There are just four of the Pacific National "NR" class locomotives in the red and white "The Ghan" livery, they being NR18, NR74, NR75 & NR109. Pacific National has the "hook & pull" contract with the upmarket "Journey Beyond" travel company who operate premium rail adventure trips around mainland Australia. The trains are luxurious, but the fares are not cheap, no seated travel, it's either a cabin or nothing.
The Ghan operates between Adelaide SA and Darwin NT taking just over two days to complete the journey, stops are made along the way at places like Marla, Alice Springs and Katherine where off train excursions (included in the fare) can be had. Stops vary according to the season. Two or three tour options often operate at Alice Springs and Katherine, the larger centres along the journey.
The Darwin passenger service does not operate during the harsh Northern Territory summer so "The Ghan" liveried "NR" class are relegated to freight train work from around November to January of each year. Hence the visit of NR74 to Goobang Junction, in western NSW.
The NR class are the bread winners for Pacific National's intermodal business unit but the locomotives are not exclusive to this working, the class are often used on rail set transfers and ballast working for ARTC as required. The class are also used by "Journey Beyond", operators of luxury passenger trains in Australia, to haul their services under a "hook & pull" contract.
The NR class were specifically designed and built for high speed point to point long distance intermodal express trains. Goninan's at Newcastle NSW built NR1 to NR 60 whilst their Western Australian factory at Bassendean built NR61 to NR120. The loco's were originally built for the National Rail Corporation, an Australian federal government initiative involving state government shareholders.
National Rail lasted until February 2002 when it was privatised and purchased by Pacific National, along with the SRA of NSW freight network, then called FreightCorp, as part of the purchase deal. Pacific National are the largest freight rail operators in Australia, followed by Aurizon.
The NR class are designated GE model Cv40-9i series using imported American technology from General Electric USA with the locomotives built by Goninan & Co under license from GE. Powered by a four stroke V16 turbo charged GE 7FDL-16 prime mover delivering just over 4,000hp and a published track speed of 115KMh.
Nearing 30 years of age the NR class have been a success story and have proved to be a most reliable locomotive, however, in recent years some reliability issues have surfaced as the locomotives age. Pacific National started a fleet overhaul programme in June 2006 which will probably give them an extended life of another 10 to 15 years.
The future of some of the NR class are under cloud, as the new "94" class will be coming into service from around May 2024, Pacific National have ordered 50 of these C44ESACi "Evolution Series" locomotives from Goninan's. The cost of the 50 new locomotives is $297 million, the order was signed in October 2021.
High speed express freight locomotives have came along way technology wise since the introduction of the NR class. GE's latest product is the C44aci series, although based on the Cv40-9i series concept, vast improvements in technology and fuel efficiencies have been made.
All of the 120 NR class remain in service, except for NR33 which was written off and scrapped due to the level crossing accident damage incurred at Lismore VIC on the 25th of May 2006. NR3 was rebuilt as NR121 and NR80 also rebuilt as NR122 after reconstruction after severe accident damage. NR41 & NR79 were also scrapped after the 31st of December 2023 level crossing accident near Broken Hill NSW, the day after this video was filmed.
To conserve fuel the NR class have a three stage horsepower setting activated in the driver cab, this is to provide only the power needed to the tonnage hauled at the time. Settings are: 2,850hp, 3,560hp and 4,020hp.
The locomotives weigh 132 tonnes and have a 13,500 litre capacity for long distance non stop running between NSW and Western Australia across the famous Nullarbor Plain on the Trans Australia railway. Pacific National do not utilise "in-line" refuelling unlike SCT and Aurizon, although they experimented with in during mid 2023.
NR74 was handed over new on the 30th of January 1997 and was built by Goninan's at their Bassendean WA factory. When not working on "The Ghan" roster NR74 is relegated to normal freight train working, common in the "off season" when The Ghan does not operate.
0940hrs on Tuesday 23rd of January 2024.
Негізгі бет NR74 walk Goobang Jnc East NSW. Tue 23rd Jan 2024
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