The Tasmanian Government Railway Z class are a class of diesel locomotives built by

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

Rocklea Rocklea is a southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,672 people. Low-lying parts of the suburb are flood prone. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The ...

for the

Tasmanian Government Railways The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian Nat ...

in 1973. They were a development of the Western Australian Government Railways R class and were the last of a line of very successful locomotives fitted with the

12CSVT Mk II engine.

History

With the construction of the

new line New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

from Launceston to Bell Bay, the

placed an order for four 1752 kW locomotives with

. However, with the locomotive still under development, it was decided to purchase four 1380 kW locomotives that were an evolution of the Western Australian RA class locomotives with a low nose profile and

vacuum brake The vacuum brake is a brake, braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Va ...

s. At 96 tons, they were considerably heavier than the previous heaviest locomotives on the network, the Y class at 58 tons, requiring significant upgrades to infrastructure. The first was delivered in December 1972. In March 1978 the Z class were included in the transfer of the Tasmanian Government Railways to Australian National. In 1984/85 all had their vacuum brakes replaced with air brakes. In June 1998, they were renumbered as the 2110 class. All four locomotives were modified for driver-only operation between 1998 and 2001, by having their noses lowered further and the size of the front cab windows increased. All remained in service with

TasRail TasRail (legal name Tasmanian Railway Pty Limited) is a Tasmanian Government state-owned enterprise that has operated the Rail transport in Tasmania, mainline railways in Tasmania since September 2009. It operates only freight services. Histo ...

until stored in May 2014 with the entry into service of the new TR class. In 2022, The Q Train acquired Z1 and Z4 for revenue use on their restaurant rail services on the

Bellarine Railway The Bellarine Railway, formerly the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, is a volunteer-operated steam-driven tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a section of a formerly disused branch line on the Bellarine Peninsula betwee ...

. Z1 was delivered in March and Z4 in May.Heavy maintenance on new locomotives
The Q Train Z2 and Z3 were donated to the

Don River Railway The Don River Railway is a heritage railway and museum in Don, Tasmania, Don, Devonport, Tasmania. It operates a service from Don to Coles Beach (operationally known as Don Junction). The current line follows a reconstructed section of the form ...

Status table

References

{{Reflist Co-Co locomotives Diesel locomotives of Tasmania English Electric locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1973