The Watco Australia WRA Class is an Australian
diesel-electric locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
, built by the
National Railway Equipment Company
National Railway Equipment Company is an American railroad equipment rebuilding, leasing, and manufacturing company, headquartered in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. NREC sells new and rebuilt locomotives to railroad companies worldwide, with an emphasis ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
for use on
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 ...
's services in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
.
History
In 2018, Watco Australia announced the order of 8 of the WRA Class locomotives for use on the
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both Commuter rail, suburban and Regional rail, interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well ...
network. They are equipped with a V12 diesel prime mover, rated at 1.6MW. The locomotive is similar in specification to local units, such as the
2300 class. They have been modified to work in multi with Watco's other motive power.
Delivery to Australia
On 16 August 2019, Watco Australia announced that the first two units were being delivered to Australia.
WRA001 and 002 arrived at The Port of Brisbane on the vessel Tarago on 9 October 2019 and were transferred to
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
behind QR locomotive 1724.
The company began grain and cattle operations with the locos in 2020 after certification and testing.
References
External links
* {{Cite web, url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-EXda-RWZ4, title=Watco loco transfer, website=
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, date=27 December 2019, type=Video 4 mins 55 secs
Diesel–electric locomotives of Australia
Queensland Rail locomotives