Queensland Railways 2170 class


The Queensland Railways 2170 class is an Australian diesel-electric locomotive.
All were built between 1982 and 1984 by Clyde Engineering at Comeng's Rocklea plant for Queensland Rail. Most have been sold for further use overseas with seventeen going to South Africa and twelve to Ferronor in Chile.

The 2100 class family

The Queensland Railways 2100 class first entered service in 1970. The class family consists of the 2100, 2130, 2150 and 2170 classes. It formed the mainstay of Queensland Rail's coal haulage from the opening of the Goonyella line until electrification in the late 1980s.
A new batch of locomotives was ordered with the opening of each new mine and the 2170 class entered service when the German Creek, Oaky Creek and Blair Athol coal mines came into operation. Eleven units were built with Locotrol equipment.

Manufacturer

The 2170 class was an evolution of the 2150 class. It differed from the earlier class mainly by having modified traction motors, Dash 2 modular electrical cabinets and air-conditioned cabs.
The locomotives were built by Clyde Engineering at Comeng's Rocklea plant between 1982 and 1984.

Modifications

Since the late 1980s the locomotives have been modified. Modified locomotives had a letter suffix added to their unit numbers. These modifications include:
In 1992-1993, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were fitted with Automatic train protection. Between 1995 and 1999 eleven received extended cabs to relieve cramping caused by the ATP equipment.
In 2000 an overhaul program commenced which included the fitting of maxi-cabs, similar to that of the 2300 class, to all 43 remaining units. After this, thirty were in "D" configuration with the other thirteen in "F" configuration. Some were fitted with ZTR Nexsys II traction control systems.

Service

The 2170 class entered service on coal haulage on the Goonyella line. After electrification, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were placed into general traffic between Brisbane and the South West and on the North Coast line between Rockhampton and Townsville. Meanwhile, numbers 2202 to 2210 were relocated to Townsville in 1988 to haul Greenvale mineral trains and, from 1993, trains on the Mount Isa line. In the late 1990s, they were re-allocated to Gladstone to operate Moura line coal trains.
When the 4100 class entered service, the 2170 class began to be withdrawn from service. Along with Queensland Rail's freight operations, all passed to QR National in July 2010.

Disposal

Many of the 2170 class have been sold by Aurizon.
The Transnet locomotives were renumbered in the range from to, following their Aurizon number sequence and retaining the driver-only operation "D" as a prefix to the unit number.
At least eight of the Class units were allocated to the Western Cape system and are based at Bellville Locomotive Depot. Of those, at least six have been superficially repainted in a shop version of the red Transnet Freight Rail livery and appear to be in service working the West Coast lines. In most cases the old Aurizon numbers are still visible under the red paint. Repainting was done only on the upper bodywork and everything from the running boards down were left as it was. This includes the buffer beams and cowcatchers, probably since the Australian yellow and grey chevron pattern on the buffer beams is an inverted version of the yellow and grey pattern used by Transnet Freight Rail. At least four of the remaining units are believed to have been allocated to the Eastern Cape system.
With the addition of the Class 35-800s, the South African Class 35 locomotive family now consists of five classes, the General Electric Classes 35-000 and 35-400 and the GM-EMD Classes 35-200, South African Class 35-600| and.

Watco Australia

In 2019, after being awarded a grain haulage contract in Queensland, Watco Australia purchased 5 of the 2170s sold to Transnet and shipped them back to Queensland. They arrived at the Port of Brisbane on 2 July 2019, and the first loco, 2188D, was transferred to Watco's new facilities in Warwick on 31 July 2019. They will be used on Watco's upcoming grain services, in conjunction with the brand new WRA class, currently being built by NRE in the United States.

Status table

The present owner, builder's works numbers, dates in service and disposition are listed in the table.
Loco no.OwnerWorks
no.		In
service		WithdrawnDisposition
2170DFerronor82-1100
2171DFerronor82-1101
2172FAfrican Rail & Traction Services82-1102
2173DTransnet Freight Rail82-1103TFR no. D35-801 likely
2174DTransnet Freight Rail82-1104TFR no. D35-802
2175D82-1105Scrapped
2176DFerronor82-1106
2177DTransnet Freight Rail82-1107TFR no. D35-803
2178DFerronor82-1108
2179DFerronor82-1109
2180DWatco Australia82-1125TFR no. D35-804
2181DWatco Australia83-1146TFR no. D35-805
2182DAurizon83-1147In service
2183DWatco Australia83-1148TFR no. D35-806
2184DWatco Australia83-1149TFR no. D35-807
2185DGrindrod Locomotives83-1150
2186FFerronor83-1151
2187D83-1152Scrapped
2188DWatco Australia83-1153TFR no. D35-808
2189FAurizon83-1154In service
2190DAurizon83-1155In service
2191FAurizon83-1156In service
2192FAurizon83-1157In service
2193FAurizon83-1158In service
2194FAurizon83-1159In service
2195FQueensland Rail83-1160In service
2196FAurizon83-1161In service
2197FAurizon83-1162Stored Redbank Railway Workshops
2198FAurizon84-1218In service
2199FAurizon83-1163In service
2200FAurizon83-1164In service
2201DFerronor83-1165
2202DTransnet Freight Rail83-1166TFR no. D35-809
2203DFerronor83-1167
2204DAfrican Rail & Traction Services83-1168
2205DTransnet Freight Rail83-1169TFR no. D35-810 likely
2206DTransnet Freight Rail83-1170TFR no. D35-811
2207DTransnet Freight Rail83-1171TFR no. D35-812
2208DAurizon83-1172In service
2209DTransnet Freight Rail83-1173TFR no. D35-813
2210DTransnet Freight Rail83-1174TFR no. D35-814
2211DFerronor83-1175
2212DFerronor83-1176
2213DFerronor83-1177
2214DFerronor83-1178

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