4829 & 4908 Trundle South NSW. Mon 03rd Mar 2025

Ambling along at a very sedate pace 4829 & 4908, with just 10 loaded hoppers, cross Havilah Lane at Trundle South on the Tottenham NSW branch line. Half of the train, another 10 wagons, was left at Tottenham due to the failure of 4908 which was not "loading up" to power the traction motors. Goodwin ALCO unit 4829 was one of 165 of the class built by A. E. Goodwin at Auburn NSW between 1959 & 1970 from five or six different orders placed in the period. 4829 was handed over new on the 01st of May 1961. Designated ALCO "World Series" DL531 model they are power by an "in-line" six-cylinder turbo charged four stroke ALCO 6-251 prime mover delivering 950hp. Published track speed is 121KMh. The class were built to replace steam locomotives in rural NSW. They proved to be a very durable and reliable locomotive with a small number of them still working today both on mainline and branch line duties. SSR's 4908 was built by Clyde Engineering at Granville NSW and was handed over new on the 17th of July 1962. There was a total of 18 of the 49-class built out of three orders placed with six locomotives per order between 1960 and 1964. Powered by an Roots Blown aspiration EMD two stroke V16 8-567C (or 8-567CR) delivering 875hp. The loco weighs 81 tonnes with a fuel capacity of 3,100 litres. Published track speed is 124KMh. The main generator is an EMD 25 powering six EMD D29 traction motors. 4908 was delivered new on the 17th of July 1962. The 49 class is closely related to the Victorian Railways "T" class built in the same era, also by Clyde Engineering, but on Bo-Bo configuration rather than the NSW Co-Co configuration. The 49 class are branch line locomotives built to replace steam locomotives and they worked just about every task the railway put to them. They were common on passenger train working, yard shunting engines, works & infrastructure trains, local trip trains and main line freight working. Being of only 875hp they started to fall out of favour in the late 1980's as more powerful locomotives were introduced. In 1989 the class were sent from their country depots to DELEC in Sydney NSW. Withdraw of the class started in 1995 with some lasting until 1997. The 49 class earned a solid reputation for reliability and hard work; the own negatives were a very noisy cab when under full power and also a confined cab with limited space made them a little on the cramped side. Southern Shorthaul Railroad own 4904, 4908, 4910, 4911 & 4917. Did you know? Class leader 4801 was the only locomotive of the 165 of the 48-class built to come out of the St Marys factory of A. E. Goodwin in Sydney NSW. Sadly, 4801 escaped preservation and was scrapped in early 2025. 1525hrs on Monday 03rd of March 2025.