The New South Wales 45 class are a class of diesel-electric locomotives built for and operated by the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

 from 1962. The number grouping was previously occupied by a single electric locomotive numbered 4501

New South Wales 45 (later 71) class locomotive

The New South Wales 45 class was a class of mainline electric locomotive introduced on to the NSW rail system in 1952 by the New South Wales Government Railways...

, which was renumbered 7100 to free up the grouping.

History

The 45 class were built by the Alco's Australian licensee A.E Goodwin, and are based on the Alco DL-541 model. The South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 to the incorporation of its non-urban railways into the Australian National Railways Commission in 1975, together with the former Commonwealth Railways and the former Tasmanian Government Railways...

 also has similar units, and are classified as the 600 class

South Australian Railways 600 class (diesel)

The 600 class is a class of mainline diesel locomotives of the South Australian Railways. They were built by A. E. Goodwin. They have a Co-Co wheelbase.The locomotive is a hood type with a long and short end and the driving position in the middle....

. The locomotives are fitted with an Alco 12-251C

ALCO 251

The Alco 251 diesel engine was developed by the American Locomotive Company to replace the 244 and 539. The 251 was developed to be used in diesel locomotives, as a marine power plant in ships and as a stationary power generator.-Development:...

 engine, developing 1455 kW, the same as the 44 class. Six of these locomotives have been upgraded in the cabs, and reclassified as the 35 class. Some also had a unique 'red terror' type of livery to distinguish the units.

These hood units were introduced into service in 1962

1962 in rail transport

-January events:* January 8 – The Harmelen train disaster, the worst railway accident in the history of the Netherlands, occurs when one passenger train driver misses a warning signal and passes a red signal to collide nearly head-on with another passenger train...

, and initially serviced the Main Southern line

Main Southern railway line, New South Wales

The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.- Description of route :...

, but moved to the North and Northwest of the state later on, as with the other Alco units.

Colour Schemes

SRA Candy

SRA Red Terror

All those converted to 35 class were painted in red terror

Freightrail Blue

4501, 4520, 4524 & 4531 were painted in this scheme

After Withdrawal

4520 was retained for the NSWRTM

4501, 4502, 4528 and 3532 were retained by State Rail and passed to Rail Services Australia who sold them to Great Northern Railway Services with whom they did not enter service. 4501 was sold to Goodwin ALCo Ltd while the other 3 were sold to Silverton Rail with only 3532 to enter service as 45s1. 4502 was part way overhauled while 4528 is still stored at Broken Hill. All 3 were sold to ALCO with 45s1 passing to Coote Industrial with 4502 and 4528 owned by CFCLA.

4514 was sold to a private buyer and restored in Indian Red and leased to Silverton Rail on occasion. It was then sold to Patrick Portlink

4537 was sold to a Private buyer and then sold to Austrac who rebuilt it with a chopped nose and leased to BHP Port Kembla as 103 with 2 442 class.

Preserved/survivors

• 4501 is newly restored to Mainline operations and is owned by the Lachlan ALCO group which leases the loco to 3801 limited for mainline tours.
• 4502 owned by CFLCA but stored.
• 4503 was owned by Austrac/JRW. Sold to Patrick Portlink, sighted operational 27/11/2011 in Parkes Central West NSW working a Pacific National grain train.
• 4505 owned by JRW. Stored was numbered as 3505 in the SRA.
• 4514 was preserved privately. Sold to Patrick Portlink now stored.
• 4520 is a State Rail Heritage locomotive, which is based at the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum
  New South Wales Rail Transport Museum
  The New South Wales Rail Transport Museum located in Thirlmere, New South Wales south-west of Sydney, is a museum dedicated to displaying former locomotives, carriages and goods wagons from the New South Wales Government Railways as well as private operations in NSW. The collection features steam,...
  
   at Thirlmere, NSW.
• 4521 is preserved by Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum
  Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum
  The Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum in Dorrigo, New South Wales, Australia is a large, privately owned collection of preserved railway vehicles and equipment from the railways of New South Wales, covering both Government and private railways...
  
  .
• 4528 owned by CFLCA but stored.
• 4532 was rebuilt as a 35 class while with the SRA. Sold to GNRS, then to Silverton Rail and entered service as 45s1. It is now stored at Broken Hill.
• 4537 now numbered as 103 is operated by Patrick Portlink. This locomotive has had the short end hood cut down and the toilet removed.

Staff exchanger

An automatic staff exchanger

Token (railway signalling)

In railway signalling, a token is a physical object which a locomotive driver is required to have or see before entering onto a particular section of single track. The token is clearly endorsed with the name of the section it belongs to...

was fitted to allow the electric train staff to be exchanged at speed.