The opening of the Sydney - Melbourne standard gauge line in 1962 generated a large increase in rail traffic necessitating the Victorian Railways (VR) to order additional main line power. This came in the form of a hood car body version (known as Model G26C) of its existing streamlined Clyde GM S Class, to be known as the X Class.
The first six Mk1 X Class, numbered X31-X36 and all delivered in 1966, were powered with a 180HP/1342KW EMD 567C V16 diesel engine, featured a low squared off nose and a single set of driving controls located on the right side of the locomotive, thus favouring long end leading but, unlike the S Class, driveable at main line speeds in either direction. Starting in 1970 a further eight, numbered X37-X44, were purchased but these featured the EMD 645E diesel engine giving 2000HP/1491KW power for traction and were known as the Mk2 version.
The last order for X class came in 1974 for an additional ten locomotives, numbered X45-X54, and known as the Mk3. Whilst still featuring the EMD 645E diesel engine, they were equipped with main alternators in lieu of generators, a single set of controls on the left hand side (thereby rendering them suitable only to short hood leading), angular short hood and air tight cabs. All were in service by 1976. In 1999 all serviceable X class passed to Freight Victoria (FV), later to become Freight Australia (FA), under the government sell off of VR.
Whilst in their charge, in 2002 FA decided to upgrade several Mk1 and Mk2 units with 3000HP/2240KW EMD 645E3C diesel engines, effectively converting them into Model GT26Cs like the subsequent VR’s C Class. Locomotives X32 - X35 plus X38 and X40 became XR555, XR553, XR554, XR551, XR550 and XR552 respectively. So successful was the project that FA’s Dynon workshops (with the assistance of subcontractors and suppliers) planned to build six equivalents, XR557 - XR562, as new builds. About this time FA was bought by PacNat and the last three of the planned additional new build units for which equipment had been sought were manufactured as cabless slave units and numbered XRB560 - XRB562.
In this presentation we take a look at the features of the X, XR and XRB units and view them in operation.
Approximate run time: 104 minutes.