BENDIGO, Australia — Four Australian-built variants of the classic EMD covered-wagon locomotive design, which had been stored and were candidates for export or scrapping, have been purchased by New South Wales’ Southern Shorthaul Railroad and will be returned to service.
The former Genesee & Wyoming Australia units, CLF class Nos. 1 and 3, and CLP class Nos. 9 and 12, are part of a group built by EMD licensee Clyde Engineering between 1970 and 1972 that were the last in the world to be built with the familiar “bulldog” front end of EMD’s E and F units. The C-C locomotives were rebuilt by Morrison Knudsen Australia in 1992-93 and have 16-cylinder EMD 645 engines imported from the U.S.
They will join eight other Clyde-built bulldog locomotives, of four different classes, already on the Southern Shorthaul roster.
The purchase also includes a fifth locomotive, non-streamlined dual-cab 422 class locomotive No. 4022 built by Clyde that also has an EMD 645 prime mover.
And not only do they look good but they also sound great!!! In addition to these 4, Genesee and Wyoming also operate CLP and CLF locomotives on grain and intermodal services, including from Adelaide to Darwin on the north-south transcontinental route.
Saw these while riding the Indian Pacific out of Perth. Did a double take both for the G&W colors and the obvious covered wagon cabs . Glad to see they are staying..
Daniel: That would have been fabulous.
Imagine if Amtrak’s SDP-40Fs had come in that carbody.