Commonwealth Railways NSU class#Preservation

By the end of World War II, the Commonwealth Railways were operating a diverse, worn-out collection of rolling stock on their {{Track gauge|1067mm|comma=off}} narrow-gauge Central Australia Railway and North Australia Railway, and on their {{Track gauge|1435mm|comma=off}} standard-gauge Trans-Australian Railway. Steam locomotives hauled both freight and passenger trains, and they had become very unreliable. On the two narrow-gauge lines that comprised the truncated north–south routes along which huge amounts of materiel and troops had been carried during the war, some of the locomotives had 50 or more years of use. Their condition had been worsened in the harsh outback environment through constant jolting – the track was lightweight and much of it had been laid on bare earth 60 years earlier. After post-war economic restrictions had moderated, in 1950 the federal government provided funding for the Commonwealth Railways to replenish its fleet of both narrow and standard gauge locomotives and rolling stock.{{cite web |url=https://derbysulzers.com/australiabrcw.html |title=Commonwealth Railways (NSU51 - NSU64) |author=|date=14 January 2018 |website=Derby Sulzers |access-date=16 June 2020 }}

A call for tenders issued for 14 diesel locomotives for the Commonwealth Railways narrow-gauge lines included some important criteria:

• axle loading of no more than 10.5 tonnes, in order to operate over lightweight rail of 41, 50 and 60 pounds per yard20, 25 and 30 kilograms per metre respectively.
• electric transmission
• three-axle bogies
• tractive effort of at least 21,000 pounds93.41 kilonewtons.
• ability to operate in extreme conditions, with temperatures in excess of 45 °C, poor quality water, and dry, dusty air heavily laden with sand.

Thirteen companies submitted more than 30 designs. However, most tenders did not get past the first stage of the selection procedure because they did not address all the specifications, such as electrical transmission. One important factor was the Chief Mechanical Engineer's preference for the locomotives to have engines in the lower-revolution range, which was expected to lower maintenance costs. The engine in the winning tender, by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd, was a Sulzer plant with a maximum speed of 750 rpm. By contrast, a design submitted by A.E. Goodwin ran at 1500 rpm.{{cite magazine |first=K. |last=Finlay |date= January 1990 |title= Purchasing the NSU |magazine= Pichi Richi Patter |location= Quorn, South Australia |publisher= Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society Inc. |pages= 10–12 }}

The decision to award the contract to the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company in 1951 was a departure from the Commonwealth Railways' practice of purchasing "well proven" designs, exemplified by its choice of General Motors diesel-electric locomotives for its standard-gauge operations. The British company had a long history of building rail vehicles but this order was its first for locomotives. However, Sulzer had 42 years of experience in locomotive design and Sulzer plants had been used widely in the UK since the early 1930s.{{refn|group=note|The earliest Sulzer-powered mainline diesels in the UK, the Armstrong-Whitworth "Universals", had been delivered in 1933.{{cite book |title=Locomotive profile: class 33 Cromptons |first=B.K. |last=Cooper |date=1999 |location= Chertsey, UK |publisher= Ian Allan Ltd |isbn=0711018944 }}}} Any doubt was resolved by the purchase contract stipulating that Sulzer Bros (London) Ltd would accept full responsibility for the design and performance of the completed locomotives.{{cite book |title= No. 259: the curious story of a forgotten locomotive |first=Ralph |last=Holden |date=2006 |location= Elizabeth, South Australia |publisher= Railmac Publications }}{{page needed|date=August 2020}}

The LDA series engine, which had its origins in the 1920s, was specifically designed for use in railway applications,{{cite book |title= Sulzer Types 2 and 3 |first=A.T.H. |last=Tayler |date=1984 |location= Chertsey, UK |publisher= Ian Allan Ltd |isbn= 9780711013407 }}{{page needed|date=August 2020}}{{cite book |title=Sulzer diesel locomotives of British Rail |first=Brian |last=Webb |date=1978 |location= Exeter, UK |publisher= David and Charles |isbn= 9780715375143 }}{{page needed|date=August 2020}} although an unfounded belief persisted that it originated in submarine engine designs.{{cite magazine |first=N. |last= Doncaster |date= Spring 1998 |title= The Crossley experience |magazine= The Partyline |location= Peterborough, South Australia |publisher= Steamtown Peterborough}}{{refn|group=note|The engines for the NSU class were among the last engines Sulzer built at its Winterthur plant in Switzerland for use outside of Europe; later engines, with only a few exceptions, were built under contract by Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness, England.{{page needed|date=August 2020}}}}

The NSU class locomotives were instrumental in the Commonwealth Railways assessment, four years after their introduction, that operating costs on the Central Australia Railway had fallen by 60 per cent."From Bolivian Highlands to Australian Plains" Railway Transportation December 1958 page 11

The first locomotives to be unloaded at Port Adelaide were NSU52 on 10 May 1954 and NSU51 ten days later. They were immediately put to use for crew training. Still temporarily mounted on standard-gauge bogies on which it had been trialled in the UK, NSU51 was unveiled at Port Augusta on 12 June 1954 with nameplates showing George McLeay (whose portfolio included the Commonwealth Railways) on the cab sides.{{cite magazine | author= |date= July 1954 |title= Demonstration run of CR narrow gauge locomotives takes place on standard gauge |magazine= Railway Transportation |location=Surry Hills, New South Wales. |publisher= Shennen Publishing and Publicity |page=24}}{{cite book |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8417717 |title= Locomotives of Australia |first=Leon |last=Oberg |date=1975 |location= Terrey Hills, New South Wales |publisher= A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty Ltd |pages=210–211 |isbn=9780589071738 }}

