The Victorian Railways rail tractors are a fleet of small shunting units used by the Victorian Railways of Australia for moving railway wagons at country stations and in private sidings. Varying in power output and size, they generally consist of an agricultural tractor engine on top of a four-wheeled steel rail wagon frame, recycled from scrapped four-wheel goods wagons.
History
The first unit, RT1, entered service in 1932. RTs 2 through 8 were built at Newport Workshops and entered service in 1957, with a few more entering service each year through to RT39 in 1965. Six more were built at Ballarat North Workshops in 1967, another six in 1969, with a final two units built in 1975 and 1976. They operated all around the state, in any station yard that required mechanically assisted shunting but which did not justify a local locomotive. Previously, the work of that scale had been done with locally housed horses. The classleader was primarily used on new line construction.
Further rail tractors entered service in batches from 1957, as lower-powered steam engines and horses were withdrawn from regional and suburban stations around the state. Horses had been restricted to shunting only up to at a time, a quarter of the capacity of the new tractors. The units were used within station yards, and operated by station staff not otherwise qualified as locomotive engine drivers. The low-powered units were only powerful enough to move eight to ten loaded four-wheel wagons on level ground (noting that not all station yards were perfectly flat), and while they were through-piped for air brakes when transferring around the state, the only braking facility the tractor units were given was a ratcheted lever in the cabin, connected mechanically to the underframe's pre-existing brake rigging.
The tractors were generally successful in service, replacing shunting engines and their associated crews at many stations around the state. For example, in October 1962 Colac lost its shunting locomotive (possibly D3 646) and the crews were transferred to other depots. The last horse, a Clydesdale named "Prince", was retired from Ballarat in mid-1966, though he was replaced by a pneumatic-tyred shunting tractor rather than an RT. He was noted as having once hauled in one movement, putting the capacity of the new rail tractors into perspective.
Fewer RTs were required over time as branch lines closed and block train working (without the need to shunt) was introduced, so many units were withdrawn. However, some were converted to standard gauge for use in Victoria and in New South Wales, and others are still in use as depot shunters.
On 31 January 1999 V/Line was sold to Freight Victoria, and the sale documentation recorded possession of units RT5, 6, 11, 14, 18–20, 25, 27–29, 31–32, 37–38, 42–43, 45-51 and 53 as in service; RT7, 10, 12, 16, 35, 40, 52 and "Aresco" (probably 54) as needing maintenance; RT3, 21, 24, 26, 30, 34 and 39 as sources of spare parts, and replacement engines intended for fitting to units 43, 47, 49, 51 and 52. Medlin (2004) lists RTs 5, 6, 14, 18–19, 27–28, 31–32, 35 37–38, 42, 45, 47–48, 51-52 and 54 as being transferred to Freight Victoria on 1 May 1999; as well as RT11 on 1 September (this may be a typo), and RT49 as to either Freight Victoria or Great Northern Rail Services.Medlin, P. N. (2004) Victorian Railways Locomotives by Number (self-published, based on Victorian Railways' locomotive repair cards) As of 2008, units authorised to operate on Victorian tracks were 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. Units RT 18, 28 and 43 were gauge converted and transferred to Sydney for use on the construction of the Epping to Chatswood railway.
Alternative RT1 Some references indicate a second RT1A entering service in 1938, having been transferred from the Public Works Department. Vincent notes that a second tractor was built to a similar design to RT1 for use inside Newport Workshops and this is corroborated by Divisional Diary. Vincent continues, noting that it was a failure in service and as of November 2007 its underframe was still in use as a parts platform in the Workshops compound. RT1 was reported as being scrapped on 12 October 1965, but given that RT1 is preserved at the Newport Railway Museum, Victoria, it is possible that the unit scrapped was RT1A. Another possibility, given the description that it was "similar to the one preserved at the A.R.H.S. Museum", is that it was the former Stony Crossing/Murrabit tractor noted below.
The Divisional Diary, a precursor to Newsrail, recorded in 1965 that RT1 had originally entered service at Morwell and had been used elsewhere, before being reallocated to Newport Workshops in the later years where it was used to shunt Walker railmotors under repair; it was noted as retaining its original Fordson engine to the end. RT1 was sighted at Moe yard on 18 March 1954, stabled in the narrow gauge ramp transfer siding between the buffers and a six-wheeled workmens sleeping car 50X, so the claim that it entered service at nearby Morwell is at least plausible, but the remainder of the text may have applied to the alternate RT1A.
Notably, the plaque fitted to the preserved tractor unit at the Newport Railway museum states:
Operational details The shunting units are not fitted with air brakes but are through-piped to enable them to be worked dead as part of a normal train. When they were transferred between stations and/or workshops the drive chains had to be removed and stored in the cabins, with the doors locked and signs provided indicating the lack of air brakes. The tractor was to be attached immediately behind the locomotive/s, and with a maximum trailing load of 2,400 tonnes. Additionally, the speed of the train is restricted to 65 km/h.
Design variations The design of the RTs was constantly under review, with changes to the windows, brake systems, sanding arrangement and even the prime mover, with later units being more powerful. At least four distinct types were recorded in the Victorian Railways' planning documents, with groups 2–8, 9–18, 19-28 and 29-32 distinct enough to require different design documentation as of 1962. The second batch was identical to the first except with a slightly longer frame and different body shape, while the third and fourth had chain drive direct to both axles, a more powerful engine, and different transmission arrangements. Units up to 18RT were provided with kerosene lamps, 12 volt powered front and rear headlamps and windscreen wipers, sand boxes for all four wheels. From 19RT onwards the 12 volt supply also worked an air horn. Each tractor unit had capacity for engine oil, transmission oil in the front axleboxs and in the rear. RT19-28 also held of oil in the wet clutch, and RT29-32 had transmission oil in the front axle's Reversomatic unit rather than the previous arrangement.
The maximum rated haulage load for 2-28RT was on the level, but engines 29-32 and probably later units were restricted to . The earlier units had six speed notches in both directions, while the higher-RPM units only had three: Notch RT2-28 RT29-32 1 2 3 4 5 6
The maximum loads on various gradients were the same for all types, when shunting at : Grade % Load 1 in 50 2.00% 1 in 75 1.33% 1 in 100 1.00% 1 in 150 0.67% 1 in 200 0.50%
As of mid-1986, RT units were limited to 30 km/h and the following loads:Newsrail July 1986 p.218
3-39RT 40, 42-53RT Grade % Tonnes Tonnes Level Level 190 210 1 in 40 2.50% 42 48 1 in 50 2.00% 51 58 1 in 75 1.33% 70 79 1 in 100 1.00% 83 95 1 in 150 0.67% 103 117 1 in 200 0.50% 117 132
By September 1961 all the Victorian Railways' tractors had been fitted with automatic couplers and new underframes. This may explain why records are not immediately available regarding which underframes were used for creation of the earlier tractors; a locomotive's identity generally resides with the frame, so a new frame makes a new (replica or replacement) locomotive.
Liveries The first RT tractors were painted red or silver.Australian Model Railway Magazine, December 2004 After a number of level crossing "entanglements", the shunting tractors started to be repainted bright yellow. This started with RT14 at Kerang (having recently been repaired following ongoing clutch issues, then derailing again), and the RT allocated to Swan Hill. One unit is thought to have been painted white, and a number were repainted with yellow cabins but green underframes for use with Freight Australia.
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.Newsrail May 1991 p157
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.Newsrail March 1989 p92
Rail tractors associated with the Victorian Railways V56
Locomotive V56 was built for shunting at Jolimont Workshops. It entered service between RT18 and RT19, so its number 56 would have followed on from then-in-service steam locomotives C1 to C26 then X27 to X55, and its numbering being adjacent to the final RT54 is coincidental.
Aresco Track Chiefs ATC1 and 2 Two Aresco Track Chief units were built for use at the Long Island steel plants. Track Chief No.1 was seen at Crib Point and No.2 at Leongatha in 1995; both are now with the Mornington Railway Preservation Society.
RT46 RT46 was built by Aresco Engineering in South Australia to the "Track Chief" model, and supplied to the Victorian Railways in 1966. Following testing at the Maribyrnong River goods sidings, it was used to assemble briquette trains at Morwell and occasionally to run construction trains to and from the Hazelwood power station then under construction, because the tractors already stationed there were often incapable of moving the heavy loads. It was later transferred to Spotswood and eventually repainted in V/Line orange (with black lettering instead of white on the logo), and by the 2000s it had been transferred to and repainted for use at the Deniliquin grain storage sidings; it is not clear whether it was sold to new operators, or if so, when.
RT54 (Portland Harbour Trust) RT54 was built for the Portland Harbour Trust, which had used it in their private siding. It was briefly used at Jolimont Workshops in October 1976, possibly while V56 was unavailable. It was acquired by V/Line in 1994, around the time that the Portland line was converted to Standard Gauge, and sighted at Echuca in February 1996. As of 2008 specific instructions had been issued for its use in Echuca Yard. These included a maximum speed of 10 km/h while hauling wagons, 15 km/h while running on its own; a maximum trailing load of 450 tonnes without air brakes connected to the trailing vehicles. It has since been sold to Southern Shorthaul Railroad, reclassed to LT4, and is now in use as a workshops shunter at Bendigo North.
Portland Harbour Trust RTs Portland 201 and classmate Another four-wheel wagon was modified for and purchased by the Portland Harbour Trust in March 1959, becoming the Port of Portland's No.201. It entered service between RT13 and RT14, and was photographed working construction trains in the early 1960s, e.g. and . These photos show it in a dark livery with bright numbering so it was most likely in the Victorian Railways' default shunting red scheme with white letters.