# Victorian Railways rail tractor

The Victorian Railways rail tractors are a small shunting unit used by the Victorian Railways of Australia for moving railway wagons in at country stations and private sidings. Varying in power output and size, they are agricultural tractors on top of a four-wheeled steel rail wagon frame. RT1 was of a different design to the remainder of the class and is preserved at the Newport Railway Museum, Victoria.
The shunters are not fitted with air brakes but are through-piped to enable them to be worked dead as part of a normal train. An exception to that is RT46, a standard "Aresco Trak Chief", the only one of its type built for the VR, which entered service in 1966. RT54 is a one-off unit acquired from the Portland Harbour Trust, which had used the vehicle on its private siding. In March 1989, it was reported that a refurbishment program for rail tractors was being undertaken at the Ballarat Railway Workshops and, as units went through the program, they were repainted into the then-current V/Line orange livery.
Units currently authorised to operate on Victorian tracks are RT 3-40, 42-43 and 45–53, the second group being more powerful, and all are permitted to travel at 15 km/h maximum. Units RT 18, 28 and 43 were gauge converted and transferred to Sydney for use on the construction of the Epping to Chatswood railway.

## Liveries

The first RT tractors were painted red or silver, but yellow had become the norm by the 1970s.
In the period 1982–1983, they were stencilled with a number-code, exceptions being RT42, RT46 and RT51. When they were refurbished for V/Line, most tractors had the code letters placed first, except 20RT at Redcliffs in 1988, and 48RT at Maryborough in 1987. Of the refurbished units, 5, 11, 20, 29, 45, 47, 48 and 53 had orange underframes with white steps, while 7 and 21 had black underframes and steps.

## Maximum loads

As of mid-1986, RT units were limited to 30 km/h and the following loads:
| | | 3-39RT | 40, 42-53RT |
| Grade | % | Tonnes | Tonnes |
| Level | Level | 190 | 210 |
| 1 in 40 | 250% | 42 | 48 |
| 1 in 50 | 200% | 51 | 58 |
| 1 in 75 | 133% | 70 | 79 |
| 1 in 100 | 100% | 83 | 95 |
| 1 in 150 | 67% | 103 | 117 |
| 1 in 200 | 50% | 117 | 132 |

