Historic Photo of the Day: 2024-03-30

Today’s historic photo of the day: 39 years ago today, SRA NSW diesel locos 42102 and 42108 sit in the sidings at Canberra station, Kingston ACT, March 30 1985. Note the cranes on the horizon above the rear of the second unit. They would have been 2.5km away at Capital Hill on the site of New Parliament House which was then under construction prior to its opening in 1988. The 421 class locomotives here were built in 1965/66 for the NSWGR by GM's Australian licensee: Clyde Engineering of Granville. Unlike most other Australian GM streamliners, the ten 421 class locos were actually double-ended and featured a fully functioning driving cab at the no 2 end. This pair had probably hauled the Canberra Oil train down from Sandown that morning and it is likely they were waiting for the tankers to be unloaded before hauling the empties back north that afternoon. The last 421 was withdrawn from regular service as recently as 2018. Five of the original ten units in the fleet have been preserved, though not all are operational. 42108 has been scrapped and 42102 is now stored, inoperable, at Dorrigo.