The class 2170 of Queensland Rail consists of 45 six-axle diesel-electric locomotives. Like all their predecessors of the classes 2100, 2130 and 2150, they were built by Clyde Engineering and use traction equipment from EMD. Compared to the class 2130, they use the modular “Dash 2” electronics, revised traction motors and have air conditioning for the cab. The prime mover was still the Roots-blown and non-turbocharged 16-cylinder two-stroke of the 645 series, but now with 2,200 instead of 2,000 hp. 

Their tasks were coal and mineral traffic from different mines. From the year 2000, they were equipped with new cabs. Between 2013 and 2016, a larger number was sold by current owner Aurizon. While three came back to QR for passenger service, others were exported abroad. 17 became class 35-800 of Transnet in South Africa and twelve came to Ferronor in Chile. Five of the locomotives in South Africa were sold back to Australia to operator Watco in 2019.