The 81s were built by Clyde under license from GM at Kelso from 1982, with a final four built in 1991, to help replace the older GMs and Alcos which served the State Rail Authority since the start of dieselisation. They have seen service with SRA, Freightrail/Freightcorp, National Rail and now Pacific National. These locomotives are used on a number of different services including Passenger, Grain, Yard work, Container traffic and occasionally Coal duties. The 81s used in Queensland are mainly for shunting at Acacia Ridge, the occasional trip train to Rocklea and also more recently the Bromelton Stone trains.
Technical details
| Model Number | JT26C-2SS |
|---|---|
| Builder | Clyde Engineering, Kelso |
| Locomotive Numbers | 8101-8184 |
| Number in Class | 84 |
| Introduced | 1982 |
| Gauge | Standard Gauge (1,435mm or 4' 8½") |
| Axles | Co-CoTwo 3-axle bogies, each with a traction motor on every axle |
| Length | 19.76m |
| Mass | 129t |
| Engine | EMD 16-645E3B |
| Generator/Alternator | EMD AR16 |
| Traction Motors | EMD D77 |
| Power | 2460kW / 3300HP |
| Starting Tractive Effort | 465kN @ 30% adhesion |
| Continuous Tractive Effort | 337kN @ 18km/h |
| Speed | 115km/h |
Built by
Photos
11 of 84 locomotives photographed 13%
10 more to reach 25% of the class. Photographed by QRIG gallery archive (7), Shawn4468 (5) and dean.stalker.qld (2). See the leaderboard
A rare shot of 8120 on the dual-gauge head shunt at the south end of Acacia Ridge
8112 shunts the Steel train at Acacia Ridge. 8112 was only just returned to service after a derailment a few days before.
8123+8167+8101 sit at Bromelton Blue Metal Quarry whilst loading takes place ready for the journey to Fisherman Islands where the Blue Metal will be used as fill during the Port expansion.
National Rail 8114 approaches Celtic Street with a shunt at Acacia Ridge
NRC liveried 8114 takes care of the Uniform Gauge shunting at Acacia Ridge.
8102 in the old Freightcorp livery, shunts Acacia Ridge in 2003
Pacific National - ShuntingPhoto by Shawn4468
Pacific National - 8120Photo by Shawn4468
Pacific National 8113 approaches Acacia Ridge from the south with the Railcorp AK Inspection Cars.Photo by dean.stalker.qld
8120 shunting at Acacia RidgePhoto by dean.stalker.qld
8120 shunting at Acacia RidgePhoto by dean.stalker.qld
Pacific National - 8112Photo by Shawn4468
Class roster
| 81011 | 82-1020 | Oct-82 | - | - | |
| 81021 | 82-1021 | Nov-82 | - | - | |
| 8103 | 82-1022 | Nov-82 | - | - | |
| 8104 | 82-1023 | Dec-82 | - | - | |
| 8105 | 82-1024 | Dec-82 | - | - | |
| 8106 | 82-1025 | Feb-83 | - | - | |
| 8107 | 82-1026 | Feb-83 | - | - | |
| 8108 | 82-1027 | Feb-83 | - | - | |
| 8109 | 82-1028 | Mar-83 | - | - | |
| 8110 | 82-1029 | Mar-83 | - | - | |
| 8111 | 82-1030 | Mar-83 | - | - | |
| 81122 | 82-1031 | Apr-83 | - | - | |
| 81131 | 82-1032 | May-83 | - | - | |
| 81142 | 82-1033 | May-83 | - | - | |
| 8115 | 82-1034 | May-83 | - | - | |
| 8116 | 83-1035 | Jun-83 | - | - | |
| 8117 | 83-1036 | Jun-83 | - | - | |
| 81181 | 83-1037 | Jul-83 | - | - | |
| 8119 | 83-1038 | Jul-83 | - | - | |
| 81204 | 83-1039 | Aug-83 | - | - | |
| 81211 | 83-1040 | Aug-83 | - | - | |
| 8122 | 83-1041 | Aug-83 | - | - | |
| 81231 | 83-1042 | Sep-83 | - | - | |
| 8124 | 83-1043 | Oct-83 | - | - | |
| 8125 | 83-1044 | Oct-83 | - | - |
References
'New South Wales 81 class locomotive', Wikipedia (accessed October 2026)
'81 Class', Railtram Australia (accessed October 2026)
