Twice now I’ve noticed Australian model locomotives while browsing eBay, and both were striking double-headed cab units. Here’s the link to the one I just saw today: Auscision B65. I take it “Auscision” is a combination of Australia and Precision?
The one I saw several weeks ago was painted to commemorate the 1996 Melbourne Olympics. Google just led me to a photo of it on the Auscision site:
I don’t know any of the history of those locomotives but they’re flat out gorgeous, in my book. Were they locally built?
This is a practical solution to the often wasteful American practice of having excess power provided by two locomotives to be bi-directional. Also, American railroads favor the flexibility of having all-cab locomotives, thus the disappearance of slightly less expensive cabless units. Still, they aren’t willing to invest in double-cab locos for use as single-unit power in a significant way.
I don’t know much about railroading in Australia, but here in the US, even today with the large, high HP units, one unit is seldom enough to power a mainline train. So double ended units would be of little use and would drive up locomotive costs because of the duplicate controls.
Makes sense to me to put the two locos you need anyway back to back, and/or add aditional units that may be needed in between.
In the early days of diesels of only 1500 HP and limited TE, it was a given that two, three or more would be needed for mainline trains. So cabless units and fixed or semi fixed loco consists made sense. As HP/TE grew, but before train weights grew to todays levels, the usefullness of cabless boosters declined, and as hood units replaced cab units, railroads moved away from boosters.
Again, I don’t know much about railroading in Australia, but I do know that in Europe and other places train lengths/weights are much less than in North America and one unit is all that is needed in most cases, making double ended units more practical.
I’m sure that one of the hobbyists from Oz will step in soon with details on the exact model you illustrate. But in the mean time I will note that this double-ended design seems to have been in use in Austrailian for quite some time. Back 25 years ago I spent some time in Oz and picked up a very similar such HO model, along with several associated passenger cars, suggesting that this design was not the very latest even then.
I would also point out that a few American roads also briefly employed a double-ended design that was almost identical with what you posted, but that was a great many years ago now. The CNJ had a few such engines used in passenger service and dating from the immediate post-war period (1947). I believe the CNJ’s reasoning for them was that such engines didn’t need any turning at the ends of the numerous commuter branch lines served. In this same context, the CNJ regularly used some of its aging 4-6-0 camelbacks in bi-directional service on these same branches!
It looks like it’s Victorian, so possibly it’s gauged for their 5’3" or maybe they just run 'em on standard H0. I don’t know where the prototype was built, sorry.
A quick google on A66 (in the file name of the shown locomotive) shows that the depicted “Olympics” decorated engine it is a Victorian Railways diesel class A66 - which is a modernization of a class B66, which is is essentially an EMD engine locally built and adapted in Australia in 1951/52, by Clyde Engineering in Sydney - with a 645 engine, but with two end cabs.
In appearance not all that unlike the Swedish NOHAB engines. The NOHABS locomotives were also locally adapted and built (by Nydquist Och Holm AB in Sweden), based on licensed technology from EMD - in the case of the first A-1-A axeled NOHABs based on technology from the lightweight TA diesel-engines EMD built for fast, short streamlined passenger trains for the Rock Island railroad.
Link to wikipedia pages about the Victorian Railways A and B class engines:
The era of producing (any significant number of) cabless units ended over 50 years ago, long before super-duper-powered locomotives were produced.
The typical mainline trains freight trains I observe today out here are powered by several (four to six) locomotives which theoretically provide lots of opportunities for cabless units if so desired, while locals have typically two locomotives back to back. … Railroads were much more interesting a half century ago. This observation drove me to purchase two cabless AS-616 Baldwins recently since I already had plenty of F7B units.
Now, when is someone like Athearn going to come out with TR6 cow-and-calf roadswitcher units in SP tiger stripe? (SP’s 1950 answer for its need for higher tractive effort and lower axle loadings.)
Actually Melbourne did not host the 1996 Olympics - Atlanta did. This was painted several years before 1996 (late 1980s) when Melbourne was one of several cities competing to win the bid to host the '96 Olympics.
They were built by Clyde Engineering in Granville, NSW, in the early 50’s under license from EMD. The models, AFAIK, are 16.5 mm gauge models rather than 18.4 mm as would be correct to model 5’ 3" gauge in HO scale. It would appear that Auscision specializes in Victorian Railways/VLine prototypes.
By the way, Blair Kooistra, of Walla Walla Valley fame, has given up Washington for New South Wales. You might be interested in his blog, which can be read here: http://northofnarrabri.blogspot.com/
The original locomotives were the “B class” which were based on Clyde modification of the EMD locomotives to suit Australian conditions. These were the first main line locomotives for the Victorian Railways and were a great success (especially in comparision with the underpowered and unreliable British locos being marketed and sold in Australia). The double ended bulldog nose design was very much a one off.
Later some of the locomotives were returned to the manufactures for upgrading producing the A class. This progressed until it was realised that the costs were about the same for a new locomotive. Boths the B’s and the A’s are still in service.
I think the original model of a B class was an old and highly inaccurate one by the British manufacturer Triang. Later in the 1980’s the italian manufacturer Lima which had quite a presence in the Australian market produced an HO scale B class based on their model of the later S class. The S class in reality was very similar to the B class so many modellers bought spare body shells and did a nose job to produce the double ended B.
In the last decade a number of manufacturers have emerged supplying the Australian modellers with ready to run locomotives and rolling stock manufactured in China (there include Austrains, Eureka Models, Powerline, Trainorama and Auscision). Auscision undertook to produce both the A and B class and after some delays (in China) both models arrived last year. The similar S class produced by Trainorama also delayed arrived at the same time so many Australian modellers were broke over Christmas!!The models were quite well recieved.
As has been pointed out the Victorian Railways are broad gauge (it was an act of colonial lunacy to have different rail gauges for different states) but most modellers of the VR ignore this and run on standard HO tack.
If anyone is interested Googling on the manufacturers and on the locomotives concerned, you’ll be surprised. Blair
I would think the best bet to find out if this is real is to find out how the RRs were used in the olympics. Did people stay in Sydney and train it to Melbourne? If so, then I think it would be real.
IVRW, the Olympics weren’t actually held in Melbourne–as Metro Red Line brought to my attention a few posts back. But there really was a locomotive decorated in that scheme, as a promotional thing during the (eventually unsuccessful) campaign to have Melbourne selected as an Olympic host city.
Andre, Iain, others, thanks for all the great information. Something about that design really holds my attention. Interesting graphics, cool Australian theme, and wow, two bulldog noses on a single locomotive… if I see another one up for sale someday, temptation will be strong upon me.
When I was in Sydney last year on a vacation, I visited Hobbyco (the downtown store) and bought a model of the Australian DL class. This locomotive is basically a locally produced variant of the EMD SD40. Its a fantastic runner and is beautifully detailed. It is made by a company called Austrains. I selected this locomotive because I had seen the prototype when out railfanning with some Australian friends.
One of the fascinating things about this model is that it accurately reproduces the marker lights with white LEDs since the prototype also features white LEDs for the marker lights!
