The Alco DL531, also known as the RSD8 is a model of railway locomotive manufactured and operated in various countries. A total of 212 were manufactured in Australia between 1959 and 1970 by that country's

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

licensee

AE Goodwin AE Goodwin was an Australian heavy engineering firm, which produced railway locomotives and rolling stock, as well as roadmaking machinery at its factory in Auburn. History Founded in December 1935 by Arthur Elliott Goodwin, the company was ...

, Auburn. The

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

purchased 165 48 class between 1959 and 1970. They were the largest class of diesel locomotives purchased and operated services on all lines in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The

South Australian Railways 830 class The 830 class are a class of diesel locomotives built by AE Goodwin, Auburn, New South Wales, Auburn for the South Australian Railways between 1959 and 1966. The New South Wales 48 class locomotive, New South Wales 48 class and Silverton Tramway ...

were purchased in batches between 1959 and 1970 and operated services throughout

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

on the narrow, standard and broad gauge lines. In the early 1980s some were transferred to

AN Tasrail AN Tasrail was an Australian railway operator that operated the Rail transport in Tasmania, Tasmanian rail network from March 1978 until November 2004. Originally a subsidiary of the Australian Government, federal government's Australian Nationa ...

. The Silverton Rail purchased three narrow gauge examples for use on the

Silverton Tramway The Silverton Tramway was a 58-kilometre-long railway line running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970, it served the mines in Broken Hill, and formed the lin ...

line around

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

. Mass withdrawals began in the 1990s but as at February 2014 about 90 remained in use.48 Class (Graincorp)
Railpage48s Class
Railpage48 Class
Vicsig
Chris' Commonwealth Railways Pages DL531s also operated in Brazil, Pakistan and Peru. A Bo-Bo variant, the DL532 (aka the RS8), operated in Jamaica,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and South Korea.

References

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See also