The RA Class are diesel locomotives built by

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during t ...

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. Th ...

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 respons ...

between 1969 and 1972. They were a revised version of the

R class R class or Class R may refer to: Locomotives * LCDR R class, a British steam locomotive class *NER Class R, a British steam locomotive class *NZR R class, a type of New Zealand steam locomotive *Rhymney Railway R class, class of tank locomotive * V ...

Description

The RA class were a hood type general purpose diesel-electric locomotive. They were similar to the

Queensland Railways 1300 class The 1300 class were a class of diesel locomotive built by English Electric, Rocklea for Queensland Rail between 1967 and 1972. They were later sold to AN Tasrail. History The 1300 class was an upgraded version of the 1270 class with more power ...

. All equipment, except traction motors, were interchangeable with the standard gauge K class. The main differences with the R class were a slight increase in length and wheelbase and deletion of the dynamic brake. They were otherwise identical mechanically and electrically. The bogies were identical to those fitted to the R class and were an English Electric design with low weight transfer characteristics. They feature fully equalised primary spring gear, all traction motors in each bogie mounted with the nose-suspension facing inwards, traction thrust at near axle level and long pivot centres to reduce inter-bogie transfer. Adhesion loss at maximum tractive effort is limited to 4.5 per cent allowing trailing load to be hauled up a 1 in 100 grade.

History

Following on from the R class, a further 11 were ordered, but without dynamic brakes. A further two were financed by the Lefroy Salt Company for use over a spur off the Esperance line. In 1973, a version of the RA class with a low nose was ordered for

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

, which classed them Z. In 1974 the RA1914, RA1917 and RA1918 were fitted with standard gauge bogies and renumbered KA211-KA213. RA1918 has been preserved by

Rail Heritage WA Rail Heritage WA is the local trading name of the Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division) Inc. History The Western Australian branch of the Australian Railway Historical Society was formed in February 1959. In the 19 ...

.Diesel Locomotives
Rail Heritage WA

Class list

References

* * {{WAGR Locomotives, state=collapsed Co-Co locomotives English Electric locomotives Diesel locomotives of Western Australia Railway locomotives introduced in 1969 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia Standard gauge locomotives of Australia Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia