BL class
Encyclopedia
The BL class are an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n diesel electric locomotives
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

 introduced to service in 1983 and built by Clyde Engineering
Clyde Engineering
Clyde Engineering was the name of part of the business now known as Downer EDI Rail. Clyde Engineering were involved in the construction of railway locomotives and rolling stock, as well as larger scale engineering projects on behalf of the governments of Australia...

, Rosewater, to a contract issued by Australian National. Ten were built over a period of 16 months, from March 1983 to July 1984. Numbered BL26 to BL35, they are powered by an EMD 16-645E3 engine, weigh 129t, and have a maximum speed of 115km/h.

With the dissolution of Australian National, the BL Class were transferred to National Rail
National Rail Corporation
The National Rail Corporation was a rail operator in Australia. The Australian Government, New South Wales and Victoria established the National Rail Corporation in 1992...

, and then onto Pacific National
Pacific National
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest private rail freight businesses. Originally a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings; it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Asciano Limited following the restructure of Toll Holdings....

 in 2004. They are mainly used for general freight duties on the standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 lines in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, although 4 units (BL29, BL30, BL32 and BL34) are fitted with broad gauge bogies and are permanently based out of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 to operate the Melbourne to Long Island steel service.

The in-service members of the BL Class can be seen wearing any of 3 different liveries: the standard National Rail grey and orange, the grey and white National Rail 'SteelLink' variant, or the new Pacific National blue and yellow livery. All members of the BL Class are currently in service with Pacific National.

The first 5 members of the Victorian G class are identical to the BL class.

Locomotives

Locomotive Named Entered service Owner Livery Status
BL26 Bob Hawke March 1983 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL27 September 1983 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL28 September 1983 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL29 October 1983 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL30 December 1983 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL31 November 1983 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL32 February 1984 Pacific National NR Orange and Grey In Service
BL33 April 1984 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL34 June 1984 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
BL35 July 1984 Pacific National PN Blue and Yellow In Service
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK