| South Australian Railways 500 class | |
| Powertype: | Diesel-electric |
| Builder: | Islington Railway Workshops |
| Builddate: | 1964-1969 |
| Totalproduction: | 34 |
| Uicclass: | Bo-Bo |
| Gauge: | , |
| Wheeldiameter: | 30NaN0 |
| Minimumcurve: | 2643NaN3 |
| Wheelbase: | 283NaN3 total, 7feet bogie |
| Length: | 38feet over headstocks |
| Width: | 9feet |
| Height: | 13feet |
| Axleload: | 141NaN1 |
| Locoweight: | 561NaN1 |
| Fuelcap: | 700impgal |
| Primemover: | English Electric 4SRKT Mk II |
| Rpmrange: | 450–850 rpm |
| Enginetype: | four stroke, four valves per cylinder |
| Generator: | EE827/4C |
| Tractionmotors: | Four EE548/2A |
| Cylindercount: | 4 inline |
| Cylindersize: | 10x |
| Poweroutput: | 550-1NaN-1 gross, 500-1NaN-1 net |
| Tractiveeffort: | 300001NaN1 at 4-1NaN-1 |
| Locobrakes: | Air |
| Trainbrakes: | Air |
| Operator: | South Australian Railways |
| Numinclass: | 34 |
| Fleetnumbers: | 500-534 |
| Firstrundate: | 25 April 1964 |
| Preservedunits: | 507, 515, 517, 532 |
| Currentowner: | Bluebird Rail Operations |
| Disposition: | 1 in service, 4 preserved, 4 stored, 25 scrapped |
The 500 class were a class of South Australian Railways diesel shunter locomotives built at Islington Railway Workshops between 1964 and 1969.
Thirty-four 500 class locomotives were built, all incorporating English Electric traction and control equipment. The first 27 were built with broad gauge bogies; the last seven with standard gauge bogies. They operated in yards at Gladstone, Murray Bridge, Naracoorte, Peterborough, Port Pirie, Tailem Bend and Wallaroo, and were deployed extensively in Adelaide.[1]
In March 1978 all were included in the transfer of the South Australian Railways to Australian National. Some were transferred to Port Augusta. In 1986, a new computer system required the class leaders of the former South Australian Railways to be renumbered as the last member of the class, with 500 becoming 534.[2]
Most were scrapped in the mid-1990s, and the remaining locomotives were included in the sale of Australian National's South Australian operations to Australian Southern Railroad in October 1997.[3] [4] [5] [6]