47 Class

The New South Wales 47 class are a class of diesel-electric locomotives built for and operated by the New South Wales Government Railways from September 1972. Twenty were built for use on branchline services. The 47 class have a Caterpillar 16-D399TA engine, generating 840 kW / 1125 hp of power. They were praised for their fine riding qualities, but were notorious for their frequent engine failures.

History
Twenty were ordered from A Goninan & Co with the first delivered in July 1972. After undergoing acceptance trails the first entered service in September 1972 with the last entering service in May 1973. Originally intended for use hauling coal services in the Hunter Valley, they were allocated to Bathurst to operate services in the state's west from Lithgow to Euabalong West, Bourke and Cootamundra and all branches in between. Their excellent ride qualities saw them find favour with crews, although they did suffer from overheating with one destroyed by fire in April 1974 and another in a collision in March 1977. In January 1981 it was decided to transfer the class 47s to Broadmeadow to take up the duties they had originally been built for being used to haul coal services from Belmont, Dudley, Lambton and Pelton. They also saw use on services to Werris Creek, Tamworth and Moree. They continued to return to Bathurst Workshops for overhaul. A downturn in traffic as a result of a drought saw them placed in store at Parkes in 1982/83 before all were reactivated in 1984 resuming duties out of Broadmeadow. In 1987 4719 was withdrawn from service and stored at Bathurst Workshops as a source parts to keep sister units working, being joined by 4715 in November 1988. In 1989 both were moved from to Cardiff Workshops to be rebuilt as HTV2000, a Heavy Test Vehicle. Despite their favouritism with crews, their high maintenance costs saw them withdrawn in 1989/90 with the last being taken out of service in December 1990. In 1991 4701, 02, 03, 07, 08 & 16 were sold to the Lachlan Valley Railway at Cowra later acquiring 4717. In 1999 they were transferred to Sydney for use by Lachlan Valley Rail Freight on metropolitan trip workings and on services between Sydney and Newcastle.

Fleet
4701: Owned by LVR, leased to Southern Shorthaul Railroad and in SSR yellow & black livery 4702: Owned by LVR, leased to Southern Shorthaul Railroad and in LVR silver, red & green (castrol) livery 4703: Owned by LVR, leased to El Zorro and in LVRF green with yellow & white livery 4705: Owned by LVR, currently awaiting transfer to Cowra from a park at Werris Creek and in Indian red livery 4706: Owned by the DSRM, stored at Dorrigo and in Candy livery 4707: Owned by LVR, currently overhauled at Eveleigh and in Candy livery 4708: Owned by LVR, leased to Southern Shorthaul Railroad and in Candy livery 4716: Owned by LVR, leased to Southern Shorthaul Railroad and in Tuscan livery 4717: Owned by QUBE Logistics and in the Company's grey & yellow livery