New South Wales 46 class locomotive

New South Wales 46 class

4601 at Valley Heights Rail Museum in March 2015

Type and origin
Power type	Electric
Builder	Metropolitan-Vickers/Beyer, Peacock & Company, Bowesfield Works, Stockton-on-Tees, England
Serial number	786-825
Build date	1956–1958
Total produced	40

Specifications
Configuration:
• UIC	Co-Co
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Wheel diameter	45 in (1,143 mm)
Wheelbase	41 ft 0 in (12.5 m)
Length	Over headstocks: 51 ft 2 in (15.60 m) Over coupler pulling faces: 53 ft 11+1⁄4 in (16.44 m)
Width	9 ft 7 in (2,921 mm)
Height	Over stowed pantograph: 14 ft 6 in (4,420 mm)
Axle load	18 long tons 14 cwt (41,900 lb or 19 t)
Loco weight	112 long tons 0 cwt (250,900 lb or 113.8 t)
Sandbox cap.	18 cu ft (0.51 m³)
Electric system/s	1,500 V DC Overhead
Current pickup(s)	2 pantographs
Traction motors	6 × Metropolitan-Vickers 272

Performance figures
Maximum speed	70 mph (113 km/h)
Power output	Continuous: 3,400 hp (2,540 kW) One hour: 3,780 hp (2,820 kW)
Tractive effort	Continuous: 36,700 lbf (163.25 kN) One hour: 40,800 lbf (181.49 kN) at 34.5 mph (55.5 km/h)

Career
Operators	Department of Railways New South Wales Public Transport Commission State Rail Authority FreightCorp
Number in class	40
Numbers	4601-4640
First run	25 June 1956
Last run	17 January 1996
Preserved	4601, 4602, 4615, 4627, 4638
Disposition	35 scrapped, 5 preserved

The New South Wales 46 class was a class of mainline electric locomotive built by Metropolitan-Vickers and its partner Beyer, Peacock & Company in England for the Department of Railways New South Wales. They later operated for the Public Transport Commission, State Rail Authority and FreightCorp with most remaining in service into the 1990s.