Tasmanian Government Railways Z class

The Tasmanian Government Railways Z class is a class of four diesel locomotives built by English Electric at Rocklea for the Tasmanian Government Railways in 1973. A development of the Western Australian Government Railways R class, they were the last in a line of very successful locomotives fitted with the English Electric 12CSVT Mk II engine. With the new line from Launceston to Bell Bay under construction, the railways ordered four 1752 kW locomotives, but as that design was still in development they bought four 1380 kW locomotives with a low nose profile and vacuum brakes instead. At 96 tons they were much heavier than the previous heaviest class, the Y class at 58 tons, and required significant upgrades to infrastructure. The first was delivered in December 1972. They passed to Australian National in 1978, had air brakes fitted in 1984 and 1985 and were renumbered as the 2110 class in 1998. All remained in service with TasRail until stored in May 2014, and all four have survived into preservation.