 Joined: 03/06/2013(UTC) Posts: 431 Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Near my home in Melbourne is a flour mill served by the railway. While I was waiting for a take-away the other day I walked down to the train tracks. A wheat train was unloading at the mill...   You'll see the road number is S317 - a Victorian Railways S Class, built in 1961. They long since retired from public railways, but some of these old ladies still survive with private railway operators like Southern Shorthaul Railroad. The obvious similarity with an EMD F7 is not coincidental. Clyde Engineering in Sydney had a license to build the General Motors design, which they then modified for local conditions. One of the those local conditions was the need to operate (sadly) on more than one gauge of track. They could be fitted with either standard gauge or broad gauge bogies. Here one of her sister locomotives is in the process of being delivered to Victoria, and is having the bogies changed at the border between New South Wales and Victoria. (Crazy, I know. Rail in Australia is still very primitive, and this is one of the reasons).  I do love these locomotives, to my eye the most classic of the streamliner designs. Here another sister of hers, S316, heads the Southern Aurora...  The locomotive in my photos, S317, was badly damaged in collisions on two occasions. Once in 1967, and then again in 1982 when she was run into the rear of a stationary train, tragically killing the crew:  Amazing that after two serious collisions and 60 years she's still earning a living. Her sister S316 was not so lucky, and was one of two S classes completely destroyed in one of Australia's worst railway accidents, the Violet Town railway disaster. And so as not to finish on such a grim photo, her older sister S303 restored to former glory...  Further reading at: http://www.victorianrailways.net/motive%20power/sdie/sdie.htmland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_Railways_S_class_(diesel)Herman |
- Herman |
 12 users liked this useful post by hvc
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PJMärklin, xxup, Mman, Alsterstreek, kimballthurlow, Wildrose-Wally, sidblack, TrainIride, DaleSchultz, bph, foumaro, Frankenbahner
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 Joined: 23/05/2021(UTC) Posts: 252 Location: England, Guildford
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As they only have a driving cab at one end (!) how were they turned? Triangles, wyes or turntables?
ChrisG
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Joined: 03/06/2013(UTC) Posts: 431 Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Originally Posted by: Mman  As they only have a driving cab at one end (!) how were they turned? Triangles, wyes or turntables?
ChrisG They can be operated in pairs, allowing bi-directional operation. Nowadays they are turned on wyes - the flat end does have a small cab for low-speed running. Back when they were new Victorian Railways still had steam locomotives and turntables, so I guess they would have used those as well. |
- Herman |
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Joined: 18/03/2007(UTC) Posts: 6,763 Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Originally Posted by: hvc .....
I do love these locomotives, to my eye the most classic of the streamliner designs. Here another sister of hers, S316, heads the Southern Aurora...
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Herman Hello Herman, Thank you so much for that well written story and photographs on an iconic locomotive. With their 3 axle bogies they are closer in size and style to the EMD E8, but of course the front end noses on any of the F or E classes were much the same. Amazing that thay are still operating. regards Kimball |
HO Scale - Märklin (ep II-III and VI, C Track, digital) - 2 rail HO (Queensland Australia, UK, USA) - 3 rail OO (English Hornby Dublo) - old clockwork O gauge - Live Steam 90mm (3.1/2 inch) gauge. |
1 user liked this useful post by kimballthurlow
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Joined: 03/06/2013(UTC) Posts: 431 Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Originally Posted by: kimballthurlow Originally Posted by: hvc .....
I do love these locomotives, to my eye the most classic of the streamliner designs. Here another sister of hers, S316, heads the Southern Aurora...
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Herman With their 3 axle bogies they are closer in size and style to the EMD E8, but of course the front end noses on any of the F or E classes were much the same. You're right, they are more similar to an E8. An odd difference I noticed doing some reading about them was the provision of a door at the front of the nose, which struck me as a strange addition:  I don't know what the reason was for the door? I guess access to the passenger cars behind when running in pairs?   The doors were welded shut in the 1970s, with the grab handles then lingering until later rebuilds. Edited by user 09 January 2022 12:49:05(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified |
- Herman |
4 users liked this useful post by hvc
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 Joined: 16/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 5,842 Location: Hybrid Home
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The photo caption in below thread is suggesting that a EMD E4 passenger locomotive nose door was meant to allow access to the train: https://ogrforum.ogauger...rReply=39441156522184870But then in North America many EMD F type bulldog nose freight locomotive had nose doors... |
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3 users liked this useful post by Alsterstreek
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Joined: 31/08/2007(UTC)
Posts: 414
Location: Kennesaw, GA
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Originally Posted by: Alsterstreek The photo caption in below thread is suggesting that a EMD E4 passenger locomotive nose door was meant to allow access to the train: https://ogrforum.ogauger...rReply=39441156522184870But then in North America many EMD F type bulldog nose freight locomotive had nose doors... A shame that's not a color photo, that paint scheme was epic!
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1 user liked this useful post by DTaylor91
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