You must log in or register to see images
Locomotive, Diesel 4306
Locomotive 4306 was ordered in June 1954 as part of a class of six. It was built by A. Goninan and Company of Broadmeadow near Newcastle as works number 16, with components from a number of suppliers. The main engine was supplied by American Locomotive Company (ALCo), the electrical equipment by General Electric (GE) and Australian Electrical Industries (AEI). The class was ordered in small numbers simultaneously with a similar sized order placed with Clyde Engineering for a General Motors outline diesel-electric. In this way the two orders can be seen as prototypical examples of contemporary diesel-electric locomotive technology. The 43 class itself is noted as being based upon an experimental GE locomotive. Locomotive 4306 was the last to enter service being placed in traffic in June 1957. The class was rostered on passenger workings, initially on the central west line. Following electrification to Lithgow in 1957, the class was transferred to service on the North Coast line and the main north, working from Broadmeadow with express freight services. Being a member of a small class, withdrawals took place quite early with number starting to dwindle in the mid-1970s. The last member of the class in service was 4306, being withdrawn in October 1979.
Following withdrawal, this engine was subsequently transferred to the custodianship of the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum. It was originally obtained as a source of spares to enable locomotive 4001 to be restored to operating condition, but during the early 1980s it was decided that 4306 should stand as a significant historical exhibit in its own right. To this end, the locomotive was restored to the stage where the body repairs were completed, all fittings made operational, and the engine repaired, started and checked. State Rail then undertook to complete the restoration and commissioning as part of the 140th Railway Celebrations in 1995.