Rail rolling stock in New South Wales

The Railways in New South Wales, Australia, carry a large variety of passenger and freight rollingstock.

Suburban Passenger Rollingstock

Introduction

From the opening of the first railway line in Sydney in 1855, suburban steam hauled trains operated suburban services. By 1890, suburban steam hauled trains ran frequently from Sydney to Homebush, Parramatta and Hurstville. Less frequnt services operated to Liverpool, Ryde, Hornsby, Sutherland and Waterfall. Often these trains were mixed trains, ie they carried goods and passengers. By 1914, plans were being drawn up to electrify the Sydney suburban rail lines.

1920 Wooden single deck cars

In the 1920's, the Bradfield electrification programme begun. Up until then, trains continued to be sets of steam locomotive-hauled wooden carraiges. In 1920, 100 wooden bodied driving-motor cars (numbered 3000-3100) were delivered, originally to be steam hauled but later converted to electric traction with the opening of the first section of electrified line between Sydney and Oatley in 1926. These wooden cars had steel clad bodies for additional strength, and became known as the 'Bradfield Cars', and many remained in service until the 1960s.^[1]

1925 All-Steel cars

With the planned opening of the Sydney underground lines, it was proposed to build steel bodied suburban cars. An initial 50 cars (numbered 3101-3150) were built in Leeds, UK and assembled at Eveleigh. These cars saw electric traction immediately and were never steam hauled.

1926-1960 Single Deck Steel Cars

Between 1926 and 1960, a total of 417 motor cars, 15 driving trailer cars and 417 non driving trailer cars wer built and introduced by various builders including Clyde Engineering, Tulloch Limited, and later, Comeng. The 80 cars built by Comeng from 1957-60 (40 motor and 40 trailer cars) became known as the Sputnik cars, and had 4 single leaf power operated doors on each side and were of lighter construction.^[2] These cars were introduced at the time of electrification extension from Parramatta to Penrith. All of these single deck electric multiple units became the mainstay of the Sydney suburban network until their final retirement in 1993. They generally carried a dark red 'Indian Red' livery until their retirement, although in the 1980's several sets were painted in special theme livery (such as for Taronga Zoo and Sydney's sesquicentenary). Many of the motor cars were marshalled with the Tulloch double deck trailer cars (see below) to form 4 or 8 car mixed single and double deck sets.^[3] In their later years, these cars became associated with the derogatory title of 'Red Rattlers'.

1964 Tulloch double deck trailers

In the 1960's, tenders were called for double deck electric passenger cars. In 1964, the first of 120 'Tulloch trailers' were delivered, and integrated into the single deck sets. The cars were built by Tulloch Limited, and were numbered 4801-4920. They consisted of normal floor level over the bogies, with a double deck passenger section between the bogies. The cars were largely riveted aluminium, with steel underframes. They carried green internal livery and were painted Tuscan Red on the outside sides with painted silver roofs to match the single deck carriages. For the first time in Sydney, fluorescent internal lighting and air suspension was used. The initial 40 cars were used in power door sets, the remainder in non-powered door sets, and they replaced the remaining wooden bodied trailer cars. Some of these cars were later marshalled into sets containing Comeng double deck power cars (see below) as 'S sets', and some continued to operate with single deck motor cars as 'M Sets'. The M set Tulloch trailers (4896-4920) were finally withdrawn in 1993 with the retirement of all single deck suburban stock, the cars marshalled with Comeng power cars into S sets saw service until 2003 when the introduction of the Millenium Cars saw their final retirement. Cars 4900 and 4915 have been retained as heritage cars.

1968 Prototype Double Deck Power Cars

In 1966, after the sucess of the Tulloch trailers trailers, tenders were called for double deck motor cars. In 1968, four experimental double-deck motor cars (numbered 3801-3804) were built by Tulloch and entered service in 1969 enabling the first eight car double deck train to operate by marshalling them with four of the Tulloch trailers. These cars were basically a modification of the 1964 trailers with the placement of motor equipment above the end passenger salons. However, this train proved unreliable and it was decided to convert these motor cars into trailers (although in the end only one was so treated).

1972 Comeng Power Cars

In 1972, the first Comeng-constructed stainless steel double deck trains entered service. These cars (numbered 3805-3858) were based on the recently introduced inter-urban cars. Their stainless steel bodies were painted the standard 'Tuscan Red' to match the livery of the existing fleet. Some cars were delivered in a blue and white livery which was adopted for a brief period in the 1970s, however all cars were later stripped to run in their original stainless steel state. They were marshalled into sets with the Tulloch trailers, which had their passenger doors modified from manual to power operation. Internally, they had reversible seating with a brown upholstery, and a light tan internal livery. English style sliding windows were fitted to the upper and lower decks, with drop windows in the doors. The sliding windows were replaced with Hopper style windows in the 1990's and internally they were repainted light grey with blue upholstered seating. These motor cars had bowed fronts, which were fitted with destination boards in the 1990s.

A Comeng power car in the shortlived PTC livery of the 1970s

A Comeng power car in the shortlived PTC livery of the 1970s
A Comeng power car in present CityRail livery with destination board

1973 Comeng Power and Trailer Cars

In 1973, additional 54 Comeng power cars, and 56 Comeng trailer cars were ordered to coincide with the opening of the Eastern suburbs railway line. These 56 trailer cars were the first stainless steel suburban trailer cars, and these trailers had an extra row of seats on the top deck (and are thus distinguished by an extra single window at the centre of the car on both decks). 20 driving trailer cars were also built to be paired with a driving motor car to allow 2 car sets to be operated. Some of these 2 car sets were diesel hauled in the Illawarra region prior to electrification, and some were used as two car shuttles in the initial period after the electrification of the Richmond Line. These driving trailer cars subsequently had their driving equipment removed and were converted into standard non-driving trailer cars.^[4] By 1976, one quarter of suburban cars were double deck. All the 1973 cars are now integrated with earlier stock and operate as S, R and L sets.

1977 Goninan Cars

In the 1970,s Goninan and Co in Newcastle entered the passenger car construction market. In 1977, Goninan built 80 power cars and 70 trailer cars. Unlike the Comeng cars the power cars had a flat front end, and the upper deck passenger windows were set significantly lower than the earlier Comeng cars reducing passenger site lines (a source of complaint from passengers).^[5] When the the Eastern Suburbs railway line was opened in 1979, only Comeng or Goninan double deck cars were allowed to operate on this line. These cars continue to operate in 2007 as L, R and S sets, and they are the last remaining non-airconditioned passenger trains in Sydney. It is anticipated that phasing out of these cars will commence in 2010.

1981 Goninan Power and Trailer cars

In 1981, Goninan built the first air-conditioned cars for the Sydney suburban network. Until then, Sydney had lagged somewhat behind other cities who had commenced the introduction of air-conditioned stock. In order to fit the aironditioning equipment into the motor cars, the pantographs were moved to the trailers, effectively meaning that a motor car must remain semi-permenantly coupled to a trailer car. 4 driving trailer cars were also ordered allowing 2 cars sets to be operated. The first 8 car set was delivered with airconditioning, followed by 90 forced ventilation cars, then the remainder air-conditioned. The first 100 cars had their upper deck windows at the unpopular lower height of the earlier Goninan cars, the final 60 were modified and these final 60 were distinguished by their front end being painted into the 'candy' white, orange and red State Rail livery of the time. The final batch also featured bright yellow internal walls. The forced ventilation cars were later retrofitted with airconditioning in the late 1990s. Also at this time, the standard light grey internal livery was adopted, and the seats were replaced with blue upholstery.^[6] 160 of these cars cars were delivered until 1985, and continue to operate in 2007 as K sets.

1985 Goninan Cars

In 1985, a new generation of advanced suburban passenger train was being considered by the State Rail Authority. There was a delay in the construction of these trains, and 56 interim stainless steel airconditioned cars were built by Goninan, known as the 'Chopper Cars' for their chopper control. These cars trialed several features of the soon-to-be-introduced next generation cars, such as fixed seating, door chimes and passenger address systems. They retained the flat end of the previous Goninan cars but with the addition of a fibreglass moulded end piece which was originally white with orange and red stripes (the 'candy' State Rail livery). These ends were later painted grey with a lower yellow section which they retain to this day, and inetrnally the standard grey livery and blue seat upholstery was applied.^[7] These cars continue to operate in 2007 as C set trains.

1988 Tangara Cars

In 1988, the new generation train, the Tangara, was introduced. This train marked a radical departure from the previous double deck car design both in apperance and technically. A total of 450 cars were introduced between 1988 and 1994, allowing the withdrawal of single deck suburban passenger cars in 1993. Some cars were built with toilets and passenger door opening controls and operate on outer-suburban runs as G set trains.

2002 Millennium Cars

From 2002, 140 Fourth Generation trains were introduced, known as Millennium Trains. These trains run as 'M sets' and allowed the withdrawal of the 1960's era Tulloch double deck trailer cars.

Inter-urban Passenger cars

Electrification of the trunk railways out of Sydney began in the 1950s and required the introduction of electric passenger stock with toilets and increased levels of amenity.

Single deck Interurban cars

The initial electric interurban passenger cars were introduced from 1955 to coincide with the electrification of the Blue Mountains Line to Bowenfels. These trains were similar in external appearance to the single deck steel suburban cars but were unpainted externally. These trains carried a 'U' target plate, and became affectionately known as 'U Boats'. They saw service on the Blue Montains, Gosford and Illawarra interurban services, until their final demise in 1996.

Double deck Interurban Cars

Introduced from 1970, these new double deck interurban cars actually predated the first full suburban double deck sets. Descibed at the time as the 'most luxurious commuter stock in the world',^[8] they set new benchmarks for passenger comfort in Sydney. Initial service was confined to the Main North Line to Gosford, until the Glenbrook tunnel was widened in 1975, and to Lithgow after the Lithgow tunnels were widened in 1979. Sevices began on the Illawarra line after electrification in 1985. Initially these sets carried 'U' target plates, however this was later changed to 'V' plates to distinguish them from the earlier single deck sets.

Country Passenger Trains

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Freight Rollingstock