Silverton Rail
Encyclopedia
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 regional rail operator providing rail freight haulage, hook and pull, terminal and shunting services, maintenance and first response/recovery services. It is accredited to operate in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, and is today an operating division of Western Australian company South Spur Rail Services
South Spur Rail Services
South Spur Rail Services is a Western Australian owned railway company that provides terminal operations and short haul rail services to the rail transport industry. It is a family owned and operated business formed in 1997 whose shareholders come from a Westrail background.South Spur Rail have a...
, in turn part of the Coote Industrial Group.
History
Silverton Tramway
The Silverton Tramway was an Australian long narrow gauge railway running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970 it served the mines of Broken Hill, and formed the link between the standard gauge New South Wales...
, a 56 kilometre long narrow gauge railway running from Cockburn
Cockburn, South Australia
Cockburn is a town on the border of South Australia and New South Wales near Broken Hill. The town population consists of roughly 25 people with a greater regional community of 180 as of 2005.-Town history:...
on the South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n state border to Broken Hill
Broken Hill, New South Wales
-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...
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...
. Gauge standardisation
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...
in 1970 made the line redundant, and the company moved on to service the mining industry in and around Broken Hill.
The 1990s saw the company continue to change, relocating the majority of rail operations to Parkes
Parkes, New South Wales
- Transport :Parkes has a local bus service provided by Western Road Liners, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The Indian Pacific also stops twice a week, as well as the Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by CountryLink, which heads to Broken Hill on Mondays and Sydney on...
, and purchasing 98 surplus diesel locomotive
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...
s for the purpose of refurbishment with the sale of FreightCorp and 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...
. In 2004 Silverton operated 28 locomotives, two in Broken Hill, two in both Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and 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...
and the balance out of Parkes, along with 450 freight wagons.
The company took the form it is today when Western Australian company South Spur Rail Services
South Spur Rail Services
South Spur Rail Services is a Western Australian owned railway company that provides terminal operations and short haul rail services to the rail transport industry. It is a family owned and operated business formed in 1997 whose shareholders come from a Westrail background.South Spur Rail have a...
purchased Silverton Rail in February 2006. The locomotives and rolling stock were sold to the Allco Finance Group
Allco Finance Group
Allco Financial Group was a fully integrated global financial services business, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and head-quartered in Sydney, Australia. Major services provided are structured asset finance, funds management and debt and equity funding. Allco has over A$4.3 billion in...
. In June 2010 Coote Industrial Group sold the company (along with South Spur Rail Services) to P&O Trans Australia for $26.5 million, including payment for additional rolling stock rebuilt or to be refurbished by Coote Industrial's rolling stock maintenance provider, Gemco Rail.
Fleet
Locomotives that have seen use with Silverton Rail include New South Wales (former State Rail Authority) 442 classNew South Wales 442 class locomotive
The 442 class locomotives were ordered and operated by the New South Wales Government Railways. They were the second generation of Alco units to be built, and were used on both main freight and passenger service in New South Wales, and throughout Australia since entering private ownership. The...
, 80 class
New South Wales 80 class locomotive
The 80 class is a class of mainline diesel locomotive introduced from 1978 in the state of New South Wales. They were the first class to be built "as a whole" by Commonwealth Engineering in Granville, New South Wales, based on an Alco design. Altogether 50 units were built. These units were a...
, 45 class
New South Wales 45 class locomotive
The New South Wales 45 class are a class of diesel-electric locomotives built for and operated by the New South Wales Government Railways from 1962...
, 44 class
New South Wales 44 class locomotive
The New South Wales 44 class locomotives were one of the first locomotives built by A. E. Goodwin in the Alco tradition. One-hundred of these DL500B units were built. Introduced in 1957, these locomotives have served every part of NSW, from services in the North and South, to the Indian Pacific...
, 48 class
New South Wales 48 class locomotive
The 48 Class are a diesel electric locomotive ordered by the New South Wales Government Railways from 1959. Once the most ubiquitous locomotive in New South Wales , the locomotives were built by A. E. Goodwin, based on Alco frames and prime movers, using General Electric electrical equipment...
and Victorian Railways C class
Victorian Railways C class (diesel)
The Victorian Railways C Class GT26C mainline diesel locomotives are a hood unit heavy freight locomotive introduced from 1977 which are mechanically identical to American EMD SD40s, and used on interstate freight services...
diesel locomotives. The company also uses 600
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....
class locomotives (from South Australia) and the new RL class locos.