The Victorian Railways

Victorian Railways

The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

 C Class GT26C mainline diesel locomotive

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...

s are a hood unit

Hood unit

A hood unit, in railroad terminology, is a body style for diesel and electric locomotives. On a hood unit, the body of the locomotive is less than full-width for most of the locomotive's length, with walkways on the outside of the locomotive. In contrast, a cab unit has a full-width carbody for...

 heavy freight locomotive introduced from 1977 which are mechanically identical to American EMD SD40

EMD SD40

The EMD SD40 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and August 1972.-Design:Like its predecessor in EMD's catalog, the SD35, the SD40 is a high-horsepower, six-motor freight locomotive....

s, and used on interstate freight services. Manufactured in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 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...

 (now EDI Rail

EDi Rail

Downer Rail is a rail company based in Australia. Formed by a merger of Walkers and Clyde Engineering, it is currently a division of Downer EDi...

) at their Rosewater plant, they were delivered under their own power at the head of interstate goods trains. The locomotives are fitted with safety cab

Canadian comfort cab

The Canadian comfort cab or wide cab is a broad-nosed cab design found on modern diesel locomotives. It occupies the entire width of the locomotive, and typically has an access door on the front of the nose...

s and were the first turbocharged locomotives delivered to the VR, and the last delivered the in blue and gold livery.

In service

As their weight kept them from many lines, C501 to C504 were placed into standard gauge service between 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...

 and Albury

Albury, New South Wales

Albury is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Albury Local Government Area...

, and C505 to C510 were placed into service between Melbourne and Serviceton

Serviceton, Victoria

Serviceton is a small town in Victoria, Australia, located near the Victorian-South Australian border, 437 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. The town was named after James Service, Premier of Victoria in 1880 and from 1883-86...

, on interstate express freights. They are notable as the first locomotives on through freight between Victoria and South Australia in August 1979.

The class were transferred by V/Line

Public Transport Corporation

The Public Transport Corporation was a State Government of Victoria owned corporate body formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services in Victoria, Australia....

 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...

 service in 1995, until delivery of its NR class

NR class

The NR class are an Australian mainline diesel electric locomotives introduced by National Rail in 1996. They were the only locomotives ordered by National Rail, thus being named the "NR" Class...

 locomotives, after which the C class were put into storage. The class except C501 were then sold to Allco Rail

Allco Finance Group

Allco Financial Group was a fully integrated global financial services business, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and head-quartered in Sydney, Australia. Major services provided are structured asset finance, funds management and debt and equity funding. Allco has over A$4.3 billion in...

 and Silverton Rail

Silverton Rail

Southern and Silverton Rail is an Australian regional rail operator providing rail freight haulage, hook and pull, terminal and shunting services, maintenance and first response/recovery services...

, with C505 and C508 leased to National Rail and returned to service as shunters in Melbourne, and the remainder renumbered as the Silverton Cs class. C501 has since been restored to original condition by the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre

Seymour Railway Heritage Centre

The Seymour Railway Heritage Centre is a railway preservation group based in Seymour, Victoria, Australia. The volunteer non-profit incorporated association was established in 1983 to restore and preserve locomotives and rolling stock as used on the railways of Victoria.The group is an accredited...

 and leased back to 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....

, and all Cs numbered locos have been rebuilt back to their original identities.

All C Class members are on the Standard Gauge as they are primary used on Intermodal coal trains.

Locomotives

Locomotive	Named	Entered service	Owner	Operator	Livery	Status
C501	George Brown	14 May 1977	Seymour Railway Heritage Centre	El Zorro El Zorro (railway) El Zorro is a railway operator based in Victoria, Australia. It is a private company that was founded in 1999, based in Spotswood, and named by director Ray Evans who has a taste for things Spanish. . The company has three shareholders: director Ray Evans, business manager Geoff Tighe, and Lisa...	VR Blue and Gold	Preserved - Operational
C502		22 June, 1977	Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia	Southern Shorthaul Railroad Southern Shorthaul Railroad Southern Shorthaul Railroad was established in December 2003, when the remains of Great Northern Rail Services were purchased from CFCL Australia Pty Ltd. Jason Ferguson was then the Fleet Manager for CFCL Australia, and this company was facing a $1.3M write-off of a bad-debt from the previous...	Blue and Yellow	In Service
C503		19 July, 1977	Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia	Southern Shorthaul Railroad Southern Shorthaul Railroad Southern Shorthaul Railroad was established in December 2003, when the remains of Great Northern Rail Services were purchased from CFCL Australia Pty Ltd. Jason Ferguson was then the Fleet Manager for CFCL Australia, and this company was facing a $1.3M write-off of a bad-debt from the previous...	SSR Yellow & Black	In Service
C504		18 August, 1977	Coote Industrial	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....	Blue and Yellow	In Service
C505		13 September, 1977	Coote Industrial	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....	Blue and Yellow	In Service
C506		6 October, 1977	Coote Industrial		Cootes Green & Yellow	Out of Traffic - Overhaul
C507		4 November, 1977	Coote Industrial	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....	Blue and Yellow	In Service
C508		16 December, 1977	Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia	Southern Shorthaul Railroad Southern Shorthaul Railroad Southern Shorthaul Railroad was established in December 2003, when the remains of Great Northern Rail Services were purchased from CFCL Australia Pty Ltd. Jason Ferguson was then the Fleet Manager for CFCL Australia, and this company was facing a $1.3M write-off of a bad-debt from the previous...	Blue and Yellow	In Service
C509		10 March 1978	Coote Industrial		Cootes Green and Yellow	In Service
C510		11 July, 1978	Coote Industrial	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....	Cootes Green & Yellow	In Service