Victorian Railways rail tractor

The Victorian Railways rail tractors are a small shunting unit used by the Victorian Railways of Australia for moving railway wagons in at country stations and private sidings. Varying in power output and size, they are agricultural tractors on top of a four-wheeled steel rail wagon frame.[2] RT1 was of a different design to the remainder of the class and is preserved at the Newport Railway Museum, Victoria.

Victorian Railway rail tractor
RT 20 in Swan Hill, featuring Freight Australia livery
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel Mechanical
BuilderNewport Workshops
Specifications
Gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm), some are 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)[1]
Length6.33 to 6.52 m (20 ft 9 in to 21 ft 5 in)
Loco weight10.4 t (10.2 long tons; 11.5 short tons)
Prime moverFordson
Engine typediesel
Performance figures
Maximum speed15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Power output40.3 to 51.8 hp (30.1 to 38.6 kW)
Career
Number in class54
NumbersRT 1 - 54
First run1952
Disposition4 preserved, 14 stored, 15 scrapped, 20 in service, 1 reclassed as LT4.

The shunters are not fitted with air brakes but are through-piped to enable them to be worked dead as part of a normal train.[3] An exception to that is RT46, a standard "Aresco Trak Chief", the only one of its type built for the VR, which entered service in 1966. RT54 is a one-off unit acquired from the Portland Harbour Trust, which had used the vehicle on its private siding. In March 1989, it was reported that a refurbishment program for rail tractors was being undertaken at the Ballarat Railway Workshops and, as units went through the program, they were repainted into the then-current V/Line orange livery.[4]

Units currently authorised to operate on Victorian tracks are RT 3-40, 42-43 and 45-53, the second group being more powerful, and all are permitted to travel at 15 km/h maximum.[3] Units RT 18, 28 and 43 were gauge converted and transferred to Sydney for use on the construction of the Epping to Chatswood railway.[5]

Liveries

The first RT tractors were painted red or silver, but yellow had become the norm by the 1970s.[6][7]

In the period 1982–1983, they were stencilled with a number-code, exceptions being RT42, RT46 and RT51. When they were refurbished for V/Line, most tractors had the code letters placed first, except 20RT at Redcliffs in 1988, and 48RT at Maryborough in 1987. Of the refurbished units, 5, 11, 20, 29, 45, 47, 48 and 53 had orange underframes with white steps, while 7 and 21 had black underframes and steps.[8]

Maximum loads

As of mid-1986, RT units were limited to 30 km/h and the following loads:[9]

3-39RT40, 42-53RT
Grade %TonnesTonnes
LevelLevel190210
1 in 40250%4248
1 in 50200%5158
1 in 75133%7079
1 in 100100%8395
1 in 15067%103117
1 in 20050%117132

Fleet details

Note: Zero prefix is not accurate, but displayed here for sorting function.

