Clyde 18 ton and 24 ton HG-3R Diesel Hydraulic Locomotives

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18 ton Clyde

18t Clyde 'Marian' wearing old Marian mill livery. 18t Clyde 'Marian' wearing old Marian mill livery.
This is the smallest and oldest of our fleet.  Built from the late 50’s to late 60’s and weighing 18 tonnes.  We run 12 of these.
The loco with the cab, closest to camera, is Habana (A unit) and the loco without the cab is Marian (B unit).

What do you do when you want a big locomotive and can’t afford one? You permanently pair a couple of old small ones. These two 18t Clyde locomotives were permanently paired in this year’s maintenance period. The loco with the cab, closest to camera, is Habana (A unit) and the loco without the cab is Marian (B unit).
Dash of an old 18 tonne Clyde

Dash of an old 18 tonne Clyde. (Remember, these are nearly 50 years old!). Starting in the centre of the dash you have a console with basic pressure and temperature gauges. Directly below that you have the air operated direction change. The big silver wheel partially in shot is a wind on park brake. Moving to the right you have a directional air sander, the throttle, (small lever) torque brake and lastly the service brake. Once again above these a GPS speedo can be seen.

With most ComEng and Clyde locomotives, driving controls are duplicated on the driver assistant’s side of the locomotive as well.

24t Clyde HG3R

24 ton Clyde 24 ton Clyde H3GR. This is a bigger version of the 18 tonne Clyde. Weighing 24 tonnes and manufactured from the early 60’s to early 70’s.
We operate 10 of these.
24 ton Clyde One of the 24 ton Clyde’s, 'Bassett' in old Farleigh livery before new paint job. Looking a bit worse for wear.
24 ton Clyde 'Bassett' 24 ton Clyde 'Bassett', fresh out of the paint shop with the new Mackay Sugar corporate livery June 2004. This livery will be phased in as locomotives require paint jobs.
24 ton Clyde H3GR 24 ton HG3R Clyde “Melba” Note old Marian mill livery. This loco was badly damaged in a derailment some years ago. Way before my time. I am not sure of the circumstances but I believe it ended up going off a bridge and in the bottom of a creek. Had to be sent away for major rebuild. Came back with a new cab and a two speed Niigata converter which replaced the old Allison single speed converter. This is the only Clyde with a two speed converter.

Brett caught up with the driver of the Melba at the time of the above accident and he very kindly lent Brett these pictures to scan for me to put on the site. Webmaster

This photos puts the drop from the bridge into perspective 24 ton Clyde 'Melba' accident
Shows the damage the cab suffered. I believe there was major mechanical damage as well resulting in a complete rebuild. 24 ton Clyde 'Melba' accident
24 ton Clyde console 24 ton Clyde console. Basic temp and pressure gauges on lower panel. Mostly light switches and circuit breakers on upper panel. Lever in centre of lower panel is air operated direction change.
24 ton Clyde controls Basic controls again. From left throttle, sander, service brake and torque brake. The torque brake is basically a paddlewheel retarder in the converter. Digital display in upper portion of the photo is a GPS speedo.
24 ton Clyde Drivers console

Drivers console on another 24 tonne Clyde, 'Conningsby' this time.