| Commonwealth Railways NSU class | |
|---|---|
| NSU58 at The Old Ghan, Alice Springs NT | |
| Power type | Diesel-electric |
| Builder | Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd |
| Serial number | DEL1 – DEL14 |
| Total produced | 14 |
| UIC classification | (A1A)(A1A) |
| Gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Length | 108 ft (32.92 m) |
| Locomotive weight | 60 tonnes (59 long tons; 66 short tons) |
| Prime mover | Sulzer 6LDA28 |
| Generator | Crompton Parkinson CG390 |
| Traction motors | Crompton Parkinson |
| Top speed | 80 km/h (50 mph) |
| Power output | 630 kW (840 hp) |
| Number | NSU51 – NSU64 |
| First run | 12 June 1954 |
The NSU class was a Commonwealth Railways diesel locomotive built for service on the Central and North Australia Railways.
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By the end of World War 2, the Commonwealth Railways, like every other operator, were surviving on a ragged and worn out collection of rollingstock on their Central, North and Trans Australian lines. Some of the narrow gauge locomotives were fifty or more years old, and the rolling stock not much the younger. George McLeay, then Federal Minister for Fuel, Shipping and Transport, made recommendations to Cabinet in 1950, for the approval of some £4.7 million for upgrading the CR's fleet of both narrow and standard gauge locomotives and rollingstock.
The CR called for tenders, to be submitted by 15 November 1950, for the manufacture, delivery and handing over, in running order, of 14 locomotives for the 1067 mm narrow gauge lines.
The specifications called for certain requirements, the main four being;
Other specifications called for a machine that was able to withstand the rigours of the hostile Central Australian environment, including temperatures upwards of 45 °C, not only for one day, but up to nine at a time, cooling systems able to cope with poor quality water and dust-laden air. They were expected to have a range of 850 miles (1,370 km).
Thirteen companies submitted over thirty designs. However, as the specifications were rigid, most did not get past the first stage of the selection procedure.
The CR's Mechanical Branch also seemed to take preference for slower revving engines. The Sulzer plant finally selected ran at 750 rpm at idle, whereas one design submitted by A. E. Goodwin ran at 1500 rpm. Finlay [1] noted the "CR Mechanical Branch appeared not to have been overly excited about high revving engines, as it feared they would lead to high repair bills. 1000 rpm was considered fast enough". Finlay also notes that the seemed preference for slower speed engines, as well as the requirement of an electrical transmission, resulted in the failure of many of the submitted tenders.
It was initially planned to run the new locomotive from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs and back without having to refill, hence the range of 850 miles (1,370 km). This later proved to be impractical and a 20,000-imperial-gallon (91,000 l; 24,000 US gal) fuel tank was installed at Alice Springs.[1]
In 1951, the CR departed from their apparent tradition of using "well proven" designs, and awarded the contract to build the class of locomotives, later to be known as the NSU, to the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd (BRCW). The Sulzer/BRCW design had won over the English Electric Company's (EE) submission. Whilst EE were obviously a better known company (in Australia), having built many other pioneering Diesel Electrics, Sulzer plants had been used widely in the UK (the earliest UK Sulzer diesels were the Armstrong-Withworth "Universal's" of the 1930s,[2]) and Europe and other exported units, and would go on to power some 690 British Railways machines, using both the 6LDA plant, and later and larger in-line and V- units.[3][4]
The BRCW tendered a design using a Sulzer 6LDA-28 engine (a six cylinder, in-line, pressure charged unit) that had been derated from 1035 hp at 750 rpm to 955 hp at 750 rpm, powering Crompton Parkinson electric engines set in an A1A-A1A pattern. The diesel engines used in the NSU class were amongst the last engines built built by Sulzer at their Winterthur plant, for use outside of Europe. Later engines were (bar a few exceptions) built under contract by Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness, England.[3]
In addition to the fourteen units for the CR the BRCW also built an eventual total of six identical units for the Sierra Leone Development Co., West Africa. Five were built with the CR units, and an additional unit was commissioned in 1962.[3]
Part of the Contract with BRCW stipulated that, in view of its 42 years of experience in loco design, Sulzer were to accept full responsibility for the design and performance of the completed loco [5]. The CR had knowledge of Sulzer since the appointment of Deane as its Engineer in Chief of Construction of the Trans line. Deane had proposed in the early days of the TAR that dieselisation was the way to go, and had considered early Sulzer designs then.[6] (Some have suggested that the CR worked with the South Australian Railways to trial diesel traction).[7] However, the technology was not developed enough to be reliable. Deane was a generation ahead of his time.
"Modern Technology" abounded in the unit including chrome connecting rods in the engine, the use of the Sulzer Load Regulating system ("which always ensures that the engine operates....under the most favourable conditions" [8]), Sulzer Anti-slip Brakes, Serck cooling system elements, dust resistant engine room and filtered air fed traction motors as well as the usual safety systems.
The CR had hoped to have the locomotives in service by late 1952, but various problems did not see the first of the class operational until 1954. Tests were conducted over British Railways tracks near the BRCW works on 24 February 1954 (this, incidentally, was the same time the WAGR X class were being unloaded at Fremantle).[9] Part of the contract for their construction included one, possibly two, sets of standard gauge bogies.
Following on with the tradition of naming locomotives after famous people (usually a politician) NSU51 was unveiled with a pair of plates bearing the name of the then Transport Minister George McLeay. The locomotive then worked several trips to Bookaloo and return for those dignitaries and guests who wished to go.[10]
NSU52 was accepted by the CR on 26 May 1954 and was soon pushed into service for crew training. At the same time, NSU51 was being transferred via the SAR's Broad gauge line after being unloaded at Port Adelaide 26 May 1954.
NSU's 51 and 52 worked the first northbound diesel hauled Ghan into the Alice on 26 June 1954 conveniently timed to coincide with a visit of the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies [11] The last of the class to be commissioned was NSU64 during August 1955.
As with any new machine, a few bugs presented themselves when the class were first placed into service. Minor faults with voltage regulators[12] and air and oil filtration systems were quickly rectified, and the class went on to earn a reputation as an efficient and robust unit.[1]
Though NSU54 did work for some months between Port Augusta and Port Pirie during 1954, following that period the fleet worked out of Port Augusta on the Narrow gauge until 1957. Steam continued in traffic on the Central Australia Railway until the Port Augusta-Marree standardisation project eliminated that section for narrow gauge working, however there were still sporadic workings of steam.
Similar to the standard gauge experience, dieselisation of the CAR led to a reduction of 60% of operating costs over steam.[13]
Some commentators considered the class to be "on their last legs" in 1976,[14] however the NSU class survived more or less intact up to just about the end of ANR operations over the now very rickety Central Australia Line. A few had the ignoble task of removing the line for which they were built.
All of the class have survived. However, only two are currently operational - NSU52 and 58.
The class spent their entire lives in Commonwealth Railways Maroon and Silver
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