#3157
Commonwealth Railways NSU class
🇦🇺 Australia ·built by Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company· from 1954· class of 14 Australian 840 hp diesel locomotives built by BRCW
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9 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive at the Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum, 2006: Tdc· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Ex-Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive no. 63 of the former Central Australia Railway and North Australia Railway, at the Adelaide River Rail Heritage Precinct -- cropped: Reinhard Dietrich· CC0
- 3. Former Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive no NSU61 at National Railway Museum (Bob Sampson): Robert Sampson· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. NSU-54 Diesel locomotive: Greg· CC BY 2.0
- 5. Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive no. 63 of the former North Australia Railway at the Adelaide River Rail Heritage Precinct: Reinhard Dietrich Camera location 13° 14′ 34.08″ S, 131° 06′ 46.44″ E View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap -13.242800; 131.112900· Public domain
- 6. Ex-Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive no. 57 at Marree, South Australia: Marian Deschain· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. Ex-Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotives nos 57 & 60 at Marree, South Australia: Peterdownunder· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. Ex-Commonwealth Railways NSU class locomotives at Marree in 2006: Eric Spenle .mw-parser-output .panoramioreview{width:100%;margin:0.5em 0;background-color:var(--background-color-warning-subtle,#fffff0);padding:5px;border:1px solid var(--border-color-warning,#aa8);c· CC BY 3.0
- 9. Preserved ex-Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel-electric locomotive NSU58 at the Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum, Alice Springs: Reinhard Dietrich· Public domain
what is it?
The Commonwealth Railways NSU class is a class of diesel-electric locomotives built in 1954 and 1955 by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, England, for the Commonwealth Railways to be deployed on the demanding narrow-gauge Central Australia Railway and North Australia Railway. The last withdrawal from revenue service was in 1987. As of 2025, all 14 locomotives were extant – two operating – but 8 had been kept outdoors and were in various states of deterioration.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 72 years ago, in 1954.
- 630 kW is about 7 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 10 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 12.8 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 33 years (1954–1987).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1954–1955
- in service from
- 1954
- retired
- 1987
- status
- retired
- number built
- 14
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- builders
- Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
- operators
- Commonwealth Railways, Australian National Railways Commission
- top speed
- 80 km/h
- power
- 630 kW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- A1A–A1A
- length
- 12.8 m
- weight
- 60 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5153844, Wikipedia: Commonwealth Railways NSU class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.