w:Commonwealth Engineering

{{Short description|Former Australian manufacturer of railway rolling stock}}

{{redirect|Comeng|the train model used in Melbourne|Comeng (train)}}

{{Infobox company

| name =

| logo = File:Comeng Logo.png

| logo_size = 220px

| logo_caption =

| image = DuckRiverWaterBoardBridgeRemains.png

| image_size = 220px

| image_caption = Remains of the waterboard they used to haul trains over the Duck River

| romanized =

| former type =

| type =

| traded_as =

| industry = Engineering

| fate = Acquired by ABB Transportation

| predecessor =

| successor =

| foundation = 1921

| founder =

| defunct = 1990

| location_city = Granville

| location_country =

| locations = Dandenong
Rocklea
Bassendean

| area_served =

| key_people =

| products = Railway rolling stock

| production =

| services =

| revenue =

| operating_income =

| net_income =

| assets =

| equity =

| owner =

| num_employees =

| parent = Australian National Industries

| divisions =

| subsid =

}}

Commonwealth Engineering, often shortened to Com-Eng, later known as Comeng [{{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|m|ɛ|n|dʒ}} {{respell|KOM|enj}}], was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams.

History

Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth Engineering, was founded in 1921, in the Sydney suburb of Camperdown, as a body builder for custom motor cars. It went bankrupt in the Great Depression, and was reformed as Waddingtons Body Works and the main factory was moved to Granville, after a fire in the main workshop. The Government of Australia took control of the company during World War II as the company was in serious financial difficulties but had many government orders in its books. The government purchased a controlling stake in the company in 1946 and changed the name to Commonwealth Engineering.

In 1949 a factory was established in Rocklea, Queensland. This was followed in 1952 by a plant in Bassendean, Western Australia and in 1954 by another in Dandenong, Victoria. In June 1957, the government sold its shares. In November 1982 Comeng was taken over by Australian National Industries.

The Granville factory closed in 1989 and has been demolished. The site, which was situated between the Great Western Highway and Main Western railway line west of Duck River, has been replaced with new developments including high-rise housing and light industries.

In 1990, the Dandenong plant was sold to ABB (later Bombardier Transportation, now Alstom),{{cite journal |title=Here & There |publisher=Australian Railway History |journal=Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin |issue=633 |date=July 1990 |page=176}}{{cite journal |title=ASEA Brown Boveri |journal=Continental Railway Journal |issue=84 |date=December 1990 |page=451}} while the Bassendean facility was sold to A Goninan & Co.

John Dunn has written a history of Comeng:

Volume 1, 1921 – 1955, published in 2006{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYgE0AEACAAJ |title=Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 1: 1921-1955 |publisher=Rosenberg Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=1877058424 }}
Volume 2, 1955 – 1966, published in 2008{{cite book |last=Dunn |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0EE0AEACAAJ |title=Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 2: 1955-1966 |publisher=Rosenberg Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=978-1877058738}}
Volume 3, 1967 – 1977, published in 2010{{cite book|first=John|last=Dunn|title=Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 3: 1967-1977|year=2010|isbn=9781877058905|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H43LSAAACAAJ|publisher=Rosenberg Publishing}}
Volume 4, 1977 – 1985, published in 2013{{cite book|first=John|last=Dunn|title=Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 4: 1977-1985|year=2013|isbn=9781922013514 |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/173938031?q=comeng+dunn&c=book&versionId=189554544|publisher=Rosenberg Publishing}}
Volume 5, 1985 – 1990, published posthumously in November 2013{{Dunn-Comeng-5}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=k6PCMgEACAAJ]{{cite web |url=http://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/smh-au/obituary.aspx?n=john-dunn&pid=162128733 |title=John Dunn Obituary |work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=10 January 2013 |date=5 January 2013}}

Buses

File:New South Wales DRTT (Sydney) bus 1877 (GSU 378) 1947 Albion Venturer CX19 Comeng, 2009 Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust open day.jpg Venturer in Glasgow in October 2009|200x200px]]

=Australian Capital Territory=

60 Canberra Bus Service AEC Reliance 470s
30 Canberra Bus Service AEC Swift 505s

=New South Wales=

50 Leyland OPSU1/1s
50 AEC Regal IVs

=Victoria=

50 AEC Regal IIIs

=Western Australia=

Leyland OPSU1/1s

Diesel locomotives

File:XPT.jpg XP2009 at Tallarook in November 2011.]]

=New South Wales=

8 BHP Port Kembla D1 class diesel locomotives
6 442 class diesel locomotives
10 70 class diesel hydraulic locomotives
50 80 class diesel electric locomotives
15 XPT power cars

=Queensland=

1 Mount Isa Mines 302 class diesel-hydraulic locomotive
1 Mount Isa Mines 305 class diesel-hydraulic locomotive
7 DL class locomotives for Innisfail Tramway operations

= Western Australia =

File:Don Rhodes Mt Newman Mining 5497, 2012 (1).JPG MLW M636 diesel locomotive in April 2012]]

1 MRWA E class locomotive
10 WAGR B class locomotives
11 Westrail N class diesel locomotives
Alco 636 M636 diesel locomotives for Hamersley Iron
21 Alco 636 diesel locomotives for Mount Newman Mining
12 Alco 636 diesel locomotives for Robe River Mining

Electric locomotives

=New South Wales=

= Queensland =

18 3100 class electric locomotive
68 3200 class electric locomotive

Diesel multiple units

File:Australind Claisebrook-Apr02.jpg]]

File:AdelaideRail 4.jpg 2000 class railcar ]]

=New South Wales=

5 1100 class Budd railcars

=Queensland=

=South Australia=

=Western Australia=

=Tasmania=

6 Tasmanian Government Railways DP class railcars

=India=

Numerous diesel railcars for Indian RailwaysThe Indian Railcar Contract Adam, Eric Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, December 1989 pp285-291