WAGR B class (diesel)

Class of Australian diesel-hydraulic locomotives

The B class were a class of diesel locomotives built by Commonwealth Engineering for the Western Australian Government Railways between 1962 and 1965.

History

The first five B class units entered service in 1962. Three years later, a second batch of five was delivered.^[1]

The second batch differed from the first only in having sloping cab sides, to enable the second batch to pass underneath the limited clearance cranes on the Fremantle wharves.^[1]

All members of the class spent the whole of their working lives in the Perth metropolitan area, and were written off as a group in September 1984.^[1][2] Some of them have since been preserved.^[3][4]

References

1. Gray, Bill (2010). Guide to the Collection - The Railway Museum - Western Australia. Bassendean, WA: Rail Heritage WA. p. 26. ISBN 9780980392234.
2. "Western Australia" Railway Digest February 1985 page 55
3. "Diesel Hydraulic Locomotive". The Comeng Book. Our Australia. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
4. B Class WAGR Railpage

Further reading

• Gunzburg, Adrian (1968). WAGR Locomotives 1940–1968. Perth: Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division). pp. 38, 49. OCLC 219836193.