot to fulfill the contract. The frames were built at Clyde's

Somerton Somerton may refer to: Places Australia * Somerton, New South Wales * Somerton Park, South Australia, a seaside Adelaide suburb ** Somerton Man, unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach * Somerton, Victoria ...

plant with other components manufactured at Kelso. The S class locomotives entered service in June 1998 hauling ore and mineral trains in South West Western Australia. All were in service by November 1998 All were included in the sale of Westrail to

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 December 2000, with the class redesignated as the 3300 class. In June 2006, all were included in the sale of Australian Railroad Group's Western Australian operation to QR National. In 2008,

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

ordered two standard gauge JT42Cs of the same design as the S class for the

Weipa Weipa () is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is the largest town on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The Port of Weipa is mainly invol ...

bauxite railway, numbered R1005 and R1006. They were delivered in 2009.

References

{{WAGR Locomotives, state=collapsed Aurizon diesel locomotives Clyde Engineering locomotives Co-Co locomotives Diesel locomotives of Western Australia Railway locomotives introduced in 1998 Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia