Victorian Railways M class (diesel-hydraulic)
Encyclopedia
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...

 M class
are a diesel-hydraulic powered railway shunting locomotive, based at the Newport
Newport, Victoria
Newport is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Newport had a population of 11,244.-History:...

 workshops of the Victorian Railways in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, 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...

.

For a period of time the VR had been using old steam locomotives that were past their best to shunt at their Newport workshops, and decided to construct two small shunting locomotives for use at their workshop facilities.

Built by 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...

 themselves, with a Diesel-hydraulic transmission powered by an 112 kW EMD power unit, the two engines were given class M and the numbers were 231 and 232. After one trialled at Mildura, both worked their entire operational lives exclusively in the Newport Workshops compound. When introduced both wore red with a yellow stripe livery, but later changed to the traditional VR livery until they were withdrawn.

After withdrawal they both passed to Steamrail
Steamrail Victoria
Steamrail Victoria is a not-for-profit volunteer group established in 1965 to the restore and operate historic locomotives and rolling stock used on the railways in Victoria, Australia. The main depot of the group is at the Newport Railway Workshops in suburban Melbourne...

. One is operational and is used as the Steamrail shunter (M232) in the original red and yellow livery, but may soon change to VR blue and gold. The other (M231) is currently stored in the Steamrail compound at Newport Workshops West block, pending restoration to a serviceable condition.

Locomotives

Locomotive Entered service Withdrawn Owner Status
M231 1959 Steamrail
Steamrail Victoria
Steamrail Victoria is a not-for-profit volunteer group established in 1965 to the restore and operate historic locomotives and rolling stock used on the railways in Victoria, Australia. The main depot of the group is at the Newport Railway Workshops in suburban Melbourne...

Stored
M232 1959 Steamrail Preserved - Operational
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