WAGR A class (diesel)
| Industry | Railway transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | Australia |
| Products | Diesel-electric locomotives (A, AA, AB classes) |
The WAGR A/AA/AB classes consist of diesel-electric locomotives manufactured by Clyde Engineering at their Granville, New South Wales facility for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) during the period from 1960 to 1970.
History
The initial batch of fourteen A class locomotives was delivered by Clyde Engineering in July 1960 for WAGR. Among these, six were assembled under contract by Commonwealth Engineering in Bassendean, Western Australia, representing the first diesel locomotives constructed within the state. The final two units received funding from Western Mining Corporation. Notably, models A1506 and A1513-14 were equipped with dynamic braking systems.
Following this, five enhanced AA class locomotives arrived in 1967, succeeded by six AB class units in 1970. All these were produced at Granville and featured more powerful Electro Motive Diesel 12-645E prime movers.
In January 1998, ten locomotives (A1502 through A1510 and AB1533) were sold to Tranz Rail and transported to New Zealand. Of these, five were dismantled for spare parts, one was sold to Tasrail, and four remaining frames were sold in 2005 to National Railway Equipment Company and shipped to Illinois. Two of these were refurbished and sold in 2010 to Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia, joining seven others previously acquired by the Chilean railway operator in 1998.
Locomotives still held by Westrail were transferred to the Australian Railroad Group in October 2000. After the group's division in June 2006, units A1513 and A1514 were allocated to Aurizon’s South Australian division and reclassified as the 1200 class. Meanwhile, A1501 along with four AB class units were assigned to Aurizon's Western Australian operations and renumbered as AB1501 through AB1504. Unit A1501 was retired in January 2008 and subsequently donated to Rail Heritage WA. In January 2015, locomotives A1202, AB1501, and AB1502 were exported to South Africa.
In April 2017, AB1535 was contributed to Rail Heritage WA for inclusion in the Wheatbelt Heritage Rail Project at Minnivale.
Class list (A)
| Key: | In Service | Withdrawn | Preserved | Converted | Unknown | Scrapped |
|---|
| Serial Number | Date built | Original road number | Renumbered as | Current/Last Owner | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60-216 | June 1960 | A1501 | - | Rail Heritage WA | Preserved at Western Australian Rail Transport Museum, Bassendean. | |
| 60-217 | July 1960 | A1502 | 1443 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | Exported to Chile | |
| 62-263 | September 1962 | A1503 | CC5 | Rusal | Rebuilt by National Railway Equipment with low short-end hood; converted to metre gauge and exported to Guinea for bauxite transport in 2008. | |
| 62-264 | October 1962 | A1504 | CC6 | Rusal | ||
| 62-265 | October 1962 | A1505 | - | Tranz Rail | Scrapped | |
| 63-274 | June 1963 | A1506 | - | Tranz Rail | Scrapped | |
| 64-371 | December 1964 | A1507 | - | AN Tasrail | Exported to Tasmania for parts, later scrapped | |
| 64-372 | February 1965 | A1508 | - | Tranz Rail | Scrapped | |
| 64-373 | February 1965 | A1509 | - | Tranz Rail | Scrapped | |
| 65-374 | April 1965 | A1510 | 1444 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | Exported to Chile | |
| 65-375 | June 1965 | A1511 | 1202 | Rovos Rail | Sent to Durban, South Africa, January 2015 | |
| 65-376 | July 1965 | A1512 | 1431 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | bg color = #00cc00 Exported to Chile | |
| bgcolor="#FFFFFF" 65-427 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" December 1965 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" A1513 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" 1203 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Aurizon | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Active at Thevenard, Eyre Peninsula as A class no. 1203 | |
| bgcolor="#FFFFFF" 65-428 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" December 1965 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" A1514 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" 1204 | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Aurizon | bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Active at Thevenard, Eyre Peninsula as A class no. 1204 |
Class list (AA)
| Legend: | Active Service | Decommissioned | Conserved | Modified | Status Unknown | Dismantled |
|---|
| Serial Number | Construction Date | Initial Road Number | Reassigned Number | Current/Final Owner | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67-534 | August 1967 | AA1515 | 1432 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | Transferred to Chile |
| 67-535 | September 1967 | AA1516 | 1433 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | Transferred to Chile |
| 67-536 | October 1967 | AA1517 | 1434 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | Transferred to Chile |
| 67-537 | October 1967 | AA1518 | 1435 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | Transferred to Chile |
| 67-538 | November 1967 | AA1519 | 1436 | Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | Transferred to Chile |
Class list (AB)
| Legend: | Active Service | Decommissioned | Conserved | Modified | Status Unknown | Dismantled |
|---|
| Serial Number | Construction Date | Initial Road Number | Reassigned Number | Current/Final Owner | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69-676 | November 1969 | AB1531 | AB1501 | Apex Industrial | get exported to South Africa in January 2015 |
| 69-677 | December 1969 | AB1532 | 1437 | " bgcolor="#009900" |Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia | " bgcolor="#009900" |Transferred to Chile |
| " bgcolor="#808080" |69-678 | " bgcolor="#808080" |February 1970 | " bgcolor="#808080" |AB1533 | " bgcolor="#808080" |- | " bgcolor="#808080" |Tranz Rail | " bgcolor="#808080" |Dismantled |
| " bgcolor="#009900" |69-679 | " bgcolor="#009900" |February 1970 | " bgcolor="#009900" |AB1534 | " bgcolor="#009900" |AB1502 | " bgcolor="#009900" |Apex Industrial | " bgcolor="#009900" |Exported to South Africa in January 2015 |
| " bgcolor="#0099FF" |69-680 | " bgcolor="#0099FF" |March 1970 | " bgcolor="#0099FF" |AB1535 | " bgcolor="#0099FF" |AB1503 (Australian Railroad Group) / AB1535 (Rail Heritage WA) | " bgcolor="#0099FF" |Rail Heritage WA | " bgcolor="#0099FF" |Preserved, currently leased to Watco Australia for maintenance and construction operations |
| " bgcolor="#FF6699" |69-681 | " bgcolor="#FF6699" |April 1970 | " bgcolor="#FF6699" |AB1536 | " bgcolor="#FF6699" |AB1504 | " bgcolor="#FF6699"|Aurizon | " bgcolor="#FF6699"|Kept in storage at Forrestfield |