The Queensland Railways 2170 class is an Australian diesel-electric locomotive. All were built between 1982 and 1984 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 ...

at Comeng's

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 ...

plant for

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 ...

. Most have been sold for further use overseas with seventeen going to South Africa and twelve to Ferronor in Chile.

The 2100 class family

The Queensland Railways 2100 class first entered service in 1970. The class family consists of the 2100, 2130, 2150 and 2170 classes. It formed the mainstay of

's coal haulage from the opening of the Goonyella line until

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

in the late 1980s.Queensland's Railway Interest Group (qrig.org) - Clyde/GM 2100 Class
(Accessed on 24 Nov 2015)Aurizon Locomotive Datasheet 2170D Class
Aurizon 26 February 2013 A new batch of locomotives was ordered with the opening of each new mine and the 2170 class entered service when the German Creek, Oaky Creek and Blair Athol coal mines came into operation. Eleven units were built with

Locotrol Locotrol is a product of GE Transportation that permits railway locomotives to be distributed throughout the length of a train ( distributed power). It is installed on more than 17,000 locomotives around the world, sending signals from the lead loc ...

equipment.Queensland's Great Trains - 2100 Class
(Accessed on 24 Nov 2015)

Manufacturer

The 2170 class was an evolution of the 2150 class. It differed from the earlier class mainly by having modified traction motors, Dash 2 modular electrical cabinets and air-conditioned cabs. The locomotives were built by

at Comeng's

plant between 1982 and 1984.

Modifications

Since the late 1980s, the locomotives have been modified. Modified locomotives had a letter suffix added to their unit numbers. These modifications include: * A suffix. Weight reduction by reducing fuel tank capacity by 1,300 litres, 2195 only * D suffix. A driver-only operation (DOO) cab modification, which included lowering the nose of the locomotive and the addition of a larger windscreen for the driver.Railpage - 2170 Class (QR) - Timeline
(Accessed on 24 Nov 2015) * F suffix. The addition of auxiliary fuel tanks. In 1992-1993, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were fitted with Automatic train protection (ATP). Between 1995 and 1999 eleven received extended cabs to relieve cramping caused by the ATP equipment. In 2000, an overhaul program commenced which included the fitting of maxi-cabs, similar to that of the 2300 class, to all 43 remaining units. After this, thirty were in "D" configuration with the other thirteen in "F" configuration. Some were fitted with ZTR Nexsys II traction control systems.

Service

The 2170 class entered service on coal haulage on the Goonyella line. After electrification, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were placed into general traffic between

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 ...

and the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and on the North Coast line between Rockhampton 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 ...

. Meanwhile, numbers 2202 to 2210 were relocated to Townsville in 1988 to haul Greenvale mineral trains and, from 1993, trains on the Mount Isa line. In the late 1990s, they were re-allocated to Gladstone to operate Moura line coal trains. When the 4100 class entered service, the 2170 class began to be withdrawn from service. Along with Queensland Rail's freight operations, all, apart from 2195, passed to QR National (now

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 ...

) in July 2010.

Disposal

Many of the 2170 class have been sold by Aurizon. * In August 2013, three were placed on consignment with Apex Industrial and exported to South Africa. They were shipped from

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

on the ship ''BBC Carolina'' on 22 August 2013. Two were sold to African Rail & Traction Services while the third went to RRL Grindrod Locomotives. * In July 2014, three were sold by Aurizon back to Queensland Rail to haul its

passenger trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

. * In 2014, fourteen were purchased by

Transnet Freight Rail Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

and exported to South Africa as the Class . * In June 2016, twelve were sold to Ferronor in Chile."Motive Power Roundup" ''Motive Power'' issue 107 September 2016 page 76

Transnet Freight Rail

The Transnet locomotives were renumbered in the range from to , following their Aurizon number sequence and retaining the driver-only operation (DOO) "D" as a prefix to the unit number. At least eight of the Class units were allocated to the Western Cape system and are based at Bellville Locomotive Depot. Of those, at least six have been superficially repainted in a shop version of the red Transnet Freight Rail livery and appear to be in service working the West Coast lines. In most cases the old Aurizon numbers are still visible under the red paint. Repainting was done only on the upper bodywork and everything from the running boards down were left as it was. This includes the buffer beams and cowcatchers, probably since the Australian yellow and grey chevron pattern on the buffer beams is an inverted version of the yellow and grey pattern used by Transnet Freight Rail. At least four of the remaining units are believed to have been allocated to the Eastern Cape system. With the addition of the Class 35-800s, the South African Class 35 locomotive family now consists of five classes, the

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

(GE) Classes 35-000 and 35-400 and the GM-EMD Classes 35-200, and .South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended

Watco Australia

In 2019, after being awarded a grain haulage contract in Queensland,

Watco Australia Watco Australia is a rail haulage operator that was formed in 2010 to haul grain for the CBH Group in Western Australia. In 2019, it commenced operating in Queensland under a contract with GrainCorp. It is a subsidiary of Watco. History In 200 ...

purchased 5 of the 2170s sold to Transnet (2180, 2181, 2183, 2184 and 2188) and shipped them back to Queensland by NGL Projects. They arrived at the Port of Brisbane on 2 July 2019, and the first loco, 2188D, was transferred to Watco's new facilities in Warwick on 31 July 2019. They will be used on Watco's upcoming grain services, in conjunction with the brand new WRA class, currently being built by NRE in the United States.

Status table

The present owner, builder's works numbers, dates in service and disposition are listed in the table.

Gallery

File:QR loco 2174 hauls a northbound goods train on the Denison St section of the NCL in Rockhampton.jpg,

2174D traversing Denison St, Rockhampton, c. 2000
(Now TFR no. D35-802) File:QR 2170 Class 2180D.jpg, No. 2180D at Beaconsfield, Kimberley, 7 October 2015
(renumbered D35-804, bought by Watco, renumbered again to 2180W) File:QR 2170 Class 2202D.jpg, No. 2202D at Pyramid South, Gauteng, 22 September 2015
(Now TFR no. D35-809) File:Class 35-800 no. 35-803.jpg, TFR no. D35-803 at Bellville Loco, 4 July 2017
(Ex QR 2170 Class no. 2177D) File:2183D FMSI.jpg, 2183D at Fisherman's Island

References

External links

{{EMD diesels Aurizon diesel locomotives Cape gauge railway locomotives Clyde Engineering locomotives Co-Co locomotives 3460 Diesel locomotives of Queensland Electro-Motive Division locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1982 Queensland Rail locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia