The GT46C is a model of diesel-electric locomotive designed and 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 ...

using

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 s ...

components. A number of Australian rail freight operators purchased them from 1997:

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 ...

as the Q class, FreightLink as the FQ class, and

Freight Australia Freight Australia was an Australian railway company that purchased the V/Line Freight business from the Government of Victoria in 1999. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and controlled non-urban rail track in ...

as the single-locomotive V class. , all 24 locomotives were owned by

Aurizon Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...

following its purchase of certain

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 ...

assets in July 2022.

By operator

Westrail

In May 1996,

ordered 15 GT46Cs from

as part of an order that also included nine narrow gauge S class locomotives. The order was later extended to 19. All were assembled at a facility established by Clyde Engineering within Westrail's Forrestfield Depot to fulfill the contract with components manufactured at Clyde's Kelso and

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 ...

plants. 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 and again to QR National in June 2006. Initially numbered as the Q class, they were later reclassified as the 4000 class.

Freight Australia

Following the destruction of two

G class G class or Class G may refer to: Locomotives * NZR G class (1928), a type of steam locomotive used in New Zealand * Tasmanian Government Railways G class, a class of 0-4-2T steam locomotive used in Australia * V/Line G class, a class of diese ...

locomotives in 1999,

ordered a single GT46AC from EDI Rail who had purchased Clyde Engineering. It was built at their

Cardiff Locomotive Workshops The Cardiff Locomotive Workshops (now known as the Cardiff Maintenance Centre) is a rail yard and rolling stock facility located between Cockle Creek and Cardiff stations near Newcastle, on the Main North railway line in New South Wales, Austr ...

in 2002. Numbered V544, it was named after

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

Tim Fischer Timothy Andrew Fischer (3 May 1946 – 22 August 2019) was an Australian politician and diplomat who served as leader of the National Party of Australia, National Party from 1990 to 1999. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Deputy Prime ...

. It was included in the sale of the business to

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Federal, New South Wales and Victorian Governments) were combined with Freig ...

in February 2004. The locomotive initially operated interstate freight duties, primarily the

SCT Logistics SCT Logistics is an Australian interstate transport company operating rail and road haulage, with facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Parkes, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. History SCT Logistics was founded in 1974 as Specialised Container Tra ...

service from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. In late 2007, it moved to haul Leigh Creek to Port Augusta coal trains in

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 ...

, servicing the Playford B and Northern power stations. As of March 2014, V544 has been stored at Port Augusta workshops after a major engine failure. In May 2021, it was sold to

and has since been painted into their livery.

FreightLink

In 2003, four were built by EDI Rail at Port Augusta for FreightLink. They were purchased for use on the Adelaide-Darwin railway. The first two units were painted in

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

liveries, the other two were in FreightLink red. All were included in the sale of FreightLink to

,FQ Class
Vicsig and later the sale of ORA to Aurizon. File:Australian Railroad Group train.jpg,

Q4015 in July 2008 File:Q4004_ARG_A_QR_COMPANY.JPG,

Q4004 in March 2009 Image:V544_Mambray_Creek_Aug07.jpg,

V544 at Mambray Creek, South Australia in August 2007 File:Arrival of the first Ghan into Darwin.jpg, FreightLink indigenous liveried FQ01 in Darwin in January 2004 File:Freight Australia V544.jpg,

SCT train V544/G538/G539 in the Swan Valley, Western Australia. File:Q 4001 Downer EDI Rail GT46C Aurizon.jpg, English: Q 4001 Aurizon Bulk Freight West train in Fremantle. File:Q4019 + train Kalgoorlie, 2016 (01).jpg,

ex-Westrail Q class locomotive no Q4019, in ARG livery, runs through

Kalgoorlie railway station Kalgoorlie railway station is the most eastern attended station in Western Australia, located at the eastern terminus of the Eastern Goldfields Railway. It serves the city of Kalgoorlie. Beyond Kalgoorlie, the line continues east as the Trans- ...

West Kalgoorlie yard and the Cockburn Cement depot in Parkeston, Western Australia. File:Q4019 + train Kalgoorlie, 2016 (02).jpg,

ex-Westrail Q class locomotive no Q4019, in ARG livery, runs through

West Kalgoorlie yard and the Cockburn Cement depot in Parkeston, Western Australia. File:The Ghan arrives.jpg, The Ghan – first journey completed.

Summary

Aurizon Q class: Q4001: Aurizon pineapple livery Q4002: Aurizon pineapple livery Q4003: Aurizon Canary livery Q4004: Aurizon Canary livery Q4005: ARG Orange with black stripes Q4006: Aurizon pineapple livery Q4007: Aurizon pineapple livery Q4008: Aurizon pineapple livery Q4009: Aurizon pineapple livery Q4010: ARG yellow with a red stripe Q4011: Aurizon pineapple livery Q4012: ARG yellow with a red stripe (two panels in the Orange and black livery) Q4013: ARG yellow with a red stripe. The logos missing on both sides Q4014: Aurizon Canary livery Q4015: ARG yellow with a red stripe Q4016: Aurizon Canary livery Q4017: Original Westrail yellow with black stripes Q4018: Aurizon Canary livery Q4019: Aurizon pineapple livery All former ORA units are in their orange and black scheme, though they are now all owned by Aurizon.

Fleet

Related development

New South Wales 90 class locomotive The 90 class are a class of heavy haul diesel-electric locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, Canada for FreightCorp and EDi Rail, Cardiff for Pacific National for use on high tonnage Hunter Valley coal workings. History Ordered in Jul ...

, ancestor model GT46CWM *

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 ...

, derivative model

References

External links

{{WAGR Locomotives Aurizon diesel locomotives Clyde Engineering locomotives Co-Co locomotives Diesel locomotives of Australia Diesel locomotives of Western Australia Railway locomotives introduced in 1997 Standard gauge locomotives of Australia Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia