The Queensland Railways 2170 class is an Australian diesel-electric locomotive.

All were built between 1982 and 1984 by Clyde Engineering at Comeng's Rocklea plant for Queensland Rail. Most have been sold for further use overseas with seventeen going to South Africa and twelve to Ferronor in Chile.

The 2100 class family The Queensland Railways 2100 class first entered service in 1970. The class family consists of the 2100, 2130, 2150 and 2170 classes. It formed the mainstay of Queensland Rail's coal haulage from the opening of the Goonyella line until electrification in the late 1980s.Queensland's Railway Interest Group (qrig.org) - Clyde/GM 2100 Class (Accessed on 24 Nov 2015)Aurizon Locomotive Datasheet 2170D Class Aurizon 26 February 2013

A new batch of locomotives was ordered with the opening of each new mine and the 2170 class entered service when the German Creek, Oaky Creek and Blair Athol coal mines came into operation. Eleven units were built with Locotrol equipment.Queensland's Great Trains - 2100 Class (Accessed on 24 Nov 2015)

Manufacturer

The 2170 class was an evolution of the 2150 class. It differed from the earlier class mainly by having modified traction motors, Dash 2 modular electrical cabinets and air-conditioned cabs.

The locomotives were built by Clyde Engineering at Comeng's Rocklea plant between 1982 and 1984.

Modifications Since the late 1980s, the locomotives have been modified. Modified locomotives had a letter suffix added to their unit numbers. These modifications include: A suffix. Weight reduction by reducing fuel tank capacity by 1,300 litres, 2195 only D suffix. A driver-only operation (DOO) cab modification, which included lowering the nose of the locomotive and the addition of a larger windscreen for the driver.Railpage - 2170 Class (QR) - Timeline (Accessed on 24 Nov 2015) F suffix. The addition of auxiliary fuel tanks.

In 1992–1993, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were fitted with Automatic train protection (ATP). Between 1995 and 1999 eleven received extended cabs to relieve cramping caused by the ATP equipment.

In 2000, an overhaul program commenced which included the fitting of maxi-cabs, similar to that of the 2300 class, to all 43 remaining units. After this, thirty were in "D" configuration with the other thirteen in "F" configuration. Some were fitted with ZTR Nexsys II traction control systems.

Service The 2170 class entered service on coal haulage on the Goonyella line. After electrification, all except numbers 2202 to 2210 were placed into general traffic between Brisbane and the South West and on the North Coast line between Rockhampton and Townsville. Meanwhile, numbers 2202 to 2210 were relocated to Townsville in 1988 to haul Greenvale mineral trains and, from 1993, trains on the Mount Isa line. In the late 1990s, they were re-allocated to Gladstone to operate Moura line coal trains.

When the 4100 class entered service, the 2170 class began to be withdrawn from service. Along with Queensland Rail's freight operations, all, apart from 2195, passed to QR National (now Aurizon) in July 2010.

Disposal Many of the 2170 class have been sold by Aurizon. In August 2013, three were placed on consignment with Apex Industrial and exported to South Africa. They were shipped from Brisbane to Durban on the ship BBC Carolina on 22 August 2013. Two were sold to African Rail & Traction Services while the third went to RRL Grindrod Locomotives. In July 2014, three were sold by Aurizon back to Queensland Rail to haul its passenger trains."Sunlander Sunset" Railway Digest January 2015 page 37 In 2014, fourteen were purchased by Transnet Freight Rail and exported to South Africa as the Class .Transnet purchases used Australian locomotives International Railway Journal 18 September 2014Transnet budget unaffected by weak market Sunday Times 2 November 2014 In June 2016, twelve were sold to Ferronor in Chile."Aurizon Qld News" Motive Power issue 106 July 2016 page 8"Motive Power Roundup" Motive Power issue 107 September 2016 page 76

Transnet Freight Rail The Transnet locomotives were renumbered in the range from to , following their Aurizon number sequence and retaining the driver-only operation (DOO) "D" as a prefix to the unit number.

At least eight of the Class units were allocated to the Western Cape system and are based at Bellville Locomotive Depot. Of those, at least six have been superficially repainted in a shop version of the red Transnet Freight Rail livery and appear to be in service working the West Coast lines. In most cases the old Aurizon numbers are still visible under the red paint. Repainting was done only on the upper bodywork and everything from the running boards down were left as it was. This includes the buffer beams and cowcatchers, probably since the Australian yellow and grey chevron pattern on the buffer beams is an inverted version of the yellow and grey pattern used by Transnet Freight Rail. At least four of the remaining units are believed to have been allocated to the Eastern Cape system.

With the addition of the Class 35-800s, the South African Class 35 locomotive family now consists of five classes, the General Electric (GE) Classes 35-000 and 35-400 and the GM-EMD Classes 35-200, and .South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended

Watco Australia In 2019, after being awarded a grain haulage contract in Queensland, Watco Australia purchased 5 of the 2170s sold to Transnet (2180, 2181, 2183, 2184 and 2188) and shipped them back to Queensland by NGL Projects. They arrived at the Port of Brisbane on 2 July 2019, and the first loco, 2188D, was transferred to Watco's new facilities in Warwick on 31 July 2019. They will be used on Watco's grain and cattle services, in conjunction with the brand new WRA class, currently being built by NRE in the United States.

Status table The present owner, builder's works numbers, dates in service and disposition are listed in the table. + Queensland Railways 2170 classSouth African Class 35-800Loco no.OwnerWorksno.InserviceWithdrawnDisposition2170DFerronor82-11002171DFerronor82-11012172FAfrican Rail & Traction Services82-11022173DTransnet Freight Rail82-1103TFR no. D35-801 likely2174DWatco Australia82-1104TFR no. D35-8022175D82-1105Scrapped2176DFerronor82-11062177DWatco Australia82-1107TFR no. D35-8032178DFerronor82-11082179DFerronor82-11092180DWatco Australia82-1125TFR no. D35-8042181DWatco Australia83-1146TFR no. D35-8052182DAurizon83-1147In service2183DWatco Australia83-1148TFR no. D35-8062184DWatco Australia83-1149TFR no. D35-8072185DGrindrod Locomotives83-11502186FFerronor83-11512187D83-1152Scrapped2188DWatco Australia83-1153TFR no. D35-8082189FAurizon83-1154In service2190DAurizon83-1155In service2191FAurizon83-1156In service2192FAurizon83-1157Stored2193FAurizon83-1158Stored2194FAurizon83-1159In service2195AQueensland Rail83-1160In service2196FAurizon83-1161In service2197FAurizon83-1162Stored Redbank Railway Workshops2198FAurizon84-1218Stored2199FAurizon83-1163Stored2200FAurizon83-1164In service2201DFerronor83-11652202DWatco Australia83-1166TFR no. D35-8092203DFerronor83-11672204DWatco Australia83-11682205DTransnet Freight Rail83-1169TFR no. D35-810 likely2206DWatco Australia83-1170TFR no. D35-8112207DTransnet Freight Rail83-1171TFR no. D35-8122208DAurizon83-1172In service2209DTransnet Freight Rail83-1173TFR no. D35-8132210DTransnet Freight Rail83-1174TFR no. D35-8142211DFerronor83-11752212DFerronor83-11762213DFerronor83-11772214DFerronor83-1178

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