The BL class are an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n diesel electric locomotives

Diesel locomotive

A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

 introduced to service in 1983 and built by Clyde Engineering

Clyde Engineering

Clyde Engineering was the name of part of the business now known as Downer EDI Rail. Clyde Engineering were involved in the construction of railway locomotives and rolling stock, as well as larger scale engineering projects on behalf of the governments of Australia...

, Rosewater, to a contract issued by Australian National. Ten were built over a period of 16 months, from March 1983 to July 1984. Numbered BL26 to BL35, they are powered by an EMD 16-645E3 engine, weigh 129t, and have a maximum speed of 115km/h.

With the dissolution of Australian National, the BL Class were transferred to National Rail

National Rail Corporation

The National Rail Corporation was a rail operator in Australia. The Australian Government, New South Wales and Victoria established the National Rail Corporation in 1992...

, and then onto Pacific National

Pacific National

Pacific National is one of Australia's largest private rail freight businesses. Originally a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings; it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Asciano Limited following the restructure of Toll Holdings....

 in 2004. They are mainly used for general freight duties on the standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 lines in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, although 4 units (BL29, BL30, BL32 and BL34) are fitted with broad gauge bogies and are permanently based out of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 to operate the Melbourne to Long Island steel service.

The in-service members of the BL Class can be seen wearing any of 3 different liveries: the standard National Rail grey and orange, the grey and white National Rail 'SteelLink' variant, or the new Pacific National blue and yellow livery. All members of the BL Class are currently in service with Pacific National.

The first 5 members of the Victorian G class are identical to the BL class.

Locomotives

Locomotive	Named	Entered service	Owner	Livery	Status
BL26	Bob Hawke	March 1983	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL27		September 1983	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL28		September 1983	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL29		October 1983	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL30		December 1983	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL31		November 1983	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL32		February 1984	Pacific National	NR Orange and Grey	In Service
BL33		April 1984	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL34		June 1984	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service
BL35		July 1984	Pacific National	PN Blue and Yellow	In Service