I was wondering if anybody can help me out? I was leafing through a British rail-fan magazine and came across a photograph of a locomotive of the Southern Shorthaul Railroad in Australia. It looked exactly like an EMD-F unit, except that it had a cab on both ends. I know that EMD contract builds were made in Scandanavia and Hungary in the 50’s (NoHABs or Rundsnuden), but their roofs were more rounded than the F units’. I’ve also read that the New Jersey Central used to run double-cab Baldwins. Any ideas who built the Australian loco, what it might be called, what are its vital stats, and where can I find an HO scale model of it?
These locomotives were built by Clyde Engineering in Granville, a Western suburb of Sydney, NSW Australia. 26 locomotives were built from 1952 until 1954, all for the Victorian Railways. These were Model ML2 and had road numbers B60 to B85.
The locomotives had a 1500 HP 567B engine and six traction motors. The trucks were similar to those of the SD7 but slightly shorter in wheelbase. The electrical connections were simplified compared to the SD7, which reduced the tractive effort.
The locomotives are 75mm narrower than an F unit, and this can be seen in the narrower central window pillar, where the US steel pressings were trimmed to meet the narrower clearances. The locomotives were also slightly lower in height than the F units.
71 similar locomotives with single cabs and 1750HP 567C engines were also built by the same plant.
Eleven ML2 locomotives were rebuilt as “SD39-2” 2250HP units in the same double cab carbody, with different radiator and fan arrangements.
Four or five original ML2 units are still in operation.
HO Scale Models were made by “Lima” about ten years ago and some of these might still be available from Australian model shops.
A new model is expected from “Auscision” in about two years time
http://www.auscisionmodels.com.au/
The owners of Auscision are associated with Southern Shorthaul.
M636C
Australia is the happy hunting ground of bulldog noses, and VR’s A and B class doublecabs are not the only unusual ones. The earliest bulldog nose was Commonwealth Railways’ GM class, variously referred to as ML1, A7 and A16C. http://locopage.railpage.org.au/anr/gm.html They also exist as VR’s S class http://locopage.railpage.org.au/vline/s.html and as the 42 class in New South Wales http://locopage.railpage.org.au/sra/42.html
Another oddball is the 421 class in New South Wales, referred to as AJ16C, they are doublecabs with one bulldog nose and the other cab in a flat end like an AB6 http://locopage.railpage.org.au/sra/421.html
My personal favorite is Commonwealth Railways’ CL/CLF/CLP class, referred to as AT26C, try to envision an SDP40F with a bulldog nose http://locopage.railpage.org.au/anr/cl.html
Although they have a flatnose instead of a bulldog nose, Alco’s World Locomotive could be found in New South Wales as the 44 class, http://locopage.railpage.org.au/sra/44.html and in South Australia as the 930 class, http://locopage.railpage.org.au/anr/930.html They also could be considered doublecabs since they have a second cab in the flat end.