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Stanleyville NR 46

NR 46 - and his brother, 45 - are the youngest locomotives in the Stanleyville fleet. They were built by A. Goninan & Co. at their Broadmeadow (New South Wales) works in 1996. They're part of a class of 120 locomotives, all of which were built for National Rail. The company started operations in 1993, using inherited locomotives from FreightCorp, V/Line and Australian National.

The contract to build the NR class was awarded in 1995, with 60 engines to be built at Broadmeadow and the remaining 60 at Bassendean in Western Australia. The first member of the class to be completed was NR 61 in 1996. This locomotive made its first trial run on the 18th of September 1996, running from Midland to Jumpakine and back. The first Broadmeadow-built NR made its first run on the 23rd of September. Testing of the NR was carried out on the New South Wales line between Werris Creek and Maitland, and the new engines had to haul ballast wagons and 442 class locomotives in dynamic braking mode, the latter being used to simulate a loaded train. The final NR to be built emerged from Broadmeadow in February 1998. Some technical specifications of the NR class are as follows:

Prime Mover - General Electric 7FDL-12
Gauge - 4.ft 85 inch
Length - 22 metres
Power Output - 4,000 horsepower
Top Speed - 115 kilometres per hour

With the arrival of the class, National Rail was able to return leased units to their owners. The V/Line C class (which were owned by National Rail) were withdrawn after the NR's arrival, as were the relatively new EL's. National Rail retained the AN, BL and DL class locomotives after all 120 NR's were delivered. The Australian DL should not be confused with the inferior DL class in New Zealand.

When first delivered, the Environment Protection Authority initially banned the NR's from running in the state of New South Wales. This was due to excessive noise when under dynamic braking. The ban ended up being lifted after further testing. Initially the class were unable to lead trains on the Victorian standard gauge lines as they lacked the suitable radio equipment, but this problem has since been rectified.

In February 2002, National Rail was bought out by Pacific National. This meant all 120 NR's became part of the PN fleet.

Although the NR has just one cab, they are fitted with two separate control stands. This allowed the locomotives to be driven either 'cab' or 'long-hood' leading. Despite the presence of two controls controlled, long-hood leading with these engines is usually avoided, with Pacific National simply turning single NR's around on a turntable so they face the right way.

Sadly the NR class has not been immune to accidents. In May 1998, NR 3 was involved in a nasty accident at Robertson (NSW). The incident was caused by rain washing away the abutments of a road overbridge. NR 3 was actually triple-heading a train with classmates 26 and 57. Number 3 tipped over in the crash, and the cab was ripped off by the abutments. Sadly two crew members perished in the accident. NR 3 was eventually rebuilt, and re-entered service as NR 121.

In June 2006, NR 33 was involved in another nasty accident, this time at a level crossing in Lismore (Victoria). NR 33 was the third locomotive on a Melbourne to Adelaide freight service, with DL 40 and NR 52 in the lead. The damage to NR 33 was so severe that she was subsequently written off and scrapped at North Ballarat Workshops in February 2008, being the only NR to have been scrapped as of October 2019.

On the 30th of January 2009, NR's 35 and 51 derailed on a washaway near Golden Ridge, just east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The engines finished up on their sides, badly damaged, and spent several years out of service before the decision was made to repair them.

On the 3rd of April 2016, NR 8 caught fire at Cardiff in New South Wales. The locomotive was rebuilt soon after. NR's 48 and 81 had suffered similar fires in previous years. Both engines were also repaired, albeit without the Pacific National signage on their hood sides.

The most recent accident involving an NR was on the 21st of April 2016. On that day a Melbourne to Perth intermodal train derailed near Rawlinna in Western Australia. NR's 34 and 50 were involved in the crash, and they were badly damaged in the process. Fortunately NR 34 was rebuilt and returned to service in late 2016. NR 50 has also been rebuilt and has returned to service.

Today 119 members of the NR class are still in service. They have served Australia well in the 23 years that they have been in service, and look set to stick around for many years to come.

In my fictional history, NR's 45 and 46 were sold to the Stanleyville Railway in May 2018. The engines had to be extensively modified before running on a New Zealand rail line. The work involved conversion to 3ft 6inch gauge and a repaint in Stanleyville purple. Curiously the NR twins were named after the Koala Brothers - NR 45 is Frank and NR 46 is Buster. The Koala Brothers is a programme I used to watch an awful lot when I was a little boy.

Today NR's 45 and 46 (otherwise known as 'The NR Twins' or the 'Koala Brothers') are occasionally used to provide additional motive power on the passenger trains from Stanleyville Forest to Pendletown Junction. They are banned from running on the pier railway due to the horrendously sharp curve between Stanleyville Town station and the pier itself. The largest engines permitted on this line are the F7A and FP7, which were both imported from Canada in 2001.