On 26 June 1954, locomotives 51 and 52 worked the first diesel-hauled northbound Ghan into Alice Springs – timed to coincide with a visit of Prime Minister Robert Menzies."The History of the Pichi Richi Railway" Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society 1984 The last of the class was commissioned in August 1955.[http://www.comrails.com/cr_locos/r_nsu.html Narrow Gauge NSU] Chris' Commonwealth Railways Pages[http://www.railpage.com.au/locos/class/74/ NSU Class] Railpage

It was initially expected that the new locomotives would be able to complete a 1370 kilometre round trip from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs on one tank of fuel. This proved to be impracticable and a 91,000-litre fuel tank was installed at Alice Springs."Purchasing the NSU" Pichi Richi Patter Vol 18, No 10, pp 10–12 Minor faults with voltage regulators and air and oil filtration systems were quickly rectified, and the design went on to earn a reputation as an efficient and robust unit.{{cite book|last=Pearce|first=Kenn|title=Riding the "wire fence" to the Alice|year=2011|publisher=Railmac Publications|location=Elizabeth, South Australia|isbn=978-1-86477-079-7}} But the NSUs were very primitive. Crews reported, for example, that the spring-loaded, 18-notch throttle handle stayed in the selected position when new, but as it wore, it would swing unpredictably and cause the train to lurch violently.{{cite book |title=Iron roads in the outback: the legendary Commonwealth Railways |first=Nick |last= Anchen |date=2017 |location= Ferntree Gully, Victoria |publisher= Sierra Publishing |page=81 |isbn=9780992538828 }}

Initially the fleet worked out of Port Augusta on the narrow gauge.An exception was NSU54 which, still on its inaugural standard-gauge bogies, worked on the standard gauge for some months between Port Augusta and Port Pirie. Following the construction of the standard-gauge Marree railway line in 1957, which more or less ran parallel to the Central Australia Railway between Port Augusta and Marree, two were transferred to the North Australia Railway operating out of Darwin. During the next 17 years, locomotives were swapped periodically between the two lines.{{cite book|last=Oberg|first=Leon|title=Locomotives of Australia 1850's - 1980's|year=1984|publisher=Reed Books|location=Frenchs Forest|isbn=0-730100-05-7|pages=215–216}}

In July 1975, all the locomotives were included in the transfer of Commonwealth Railways to Australian National.

The NSU fleet remained intact until the Central Australia Railway was superseded by the opening of a new standard-gauge line to Alice Springs in 1980. Two were then transferred to Gladstone for use on the Wilmington line and one to Peterborough for use on the Quorn line. Several others were used by rail retrieval contractors along the Central Australian Railway after it closed. The last was withdrawn in 1987.

The class spent their entire service with their bodies painted in Commonwealth Railways maroon and silver, and bogies (except for a pair of silver-painted standard-gauge bogies) in black.

No members of the class were condemned in revenue service. {{As of|2024|3}}, two (NSU52 at the Pichi Richi Railway and NSU58 at Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum) were operating; NSU55, at Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre, was potentially operable although it had not been used for more than a decade; two were displayed indoors; and the remainder were either stored or displayed outdoors, most of them bogie-mounted body shells from which components had been removed. Further details are below.

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|File: General arrangement drawing -- Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive.png

|Commonwealth Railways general arrangement drawing of the NSU class, including specifications and speed/tractive effort graph

|File:Pichi Richi Railway diesel locomotive NSU52 crosses Saltia Bridge, near Quorn, South Australia, with passenger train on 26 Oct 2019 (Caleb Jenkins).jpg

|Pichi Richi Railway's restored NSU52, crossing Saltia bridge near Quorn in October 2019, is only one of two NSU class locos in operation.

|File:NSU53 Alice Springs, 2015 (02).JPG

|NSU53: sealed body shell on bogies near the entrance to the Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum, Alice Springs, 2015

|File:NSU-54_Diesel_locomotive.jpg

|NSU54 at the Pichi Richi Railway, Quorn, South Australia in 2007 – a source of spare parts for NSU52, which regularly heads tour trains

|file:NSU56 abandoned at Marree, January 2021.jpg

|NSU56: derelict body shell and bogies at Marree, 2021

|File:NSU57 on display at Marree, January 2021.jpg

|NSU57: body shell on bogies at Marree railway station, January 2021

|File:NSU58 + train Alice Springs, 2015 (02).JPG

|Preserved NSU58 at the Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum, Alice Springs, in 2015, with a rake of carriages from the legendary narrow-gauge train, The Ghan. {{As of|2020}}, it was one of two NSU class locomotives in near-operable condition.

|File:NSU60 on display at Marree, January 2021.jpg

|NSU60: sealed body shell on bogies at Marree, 2021. As decoration, the Marree Progress Association commissioned artwork with an Outback theme.

|File:Former Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive no NSU61 at National Railway Museum (Bob Sampson).jpg

|NSU61: normally displayed indoors at the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, it was in a similar condition to the locomotives at Marree when acquired in 1986 (here in 2015)

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{{commons category-inline|Commonwealth Railways NSU class locomotives}}

• [https://www.pichirichirailway.org.au/history/locomotives-and-railcars/commonwealth-railways-nsu-class-locomotives {{nbsp}} Pichi Rich Railway]

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Category:Commonwealth Railways diesel locomotives

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