The K class are a class of diesel locomotives built by English Electric, Rocklea for the

Western Australian Government Railways 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 ...

between 1966 and 1969.

History

Nine K class were delivered in 1966/67 to operate services on the

Eastern Goldfields Railway The Eastern Goldfields Railway was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. History The Eastern Railway opened in stages from Perth to Nort ...

from

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 ...

to Kalgoorlie that was being converted to standard gauge. After initially working construction trains, in November 1966 they began working wheat trains from Merredin to Fremantle and once the full line was opened began working services to Kalgoorlie and Esperance. In January 1966, K201 became the first locomotive to travel across Australia. It hauled freight trains from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

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 ...

, before being hauled for the rest of the journey. It passed through five states, travelled on six railway systems and required a change of bogies at Melbourne,

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South A ...

and Kalgoorlie. Goldsworthy Mining Ltd had purchased six similar locomotives, and after having one destroyed in an accident, purchased K202 with K210 ordered as a replacement. In July 1986 Goldsworth Mining purchased K203. The

also purchased 16 similar R class locomotives mounted on narrow gauge bogies. In 1974 three were fitted with standard gauge bogies and reclassified as the Ka class. Four have been sold to

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 ...

and three had gone to

South Spur Rail Services South Spur Rail Services was a Western Australian owned railway company that provides terminal operations and short haul rail services. In February 2006, it purchased Silverton Rail. In March 2007, it was sold to Coote Industrial, then in Ma ...

by August 2000. The latter three are now owned by

Greentrains Greentrains is a locomotive and rolling stock leasing company in Australia. It was formed in June 2008 as a subsidiary of Coote Industrial. In 2008, Coote Industrial subsidiary Gemco Rail acquired 42 locomotives and 54 wagons from the distress ...

and have been used as Broken Hill

shunter A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...

s as well as in Western Australia.K205
Western Australian Railscene e-Mag issue 1 5 January 2009 page 4K205
Western Australian Railscene e-Mag issue 178 27 February 2012 page 8 The two sold to Goldsworthy Mining were transferred to

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

operation in November 1992.Port Kembla - Diesel Locomotive Fleetlisting
Light Rail Research Society of Australia

Class List (K)

References

* * {{WAGR Locomotives, state=collapsed BHP Billiton diesel locomotives Co-Co locomotives English Electric locomotives Diesel locomotives of Western Australia Railway locomotives introduced in 1966 Standard gauge locomotives of Australia Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia