Tasmanian Government Railways V class

The V class were the first diesel locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) with four delivered by the Vulcan Foundry in 1948 to a design by the Drewry Car Co. They were a narrow gauge version of the British Rail Class 04. In 1951 a fellow two were delivered followed by another two in 1955. Between 1959 and 1968 the TGR built a further four at its Launceston Workshops.[1][2]

Two identical locomotives were purchased by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in 1953. When it closed in 1963, 2405 was sold to the Emu Bay Railway as number 22, while 2406 went to the TGR as V13. All the TGR units were withdrawn between 1983 and 1987 while the Emu Bay unit remained in service until 2000.[1][2]

Ten have been preserved:

• V1 by the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, Victoria[3]
• V2 by the Don River Railway
• V4 by the Hotham Valley Railway, Western Australia[4]
• V5 by the Hotham Valley Railway, Western Australia[4]
• V7 by the Derwent Valley Railway
• V8 by the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, Victoria[3]
• V9 by the West Coast Wilderness Railway
• V12 by the Puffing Billy Railway, Victoria (rebuilt to 760 mm gauge and numbered D21)
• V13 by the Zig Zag Railway, New South Wales, sold to the West Coast Wilderness Railway, renumbered D2
• 22 by the West Coast Wilderness Railway, renumbered D1