Commonwealth Railways NJ class
| Industry | Locomotive manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Granville , Australia |
| Products | Diesel-electric locomotives |
The NJ class diesel-electric locomotives were manufactured in 1971 by Clyde Engineering at their Granville, New South Wales facility for the Commonwealth Railways. These units were specifically designed for service on the narrow gauge tracks of the Central Australia Railway.
History
In 1969, Commonwealth Railways commissioned six single-cab NJ class locomotives intended for freight duties and to operate on The Ghan route between Marree and Alice Springs. Built at Clyde Engineering’s Granville plant using parts sourced from their Kelso workshop, their cab styling was similar to that of the contemporary New South Wales 422 class locomotives.
The entire NJ fleet was transferred to Australian National in July 1975. Following the closure of the Central Australian Railway in December 1980, and because these locomotives were incompatible with the new standard gauge line, Australian National reassigned them to the Port Lincoln Division on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. There, their primary role involved hauling grain and gypsum freight services.
In August 1997, all six units were sold along with Australian National’s South Australian operations to Australian Southern Railroad, where they were redesignated as the 1600 class. Several units later moved to the Western Australia operations under Australian Railroad Group. After the division of Australian Railroad Group, two locomotives were acquired by Aurizon in February 2006, while four remained with Genesee & Wyoming Australia as of June 2006.
Aurizon exported its pair of locomotives to Durban, South Africa, in January 2015. Unit 1604 (previously NJ4) was withdrawn and dismantled in early 2019 following a shunting incident at Cummins, South Australia in 2013. The last Genesee & Wyoming Australia grain service to Cummins on 31 May 2019 was led by unit 1603.
After Genesee & Wyoming Australia rebranded as One Rail Australia (ORA) in February 2020—following G&W’s divestment—ORA commenced an overhaul of unit 1603 at Port Augusta during June 2022. However, this refurbishment was discontinued after Aurizon acquired ORA in July. As of 2023, locomotives 1601 and 1606 continue active service at Thevenard, primarily hauling gypsum trains.
Names
- NJ1 was named in honor of prime minister Ben Chifley, who had a background as a locomotive driver based near Bathurst at Kelso—the location where many components were produced. By 2020, this locomotive had informally adopted the name "Thevenard," reflecting its exclusive involvement with gypsum transport on the former South Australian Railways Port Lincoln Division.