## Fleet details

Note: Zero prefix is not accurate, but displayed here for sorting function.
| ID | Entered service | Scrapped | September 1981 | March 1982 | January 1989 | Last known location | Notes |
| RT01 | 11/6/1932 | | N/A | N/A | Museum | Newport Railway Museum (2021) | Red Livery - Wooden Bodied |
| RT02 | 24/01/1957 | | N/A | N/A | Huon | Creek Sidings North Melbourne (2007) | 17 April 1989, all glass missing and the engine removed from frame. Freight Australia (F/A) yellow livery, possibly scrapped |
| RT03 | 15/2/1957 | | Rochester | Rochester | Rochester | Daylesford (2024) | Preserved and operational at Daylesford Spa Country Railway |
| RT04 | 29/8/1957 | | Warracknabeal | Wodonga | Seymour Loco | - | Scrapped |
| RT05 | 6/9/1957 | | Spotswood | Spotswood | Wangaratta | North Bendigo (2012) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT06 | 18/9/1957 | | Rochester | Rochester | Ballarat, Bairnsdale | North Bendigo (2012) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT07 | 1/10/1957 | | Euroa | Oaklands | Donald | Bendigo (2006) | Scrapped? |
| RT08 | 16/10/1957 | | Ouyen | Recliffs | Ballarat Workshops | - | Scrapped |
| RT09 | 12/9/1958 | 1990 | Kyabram | Kyabram | Seymour Loco | - | Scrapped |
| RT10 | 18/9/1958 | | Woodend | Woodend | Colac, Geelong North Yard | Bendigo (2006) | Scrapped? |
| RT11 | 29/9/1958 | | Horsham | Ararat | Bridgewater | Allied Mills Ballarat (2014) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT12 | 10/10/1958 | | Oakleigh | Oakleigh | Seymour Loco | - | Scrapped |
| RT13 | 28/10/1958 | | Numurkah | Numurkah | Ballarat Workshops | - | Scrapped |
| RT14 | 09/06/1959 | | Tottenham | Colac | Bendigo Loco | North Bendigo (2015) | Orange Livery |
| RT15 | 22/06/1959 | | Bendigo | Horsham | Euroa | Trentham (2008) | |
| RT16 | | | Bendigo | Bridgewater | Warrnambool | Bendigo (2006) | Scrapped? |
| RT17 | | | Sea Lake | Sea Lake | Castlemaine | Healesville (2010) | Yellow livery |
| RT18 | | | Hamilton | Hamilton | Dimboola | Lithgow - NSW (2018) | Converted to standard gauge for Epping–Chatswood line construction. UGL Rail yellow livery |
| RT19 | | | Footscray | Footscray | Kerang | Tocumwal (2018) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT20 | | | Redcliffs | Irymple | Irymple | Swan Hill (2018) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT21 | | | Ouyen | Ballarat | Horsham | Bendigo (2006) | Scrapped? |
| RT22 | | | Kerang | Kerang | Ballarat Workshops | - | Scrapped |
| RT23 | | | Melbourne Yard | Seymour | Ballarat Workshops | - | Scrapped |
| RT24 | | | Traralgon | Traralgon | Leongatha | Tailem Bend - SA (2008) | Murray Bridge? (2015) |
| RT25 | | | Nhill | Nhill | Red Cliffs | Eclipse Flour Mill, Albion (2015) | |
| RT26 | | | Ballarat | Ouyen | Geelong Loco | - | Scrapped |
| RT27 | | | Ararat | Seymour, Yarrawonga | Traralgon | North Bendigo (2014) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT28 | | | Seymour | Seymour | Kyabram | Port Waratah (2018) | Converted to standard gauge for Epping–Chatswood line construction. UGL yellow livery |
| RT29 | 18/01/1962 | | Traralgon | Traralgon | Ballarat Loco | Donald (2019) | Standard gauge, operational - PN yellow livery |
| RT30 | | | Colac | Tocumwal | North Melbourne wagon workshops | - | First allocation to North Melbourne Wagon Workshops, after May 1988. Scrapped |
| RT31 | 24/10/1962 | | Moe | Moe | Morwell Briquette Siding | Graincorp Deniliquin (2011) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT32 | 19/11/1962 | | Swan Hill | Swan Hill | Bendigo Loco | SCT Laverton (2019) | Plinthed - SCT livery |
| RT33 | | | Korong Vale | Korong Vale | Ballarat Workshops | - | Scrapped |
| RT34 | | | Camperdown | Warracknabeal | Warracknabeal | - | Scrapped |
| RT35 | 24/4/1964 | | Orbost | Orbost | Traralgon | North Bendigo (2012) | Orange livery |
| RT36 | 2/7/1964 | | Traralgon | Cowwarr | Bairnsdale | - | Scrapped |
| RT37 | 22/7/1964 | | Charlton | Charlton | Boort | North Bendigo (2019) | Yellow livery |
| RT38 | 15/8/1964 | | Leongatha | Leongatha | Sunshine | North Bendigo (2012) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT39 | | | Nowa Nowa | Nowa Nowa | Morwell | Dynon (2018) | Scrapped |
| RT40 | | | Westall | Westall | Seymour Loco | - | Scrapped |
| RT41 | | | N/A | N/A | Off register | Moorooduc (2010) | |
| RT42 | | | Seymour | Seymour | Bendigo Loco | North Bendigo (2012) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT43 | | | Echuca | Echuca | Swan Hill, Bendigo Loco | Port Kembla - NSW (2018) | Converted to standard gauge for Epping-Chatswood line construction. F/A yellow livery |
| RT44 | | 1987 | Traralgon | Morwell | "Wrecked" | - | Scrapped |
| RT45 | | | Morwell | Traralgon | Benalla | North Bendigo (2012) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT46 | | | Spotswood | Spotswood | Spotswood | Graincorp Deniliquin (2012) | Aresco Trak Chief model, formerly PHT2 (Portland Harbour Trust). Two-tone blue livery |
| RT47 | 25/7/1969 | | Deniliquin | Deniliquin | Ballarat Workshops | North Bendigo (2012) | Orange livery |
| RT48 | 7/8/1969 | | Morwell | Portland | Maryborough | Port Kembla - NSW (2018) | Standard Gauge |
| RT49 | 20/8/1969 | | Portland | Morwell | Maffra | North Bendigo (2012) | F/A yellow livery |
| RT50 | 3/9/1969 | | Stawell | Stawell | Deniliquin | Bendigo Roundhouse (2011) | Renumbered LT50 - Southern Shorthaul Railroad (SSR) yellow livery |
| RT51 | 19/9/1969 | | Tocumwal | Camperdown | Traralgon | Bendigo (2006) | Scrapped? |
| RT52 | | | Castlemaine | Castlemaine | Echuca | Port Kembla - NSW (2018) | Standard gauge |
| RT53 | | | Redan | Ballarat | Ballarat Loco | - | Scrapped |
| RT54 | 6/10/1976 | | N/A | N/A | (Unlisted) | North Bendigo (2013) | Renumbered LT4 - ex Portland Harbour Trust. Fitted with air brake. SSR yellow livery |