BHP Whyalla DE class
| Industry | Railway locomotive manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956 |
| Headquarters | Granville , Australia |
| Products | Diesel locomotives |
The BHP Whyalla DE class diesel locomotives were manufactured by Clyde Engineering at Granville for BHP during the period from 1956 to 1965.
History
In 1956, BHP procured two Electro-Motive Diesel G8 locomotives from Clyde Engineering to operate at its narrow gauge iron-ore quarry in Iron Knob. That same year, the initial delivery of four larger EMD G12 locomotives was made for deployment on the narrow gauge BHP Whyalla Tramway, with a fifth unit added in 1961.
With the establishment of the 39.5 km standard gauge Coffin Bay Tramway on the Eyre Peninsula, BHP acquired two standard gauge G12 locomotives in 1965. When the quarry railway ceased operations in 1968, the G8 units were reassigned to the standard gauge route.
Between 1993 and 1995, Morrison-Knudsen Australia undertook a remanufacturing program at Whyalla, upgrading six locomotives by fitting new cabs to prolong their service life.
In 2003, following OneSteel’s acquisition of the Whyalla Steelworks, rail operations were transferred to Australian Railroad Group. The DE class locomotives were subsequently renumbered into the 1250 and 1300 series. After ARG dissolved in 2006, four of the refurbished DE locomotives became part of Genesee & Wyoming Australia, later known as One Rail Australia, and were included in Aurizon’s acquisition of ORA’s non-coal assets in 2022.
The only G12 unit that was never rebuilt, DE1251, moved to QR National before being sold to Apex Industrial for export to South Africa in 2015; it currently remains stored at African Rail & Traction Services in Pretoria, serving as a source for spare parts.
During the remanufacturing efforts, DE02—the sole G8 locomotive not rebuilt—was dismantled for components. In 2005–2006, it was reconstructed at Islington Railway Workshops for SCT Logistics to operate near Parkes, New South Wales. Due to its resemblance to the Victorian Railways T class, it was assigned the number T414.
Status table
| Locomotive | Model | In service | Owner | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE01 | EMD G8 | Oct 1956 | Aurizon | In service | Upgraded as DE1 Feb 1994, renumbered 1301 |
| DE02 | EMD G8 | Nov 1956 | SCT Logistics | In service | Rebuilt at Islington Railway Workshops as T414 |
| DE03 | EMD G12 | Nov 1956 | Aurizon | In service | Remanufactured as DE3 Sep 1994, renumbered 1302 |
| DE04 | EMD G12 | Dec 1956 | Genesee & Wyoming Australia | In service | Remanufactured as DE4 Mar 1995, renumbered 1303 |
| DE05 | EMD G12 | May 1957 | African Rail & Traction Services | Stored | Renumbered 1251 |
| DE06 | EMD G12 | Aug 1957 | BHP | Scrapped Nov 1996 | |
| DE07 | EMD G12 | Jun 1961 | Aurizon | In service | Remanufactured as DE7 Mar 1994, renumbered 1304 |
| DE08 | EMD G12 | Nov 1965 | Australian Railroad Group | Scrapped Oct 2002 | Remanufactured as DE8 May 1994, destroyed in accident Apr 2002 |
| DE09 | EMD G12 | Dec 1965 | Australian Railroad Group | Scrapped Oct 2002 | Remanufactured as DE9 May 1993, destroyed in accident Apr 2002 |