Victorian Railways rail tractor


The Victorian Railways rail tractors are a small shunting unit used by the Victorian Railways of Australia for moving railway wagons in at country stations and private sidings. Varying in power output and size, they are agricultural tractors on top of a four-wheeled steel rail wagon frame. RT1 was of a different design to the remainder of the class and is preserved at the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum at Newport.
The shunters are not fitted with air brakes but are through-piped to enable them to be worked dead as part of a normal train. An exception to that is RT46, a standard "Aresco Trak Chief", the only one of its type built for the VR, which entered service in 1966. RT54 is a one-off unit acquired from the Portland Harbour Trust, which had used the vehicle on its private siding. In March 1989, it was reported that a refurbishment program for rail tractors was being undertaken at the Ballarat Railway Workshops and, as units went through the program, they were repainted into the then-current V/Line orange livery.
Units currently authorised to operate on Victorian tracks are RT 3-40, 42-43 and 45-53, the second group being more powerful, and all are permitted to travel at 15 km/h maximum. Units RT 18, 28 and 43 were gauge converted and transferred to Sydney for use on the construction of the Epping to Chatswood railway.

Liveries

The first RT tractors were painted red or silver, but yellow had become the norm by the 1970s.
In the period 1982–1983, they were stencilled with a number-code, exceptions being RT42, RT46 and RT51. When they were refurbished for V/Line, most tractors had the code letters placed first, except 20RT at Redcliffs in 1988, and 48RT at Maryborough in 1987. Of the refurbished units, 5, 11, 20, 29, 45, 47, 48 and 53 had orange underframes with white steps, while 7 and 21 had black underframes and steps.

Maximum loads

As of mid-1986, RT units were limited to 30 km/h and the following loads:
3-39RT40, 42-53RT
Grade%TonnesTonnes
LevelLevel190210
1 in 40250%4248
1 in 50200%5158
1 in 75133%7079
1 in 100100%8395
1 in 15067%103117
1 in 20050%117132

Fleet details

Note: Zero prefix is not accurate, but displayed here for sorting function.
IDEntered serviceWithdrawnScrappedSeptember 1981March 1982January 1989Last Known LocationNotes
RT0111/6/1932N/AN/AMuseumARHS North Williamstown Museum Red Livery - Wooden Bodied
RT0224/01/1957N/AN/AHuonCreek Sidings North Melbourne 17 April 1989, all glass missing and the engine removed from frame. Freight Australia yellow livery, possibly scrapped
RT0315/2/1957RochesterRochesterRochesterBendigo Scrapped?
RT0429/8/1957WarracknabealWodongaSeymour Loco-Scrapped
RT056/9/1957SpotswoodSpotswoodWangarattaNorth Bendigo F/A yellow livery
RT0618/9/1957RochesterRochesterBallarat, BairnsdaleNorth Bendigo F/A yellow livery
RT071/10/1957EuroaOaklandsDonaldBendigo Scrapped?
RT0816/10/1957OuyenRecliffsBallarat Workshops-Scrapped
RT0912/9/19581990KyabramKyabramSeymour Loco-Scrapped
RT1018/9/1958WoodendWoodendColac, Geelong North YardBendigo Scrapped?
RT1129/9/1958HorshamAraratBridgewaterAllied Mills Ballarat F/A yellow livery
RT1210/10/1958OakleighOakleighSeymour Loco-Scrapped
RT1328/10/1958NumurkahNumurkahBallarat Workshops-Scrapped
RT1409/06/1959TottenhamColacBendigo LocoNorth Bendigo Orange Livery
RT1522/06/1959BendigoHorshamEuroaTrentham
RT16BendigoBridgewaterWarrnamboolBendigo Scrapped?
RT17Sea LakeSea LakeCastlemaineHealesville Yellow livery
RT18HamiltonHamiltonDimboolaLithgow - NSW Converted to standard gauge for Epping–Chatswood line construction. UGL Rail yellow livery
RT19FootscrayFootscrayKerangTocumwal F/A yellow livery
RT20RedcliffsIrympleIrympleSwan Hill F/A yellow livery
RT21OuyenBallaratHorshamBendigo Scrapped?
RT22KerangKerangBallarat Workshops-Scrapped
RT23Melbourne YardSeymourBallarat Workshops-Scrapped
RT24TraralgonTraralgonLeongathaTailem Bend - SA Murray Bridge?
RT25NhillNhillRed CliffsEclipse Flour Mill, Albion
RT26BallaratOuyenGeelong Loco-Scrapped
RT27AraratSeymour, YarrawongaTraralgonNorth Bendigo F/A yellow livery
RT28SeymourSeymourKyabramPort Waratah Converted to standard gauge for Epping–Chatswood line construction. UGL yellow livery
RT2918/01/1962TraralgonTraralgonBallarat LocoDonald Standard gauge, operational - PN yellow livery
RT30ColacTocumwalNorth Melbourne wagon workshops-First allocation to North Melbourne Wagon Workshops, after May 1988. Scrapped
RT3124/10/1962MoeMoeMorwell Briquette SidingGraincorp Deniliquin F/A yellow livery
RT3219/11/1962Swan HillSwan HillBendigo LocoSCT Laverton Plinthed - SCT livery
RT33Korong ValeKorong ValeBallarat Workshops-Scrapped
RT34CamperdownWarracknabealWarracknabeal-Scrapped
RT3524/4/1964OrbostOrbostTraralgonNorth Bendigo Orange livery
RT362/7/1964TraralgonCowwarrBairnsdale-Scrapped
RT3722/7/1964CharltonCharltonBoortNorth Bendigo Yellow livery
RT3815/8/1964LeongathaLeongathaSunshineNorth Bendigo F/A yellow livery
RT39Nowa NowaNowa NowaMorwellDynon Scrapped
RT40WestallWestallSeymour Loco-Scrapped
RT41N/AN/AOff RegisterMoorooduc
RT42SeymourSeymourBendigo LocoNorth Bendigo F/A yellow livery
RT43EchucaEchucaSwan Hill, Bendigo LocoPort Kembla - NSW Converted to standard gauge for Epping-Chatswood line construction. F/A yellow livery
RT441987TraralgonMorwell"Wrecked"-Scrapped
RT45MorwellTraralgonBenallaNorth Bendigo F/A yellow livery
RT46SpotswoodSpotswoodSpotswoodGraincorp Deniliquin Aresco Trak Chief model, formerly PHT2. Two-tone blue livery
RT4725/7/1969DeniliquinDeniliquinBallarat WorkshopsNorth Bendigo Orange livery
RT487/8/1969MorwellPortlandMaryboroughPort Kembla - NSW Standard Gauge
RT4920/8/1969PortlandMorwellMaffraNorth Bendigo F/A yellow livery
RT503/9/1969StawellStawellDeniliquinBendigo Roundhouse Renumbered LT50 - Southern Shorthaul Railroad yellow livery
RT5119/9/1969TocumwalCamperdownTraralgonBendigo Scrapped?
RT52CastlemaineCastlemaineEchucaPort Kembla - NSW Standard gauge
RT53RedanBallaratBallarat Loco-Scrapped
RT546/10/1976N/AN/ANorth Bendigo Renumbered LT4 - ex Portland Harbour Trust. Fitted with air brake. SSR yellow livery