In late 1992 Freight Rail negotiated a ‘ready power’ agreement with Clyde, EMD and its banking partner for the supply of 55 (later increased to 58) locomotives to support coal and general freight operations, supplementing the successful 81 Class and allowing the retirements of some of the elderly 422, 442, 48, 49 and 80 Class.
These Model JT42C became the 82 Class, producing some 3000HP/2260kw for traction and weighing in at 132.3 tonnes. Unlike the 90 Class, they featured a cab at each end and were locally manufactured at Braemar (near Mittagong) by Clyde Engineering, the first entering service in early 1994.
Freight Corp purchased these outright in 2001 before it and National Rail were merged to become Pacific National, after which, as a result of the world demand for coal, PacNat dedicated them initially almost exclusively to coal operations. They feature the EMD 12-7103GA two stroke turbocharged diesel engine driving an AR11 alternator feeding 6 EMD D87 type traction motors. Purchase of the 82 Class (and the 90 Class covered in a separate presentation) released a large number of 81 Class from coal to general freight work.
In this presentation we will have a look at the inside and outside of the 82 Class and view them in intermodal, grain, coal and general service. We will also have a brief look at the only other three JT42C class in Australia, these being R1004 (formerly Goldsworthy Mining’s GML10, on sold to Comalco which was purchased by Rio Tinto/Alcan and subsequently sold to Australian Loco Lease) and Rio Tinto Alcan's new R1005 and R1006.
Approximate run time: 104 minutes.