The memorial plaque on the side of A62.
“A62
This locomotive is dedicated to the thousands of railway men
and women whose loyalty, commitment, skills, and service to the
community have played a vital role in the development of the
State of Victoria
18 July 1985…….Victoria’s 150th Birthday Year”
A62 also has the distinction of being the first diesel locomotive to cover 1,000,000 miles. This was acheived before the rebuild, while still a B Class – B62.
V/Line A Class A62 outside of the West Block at the Newport Railway Workshops Open Day 2026. The A Class was a rebuild of the B Class, increasing power from 1,500hp to 2,250hp. The intention was to rebuild all 26 B Class locos, but cost blow-outs due to frame fatigue saw the program stopped at 11. In their place the order for the mechanically similar N Class was extended.
The Phoenix Foundry makers plate for the steam loco Y419 / Y112. The plate reads “Phœnix Foundry – N° 238 – Ballarat – Company Limited 1889″. Y419 was at the Newport Railway Workshops Open Day 2026.
Long before the diesel Y Class Victorian Railways had a steam 0-6-0 Y Class. Here Y419 (Y112) is in light steam in front of B72. Y419 was built in 1889 in Ballarat’s Phoenix Foundry, and retired in 1951. Y419 is owned by the Ballarat Historical Society, and leased to Steamrail.
Victorian Railways B Class, B72, in the line-up of locos “in steam” at the Newport Railway Workshops Open Day 2026. B72 is in relatively short lived “teacup” livery (1981-5) with the stylised VR forming the teacup. The B class were the Victorian pioneer diesels, built between 1951 and 1953 by Clyde Engineering. The S Class was a development of the B Class, which was a development of the EMD F-units using a three axle (Co-Co) bogies rather the EMD 2 axle (B-B).
B72 was withdrawn in 1986 following a fire, after travelling over 3.3m miles. An extensive restoration saw her eventually move under her own power in 2023.
Y161 heads a line of V/Line diesel-electric locomotives outside the Newport Railway Workshops West Block during the 2026 Open Day. The Y Class loco is in the current PTV livery of purple and yellow. The white patches are blanking out the PTV logo.
Newly restored Victorian Railways K Class K160 at the Newport Railway Workshop Open Day 2026. K160 had been under restoration for the past decade and only returned to steam in February. She is seen here in undercoat in front of K190.
Victorian Railways K Class, K190, seen in front of S301 outside of the West Block and Clock Tower at the Newport Workshops Open Day 2026. K190 is in a lined red livery – a tribute to the London, Midland and Scotland Railway (LMS).
K190 has had a few appearances on CannibalRabbit before: running a Mooroolbark-Mitcham shuttle in 2009, again in 2010, and finally when we were on-board for the Tait Shuttle between Flinders Street and Essendon in 2017.
The K Class was a light-weight 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotive, designed for branch line freight working. From an initial batch of 9 there were eventually 53 engines in operation, with 21 still in existence. The J Class was a convertible (5′ 3″ to 4′ 8½” gauge) update to the K Class
V/Line P Class P20 outside of the West Block of the Newport Railway Workshops during the 2026 Open Day. The P Class are a rebuild of the first series T Class, this involved a rebuild from the frames up. P20 started life as T337 in 1956 and emerged from Clyde Engineering as a P20 in 1985. Pacific National donated the loco to Seven-0-Seven Operation in 2023, who repainted her into the original V/Line Orange and Grey livery.
Victorian Railways S Class, S301, basks in the sun outside the West Block at the Newport Railway Workshops Open Day 2026. S301 was donated to Steamrail by Pacific National in 2024. Like it’s steam predecessor S301 is named Sir Thomas Mitchell the Surveyor General of New South Wales. Sir Thomas, or Major Mitchell, was responsible for mapping vast tracts of south-eastern Australia in the early colonial days.
A three-quarters view of the yesterday’s AEC Regal III at the Newport Railway Workshops Open Day 2026. In the background are the workshop’s West Block, and the distinctive silver outline of a MET Hitachi unit.
One of the DERMPAV 1949 Model AEC Regal III (201H26) buses at the Newport Railway Workshops Open Day 2026. This is the sister of the other AEC Regal III that I saw back in 2009 at Healesville.