July marks the 45th anniversary of the last of the Victorian Railways first turbocharged diesels entering service. Built at Clyde's Rosewater plant in South Australia, the 10 units entered service over a 14 month period from May 1977 to July 1978. C510, builders number 77-833, entered service on 11/07/1978, some 4 months after are the previous class member C509.
The C class were utilised to haul heavy goods trains on the Serviceton line and North-east (standard gauge) line. The C class were restricted to a top speed of 80km/h and were the VR's first diesels to be fitted with train radios. In 1982 the 4 C class on standard gauge were converted to broad gauge to operate with the other C's on the western (Serviceton) line.
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| C510 hauls 9147 Melbourne- Adelaide Express Goods through Ballarat North. |
During 1983 the C class hauled the majority of interstate express goods trains (either solo or in multiple with other classes) and were involved in through running into South Australia. In July cracks were detected in the underframes of the C class, which saw a number sidelined until repairs could be made. Both C501 and C502 were repainted during 1983, the only C's to be repainted in blue and gold. Upgrading of the Portland line saw C's employed in moving block grain trains to the port for 1983/84 harvest.
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| C510 departs Ballarat at 7:45am with the 8122 pass. |
Some sightings of C510 during 1983 include:
3/3/1983 - C510 stabled at Beaufort on a down Jet due to industrial action
26/4/1983 - C510 on the 0703 Up Werribee pass
27/5/1983 - C510 9147 Melbourne- Adelaide Express Goods
16/6/1983 - C510 shutdown on a Down Jet at Box Bank with rescue locos sent from Bacchus Marsh (H2-T323) and South Dynon (C501).
12/8/1983 - C510 on 83 Express Goods at Bordertown, South Australia
16 and 17/8/1983 - C510 - T397 on trials to Portland with 23 VHGY's and Dynamometer Car as part of plans to use the combination of C-T to move grain to Portland for 1983-84 harvest. C510 was the first C to visit Portland.
4/9/1983 - C510-C506 Up Jet at Stawell
24/9/1983 - C508-C507-C505 Down Goods at Tailem Bend, South Australia
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| T359 and C510 arrive at Ballarat on empty grain from Geelong. |
C510 is an Austrains model that has only recently joined the loco fleet. The main modifications made are replacing the full width handrails in front of the cab with individual rails on each side. In the future it will be fitted with radio equipped stickers and aerials, coupler lifting rails and individual air hoses.
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