80 Class Locomotive
The New South Wales 80 class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Comeng for the New South Wales Public Transport Commission between October 1978 and February 1983.
Introduction[]
The 80 class were built by Alco's Australian licencee Comeng as an evolution of the 442 class. The 80 class were the first locomotives in Australia to feature factory-fitted cab air-conditioning and fibreglass body panels and the first in New South Wales delivered without buffing plates. To reduce the need for repainting, the fibreglass panels were pre-coloured hence the class retained their original liveries for longer than had previously been the case. An initial order of 30 was followed by an additional order for 20. The first order were delivered in indian red livery while the second received the reverse livery with a yellow nose and indian red wings.
Service[]
They were initially introduced on the Main South line before being transferred to the western region for use between Lithgow and Broken Hill. They quickly spread and regularly hauled freight and passenger services on all main lines.
After being fitted with Australian National radios, 8034-45 commenced operating through to Adelaide with ALs operating into New South Wales. Through working ceased in May 1991 when the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen placed a ban on the 80 class in South Australia.
Following the formation of National Rail, all were reallocated to the national operator in July 1995. This saw there sphere of operation extended to Melbourne, albeit as trailing locomotives.
Demise[]
Following National Rail taking delivery of their NR class locomotives, the 80s began to return to FreightCorp in January 1997. As they were surplus to requirements, some were placed in store. By April 1997, 30 were in store. In September 1997, 8015 & 39 were loaned to BHP Billiton as a trial on services at their Port Kembla steelworks. All were included in the sale of FreightCorp to Pacific National in February 2002.
In March 2003, 24 of the class were sold to Silverton Rail joining 8043 that had been to them in 1999. Four (26, 37, 44 & 49) were returned to traffic as 80s1, 80s4, 80s2 & 80s6. All were included in the sale of the business to Coote Industrial Group and later Qube Logistics. A fifth (8030) was returned to service in 2010 while the other four resumed their original identities. A few of the others have been scrapped with the remainder in store at Broken Hill, Parkes and Werris Creek. Pacific National operate 12 mainly as shunters at Enfield, Kewdale, Port Waratah, Port Augusta and Port Kembla with 10 in store at Chullora and Werris Creek.
Fleet Status[]
| Locomotive | Serial No | Completed | Current Owner | Livery | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8001 | C-6106-1 | Nov 78 | Silverton Rail | FreightCorp blue | Scrapped |
| 8002 | C-6106-2 | Nov 78 | FreightCorp | PTC indian red | Scrapped |
| 8003 | C-6106-3 | Dec 78 | Pacific National | PTC indian red | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8004 | C-6106-4 | Nov 78 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Operational |
| 8005 | C-6106-5 | Jan 79 | Pacific National | Pacific National blue & yellow | Stored, Progress Rail, Port Kembla |
| 8006 | C-6106-6 | Jan 79 | Coote Industrial | PTC indian red | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8007 | C-6106-7 | Feb 79 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Operational |
| 8008 | C-6106-8 | Feb 79 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Broken Hill |
| 8009 | C-6106-9 | Mar 79 | State Rail Authority | PTC indian red | Scrapped |
| 8010 | C-6106-10 | Apr 79 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Broken Hill |
| 8011 | C-6106-11 | May 79 | Pacific National | Pacific National blue & yellow | Operational |
| 8012 | C-6106-12 | May 79 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Operational |
| 8013 | C-6106-13 | Jul 79 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Operational |
| 8014 | C-6106-14 | Jul 79 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8015 | C-6106-15 | Aug 79 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8016 | C-6106-16 | Aug 79 | Coote Industrial | PTC indian red | Stored, Broken Hill |
| 8017 | C-6106-17 | Oct 79 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Chullora |
| 8018 | C-6106-18 | Oct 79 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8019 | C-6106-19 | Nov 79 | Coote Industrial | PTC indian red | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8020 | C-6106-20 | Nov 79 | State Rail Authority | PTC indian red | Scrapped |
| 8021 | C-6106-21 | Dec 79 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Parkes |
| 8022 | C-6106-22 | Jan 80 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8023 | C-6106-23 | Mar 80 | Coote Industrial | PTC Indian red | Stored, Parkes |
| 8024 | C-6106-24 | Mar 80 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Broken Hill |
| 8025 | C-6106-25 | Mar 80 | Pacific National | Pacific National blue & yellow | Operational |
| 8026 | C-6106-26 | Apr 80 | Qube Logistics | Coote green & yellow | Operational |
| 8027 | C-6106-27 | May 80 | Pacific National | PTC indian red | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8028 | C-6106-28 | May 80 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8029 | C-6106-29 | Jun 80 | Silverton Rail | FreightCorp blue | Scrapped |
| 8030 | C-6106-30 | Jun 80 | Qube Logistics | Qube silver & yellow | Operational |
| 8031 | C-6121-1 | Nov 81 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8032 | C-6121-2 | Dec 81 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8033 | C-6121-3 | Jan 82 | Pacific National | Pacific National blue & yellow | Operational |
| 8034 | C-6121-4 | Mar 82 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8035 | C-6121-5 | Apr 82 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8036 | C-6121-6 | May 82 | Coote Industrial | PTC reverse | Scrapped |
| 8037 | C-6121-7 | Jun 82 | Qube Logistics | Coote green & yellow | Operational |
| 8038 | C-6121-8 | Jun 82 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Parkes |
| 8039 | C-6121-9 | Jun 82 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Operational |
| 8040 | C-6121-10 | Aug 82 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Operational |
| 8041 | C-6121-11 | Aug 82 | Coote Industrial | PTC reverse | Stored, Broken Hill |
| 8042 | C-6121-12 | Aug 82 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8043 | C-6121-13 | Sep 82 | Coote Industrial | PTC reverse | Scrapped |
| 8044 | C-6121-14 | Oct 82 | Qube Logistics | Coote green & yellow | Operational |
| 8045 | C-6121-15 | Oct 82 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8046 | C-6121-16 | Dec 82 | Pacific National | Pacific National blue & yellow | Operational |
| 8047 | C-6121-17 | Jan 83 | Pacific National | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Werris Creek |
| 8048 | C-6121-18 | Dec 82 | Coote Industrial | FreightCorp blue | Stored, Broken Hill |
| 8049 | C-6121-19 | Feb 83 | Qube Logistics | Coote green & yellow | Operational |
| 8050 | C-6121-20 | Mar 83 | Pacific National | Pacific National blue & yellow | Operational |