The Junee Railway Workshop is an accredited rail operator that maintains and repairs locomotives and rolling stock from its base at Junee Locomotive Depot.

History

Junee Railway Workshop was formed in January 1995 as Austrac Ready Power. It purchased a number of former FreightCorp locomotives and leased the disused Junee Locomotive Depot. In June 1995, it completed the overhaul of two 442 class and one 45 class locomotives for lease to

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

, Port Kembla. It also signed a contract to rebuild engines for BHP. In August 1997, Austrac became the first private operator to sign a track access agreement with the Rail Access Corporation. In November 1997, Austrac began operating a service from

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge, ...

and Junee to

Port Botany Port Botany is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Port Botany is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Port ...

using 48 class locomotives. Austrac adopted a livery that was a reverse of that of the US

Erie Lackawanna Railway The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route ...

. In February 1998, NB1872 and NB1873 were purchased from

Westrail Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways 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 respon ...

. From August 1998, the Griffith services ceased with Austrac commencing a

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

service as a joint venture with V/Line Freight. This ceased in May 1999 following V/Line Freight being sold to Freight Victoria however by then, Austrac was operating log train services from Junee and

Tuggeranong Tuggeranong () is a district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks and is the southernmost district of the Australian Capital Territory. The district comprise ...

, grain services from

Quandialla Quandialla is a village in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West region of New South Wales Australia. The town is west of Sydney. It is situated on the plains at the western edge of the Weddin Shire. The town of Grenfell, New South ...

as well as metropolitan trip workings in Sydney. In late 1999, Austrac recommenced a three times a week Sydney to Melbourne service with four leased Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia EL class locomotives and from December 1999 containerised grain services from

Willow Tree Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

were operated. In July 2000, Austrac commenced a weekly Moree to Melbourne service replacing the service from Sydney. On 21 August 2000, the three Austrac operational arms went into voluntary administration. It ceased trading in August 2001. The Australian Traction Corporation Pty Ltd changed its name to Junee Railway Workshop Pty Ltd in 2004. retaining the Junee depot lease and 48 class locomotives. Since April 2010, Junee Railway Workshop has been overhauling a fleet of eighteen 48 class locomotives for GrainCorp along with an ex

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 ...

for its own use. The ex Austrac 48s have been hired to other operators including El Zorro.Junee Railway Workshop
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References

{{Reflist Railway companies established in 1995 Railway maintenance companies of Australia 1995 establishments in Australia