Standard Gauge MDH

ETSA No.1 at Curlew Point, 1 September 1970

MDH 1 to 6

A contract for six locomotives to perform mainly shuting operations with the occassion short mainline haul was awarded to the Clyde Engineering Company ion the late 1950s. Clyde contructed the units, with engines and final drives being obtained by Maybach Motorenbau of Friedrichshafen, West Germany and hydraulic transmission equipment was supplied by Mekydro. All six shunters had entered service by May 1959 and were used at Parkeston (Kalgoorlie), Port Augusta and Port Pirie. Occassionally they hauled small freight trains across the Nullarbor. As freight trains increased in size, the MDH units were gradually seen less and less on the mainline.

By 1970 all but MDH 1 had been boarded up and stored at the Port Augusta workshops. MDH 1 was overhauled and repainted before being outshopped in April 1972 for use as a workshop shunter. The remaining five despatched to BHP Whyalla and scrapped around 1975-76. The class leader MDH 1, was subsequently sold to the Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) for use at the Thomas Playford Power-House, Port Augusta were it was recoded No.2. A similar Clyde Maybach shunter, coded No.1, had purchase new by ETSA shortly after the Commonwealth Railways obtained their six. ETSA No.1 is preserved at Port Dock Station Railway Museum.

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Class:		MDH
Builder:		Clyde Engineering, Granville, NSW.
Introduced:		1958
Number in Class:		6
Model:		HG 6R
Wheel Arrangement:		Co
Engine:	Manufacture:	Maybach
-	Model:	MD 325
Cylinders:	Number:	6 in line
-	Bore & stroke:	7.28 in. x 7.87 in.
Horsepower:		620/545
Tractive Effort	Starting:	29,700 lbs
-	Continuous:	28,800 lbs at 5 mph
Length (over coupling points):		30 ft. 4 in.
Maximum Axle Load:		17.7 tons
Total weight:		53 tons
Fuel Capacity:		360 gallons
Maximum Speed:		40 mph
Hydraulic Transmission:	Manufacture:	Mekydro
-	Model	K104U
Hydraulic Final Drive:	Manufacture:	Maybach
-	Model	C33V