Commonwealth Engineering

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

Former Australian manufacturer of railway rolling stock

title: "Commonwealth Engineering" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["engineering-companies-of-australia", "defunct-locomotive-manufacturers-of-australia", "defunct-rolling-stock-manufacturers-of-australia", "australian-companies-established-in-1921", "australian-companies-disestablished-in-1990", "vehicle-manufacturing-companies-established-in-1921", "vehicle-manufacturing-companies-disestablished-in-1990"] description: "Former Australian manufacturer of railway rolling stock" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Engineering" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former Australian manufacturer of railway rolling stock ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
logoFile:Comeng Logo.png
logo_size220px
imageCommonwealth Railways carbon steel sleeping cars (new) at Comeng, Granville 1964.jpg
image_size220px
image_captionCommonwealth Railways carbon steel sleeper cars at the Comeng Granville workshops
industryEngineering
fateAcquired by ABB Transportation
foundation1921
defunct1990
location_cityGranville
locations{{unbulleted list
productsRailway rolling stock
parentAustralian National Industries
::

| name = | logo = File:Comeng Logo.png | logo_size = 220px | logo_caption = | image = Commonwealth Railways carbon steel sleeping cars (new) at Comeng, Granville 1964.jpg | image_size = 220px | image_caption = Commonwealth Railways carbon steel sleeper cars at the Comeng Granville workshops | romanized = | former type = | type = | traded_as = | industry = Engineering | fate = Acquired by ABB Transportation | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = 1921 | founder = | defunct = 1990 | location_city = Granville | location_country = | locations = {{unbulleted list | Dandenong | Rocklea | Bassendean | Braemar | area_served = | key_people = | products = Railway rolling stock | production = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = Australian National Industries | divisions = | subsid =

Commonwealth Engineering, often shortened to Com-Eng, later known as Comeng [ ], was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams.

History

Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth Engineering, was founded in 1921, in the Sydney suburb of Camperdown, as a body builder for custom motor cars. It went bankrupt in the Great Depression, and was reformed as Waddingtons Body Works and the main factory was moved to Granville, after a fire in the main workshop. The Government of Australia took control of the company during World War II as the company was in serious financial difficulties but had many government orders in its books. The government purchased a controlling stake in the company in 1946 and changed the name to Commonwealth Engineering.

In 1949 a factory was established in Rocklea, Queensland. This was followed in 1952 by a plant in Bassendean, Western Australia and in 1954 by another in Dandenong, Victoria. Another factory was established in Braemar, NSW in 1973, as Mittagong Engineering. This was established not only to take some of the workload off the Granville plant but to potentially replace it eventually.

In June 1957, the government sold its shares. In November 1982 Comeng was taken over by Australian National Industries.

The Granville factory closed in 1989 and has been demolished. The site, which was situated between the Great Western Highway and Main Western railway line west of Duck River, has been replaced with new developments including high-rise housing and light industries.

In 1990, the Dandenong plant was sold to ABB (later Bombardier Transportation, now Alstom), while the Bassendean facility was sold to A Goninan & Co.

John Dunn has written a history of Comeng:

  • Volume 1, 1921 – 1955, published in 2006
  • Volume 2, 1955 – 1966, published in 2008
  • Volume 3, 1967 – 1977, published in 2010
  • Volume 4, 1977 – 1985, published in 2013
  • Volume 5, 1985 – 1990, published posthumously in November 2013

Buses

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/New_South_Wales_DRTT_(Sydney)bus_1877(GSU_378)_1947_Albion_Venturer_CX19_Comeng,_2009_Glasgow_Vintage_Vehicle_Trust_open_day.jpg" caption="Albion]] Venturer in [[Glasgow]] in October 2009"] ::

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Victoria

  • 50 AEC Regal IIIs

Western Australia

Leyland OPSU1/1s

Diesel locomotives

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/XPT.jpg" caption="[[New South Wales XPT]] XP2009 at [[Tallarook]] in November 2011."] ::

New South Wales

Queensland

  • 1 Mount Isa Mines 302 class diesel-hydraulic locomotive
  • 1 Mount Isa Mines 305 class diesel-hydraulic locomotive
  • 7 DL class locomotives for Innisfail Tramway operations

Western Australia

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Don_Rhodes_Mt_Newman_Mining_5497,2012(1).JPG" caption="MLW]] M636 diesel locomotive in April 2012"] ::

Electric locomotives

New South Wales

Queensland

Diesel multiple units

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Australind_Claisebrook-Apr02.jpg" caption="[[Westrail ADP/ADQ class"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/AdelaideRail_4.jpg" caption="[[TransAdelaide]] [[2000 class railcar]]"] ::

New South Wales

Queensland

South Australia

Western Australia

Tasmania

India

  • Numerous diesel railcars for Indian Railways

Electric multiple units

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/CityRail-Vset-9-at-Central.jpg" caption="New South Wales V set]]"] ::

New South Wales

Victoria

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/EDi_Comeng_at_Flinders_Street_Station_Platform_10.jpg" caption="Metro]] livery"] ::

Carriages

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Exterior_of_Countrylink_NDS_2268.JPG" caption="RUB carriage]] at [[Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot]] in December 2012"] ::

Commonwealth Railways

Long Island Rail Road

New South Wales

Queensland

Trams and light rail

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Z3.168PrestonWorkshops.jpg" caption="[[Z class Melbourne tram]] 168 at [[Preston Workshops]] in August 2007"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/LRT_761P_Ping_Shan.jpg" caption="MTR Light Rail Phase I vehicle (pre-refurbishment)"] ::

New South Wales

Victoria

Hong Kong

References

References

  1. (July 1990). "Here & There". [[Australian Railway History]].
  2. (December 1990). "ASEA Brown Boveri". [[Continental Railway Journal]].
  3. (2006). "Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 1: 1921-1955". Rosenberg Publishing.
  4. Dunn, John. (2008). "Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 2: 1955-1966". Rosenberg Publishing.
  5. Dunn, John. (2010). "Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 3: 1967-1977". Rosenberg Publishing.
  6. Dunn, John. (2013). "Comeng: A history of Commonwealth Engineering: Volume 4: 1977-1985". Rosenberg Publishing.
  7. {{Dunn-Comeng-5}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=k6PCMgEACAAJ]
  8. (5 January 2013). "John Dunn Obituary". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. ''The Indian Railcar Contract'' Adam, Eric Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, December 1989 pp285-291

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

engineering-companies-of-australiadefunct-locomotive-manufacturers-of-australiadefunct-rolling-stock-manufacturers-of-australiaaustralian-companies-established-in-1921australian-companies-disestablished-in-1990vehicle-manufacturing-companies-established-in-1921vehicle-manufacturing-companies-disestablished-in-1990