ID Entered service[10] Withdrawn Scrapped September 1981[11] March 1982[12] January 1989[4] Last Known Location[13][14] Notes
RT01 11/6/1932 N/A N/A Museum Newport Railway Museum (2021) Red Livery - Wooden Bodied
RT02 24/01/1957 N/A N/A Huon Creek Sidings North Melbourne (2007) 17 April 1989, all glass missing and the engine removed from frame.[15] Freight Australia (F/A) yellow livery, possibly scrapped
RT03 15/2/1957 Rochester Rochester Rochester Bendigo (2006) Scrapped?
RT04 29/8/1957 Warracknabeal Wodonga Seymour Loco - Scrapped
RT05 6/9/1957 Spotswood Spotswood Wangaratta North Bendigo (2012) F/A yellow livery
RT06 18/9/1957 Rochester Rochester Ballarat, Bairnsdale[16] North Bendigo (2012) F/A yellow livery
RT07 1/10/1957 Euroa Oaklands Donald Bendigo (2006) Scrapped?
RT08 16/10/1957 Ouyen Recliffs Ballarat Workshops - Scrapped
RT09 12/9/1958 1990 Kyabram Kyabram Seymour Loco - Scrapped
RT10 18/9/1958 Woodend Woodend Colac, Geelong North Yard[16] Bendigo (2006) Scrapped?
RT11 29/9/1958 Horsham Ararat Bridgewater Allied Mills Ballarat (2014) F/A yellow livery
RT12 10/10/1958 Oakleigh Oakleigh Seymour Loco - Scrapped
RT13 28/10/1958 Numurkah Numurkah Ballarat Workshops - Scrapped
RT14 09/06/1959 Tottenham Colac Bendigo Loco North Bendigo (2015) Orange Livery
RT15 22/06/1959 Bendigo Horsham Euroa Trentham (2008)
RT16 Bendigo Bridgewater Warrnambool Bendigo (2006) Scrapped?
RT17 Sea Lake Sea Lake Castlemaine Healesville (2010) Yellow livery
RT18 Hamilton Hamilton Dimboola Lithgow - NSW (2018) Converted to standard gauge for Epping–Chatswood line construction. UGL Rail yellow livery
RT19 Footscray Footscray Kerang Tocumwal (2018) F/A yellow livery
RT20 Redcliffs Irymple Irymple Swan Hill (2018) F/A yellow livery
RT21 Ouyen Ballarat Horsham Bendigo (2006) Scrapped?
RT22 Kerang Kerang Ballarat Workshops - Scrapped
RT23 Melbourne Yard Seymour Ballarat Workshops - Scrapped
RT24 Traralgon Traralgon Leongatha Tailem Bend - SA (2008) Murray Bridge? (2015)
RT25 Nhill Nhill Red Cliffs Eclipse Flour Mill, Albion (2015)
RT26 Ballarat Ouyen Geelong Loco - Scrapped
RT27 Ararat Seymour, Yarrawonga[17] Traralgon North Bendigo (2014) F/A yellow livery
RT28 Seymour Seymour Kyabram Port Waratah (2018) Converted to standard gauge for Epping–Chatswood line construction. UGL yellow livery
RT29 18/01/1962 Traralgon Traralgon Ballarat Loco Donald (2019) Standard gauge, operational - PN yellow livery
RT30 Colac Tocumwal North Melbourne wagon workshops - First allocation to North Melbourne Wagon Workshops, after May 1988.[4] Scrapped
RT31 24/10/1962 Moe Moe Morwell Briquette Siding Graincorp Deniliquin (2011) F/A yellow livery
RT32 19/11/1962 Swan Hill Swan Hill Bendigo Loco SCT Laverton (2019) Plinthed - SCT livery
RT33 Korong Vale Korong Vale Ballarat Workshops - Scrapped
RT34 Camperdown Warracknabeal Warracknabeal - Scrapped
RT35 24/4/1964 Orbost Orbost Traralgon North Bendigo (2012) Orange livery
RT36 2/7/1964 Traralgon Cowwarr Bairnsdale - Scrapped
RT37 22/7/1964 Charlton Charlton Boort North Bendigo (2019) Yellow livery
RT38 15/8/1964 Leongatha Leongatha Sunshine North Bendigo (2012) F/A yellow livery
RT39 Nowa Nowa Nowa Nowa Morwell Dynon (2018) Scrapped
RT40 Westall Westall Seymour Loco - Scrapped
RT41 N/A N/A Off Register Moorooduc (2010)
RT42 Seymour Seymour Bendigo Loco North Bendigo (2012) F/A yellow livery
RT43 Echuca Echuca Swan Hill, Bendigo Loco[16] Port Kembla - NSW (2018) Converted to standard gauge for Epping-Chatswood line construction. F/A yellow livery
RT44 1987 Traralgon Morwell "Wrecked" - Scrapped
RT45 Morwell Traralgon Benalla North Bendigo (2012) F/A yellow livery
RT46 Spotswood Spotswood Spotswood Graincorp Deniliquin (2012) Aresco Trak Chief model, formerly PHT2 (Portland Harbour Trust). Two-tone blue livery
RT47 25/7/1969 Deniliquin Deniliquin Ballarat Workshops North Bendigo (2012) Orange livery
RT48 7/8/1969 Morwell Portland Maryborough Port Kembla - NSW (2018) Standard Gauge
RT49 20/8/1969 Portland Morwell Maffra North Bendigo (2012) F/A yellow livery
RT50 3/9/1969 Stawell Stawell Deniliquin Bendigo Roundhouse (2011) Renumbered LT50 - Southern Shorthaul Railroad (SSR) yellow livery
RT51 19/9/1969 Tocumwal Camperdown Traralgon Bendigo (2006) Scrapped?
RT52 Castlemaine Castlemaine Echuca Port Kembla - NSW (2018) Standard gauge
RT53 Redan Ballarat Ballarat Loco - Scrapped
RT54 6/10/1976 N/A N/A (Unlisted) North Bendigo (2013) Renumbered LT4 - ex Portland Harbour Trust. Fitted with air brake. SSR yellow livery

See also

References
  1. "VICSIG". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  2. Railmac Publications (1992). Australian Fleetbooks: V/Line locomotives. Kitchner Press. ISBN 0-949817-76-7.
  3. "Network Operating Requirements" (PDF). V/Line ~ Network Access ~ Information Pack. www.vline.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  4. Newsrail March 1989 p92
  5. "VICSIG - Locomotives - RT Class Rail Tractor". www.vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  6. http://steameramodels.com/documents/RT%20Rail%20Tractor.pdf Archived 17 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Australian Model Railway Magazine, December 2004
  8. Newsrail May 1991 p157
  9. Newsrail July 1986 p.218
  10. "vicrailways - RT Class". vicrailways. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  11. Newsrail September 1981 pg284
  12. Newsrail March 1982 pg48
  13. "VICSIG - Locomotives - RT Class". VICSIG. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  14. "Railpage Forums - RT Rail Tractors". Railpage. Archived from the original on 9 August 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  15. Newsrail June 1989 p191
  16. Newsrail June 1989 p188
  17. Newsrail July 1982 p160
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