New South Wales 900/800 class railcar

The 900/800 class railcars (or DEB sets) were diesel multiple units built by the New South Wales Government Railways between November 1951 and November 1960.

Configuration

As introduced, the DEB sets were formed as a four-car with a power car at either end of two trailer cars. The set consisted a driving power car with luggage compartment and second class seating (HPF), a first class sitting car (TB), a second class sitting car with buffet (TFR) and a driving power car with second class seating (PF). Later configurations included a three-car set with two power cars and a composite (first and second class) seating and buffet (TCR). Trains consisting of two four-car sets or a four-car and a three-car set were operated on a number of services including the Canberra Monaro Express and the Northern Tablelands Express.

History

The bodyshells of the DEB sets were very similar to the two-car 600/700 class railcars that had entered service in 1949. However as they were intended for long distance services they were air-conditioned.

A troubled beginning

The first four-car set, powered by four 240 horsepower horizontal in-line six cylinder, four stroke Hercules DFXH-F diesel engines (2 per power car) coupled to Torcon hydraulic transmissions, entered service on the North Coast Daylight Express between Sydney and Grafton in November 1951. The engines and hydraulic transmissions proved unreliable and the set was withdrawn in May 1952 after less than six months in service. The construction of further vehicles was suspended until a satisfactory solution could be found.^[1]

Rebirth

The solution involved the fitting of two 250 horsepower

The Canberra Monaro Express was reduced to a single 4-car set in July 1973 following a fall in patronage.[3] The repeated failures of the Tulloch railcars working the Riverina Express resulted in the now spare Canberra DEB set being assigned to Riverina workings in August 1973, allowing one Tulloch set to be withdrawn with a second set replacing the remaining Tulloch set following the cessation of the Far West Express in September 1975.^[1]

During the 1980s a program of retrofitting higher performance

Redeployed

DEB sets were replaced by

Budd railcars took over the Griffith service in February 1983.^[1] The Moree service was replaced by road transport in February 1986,^[5] but a DEB service was reinstated in November 1988,^[6] before again being withdrawn in February 1990.^[7]

In late 1984, a DEB set took over the operation of the Orange – Lithgow – Mudgee service from a 620/720 set^[8] until replaced by road transport in December 1985.^[9]

The Canberra Monaro Express to Cooma ceased operating in September 1988 due to the government not restoring the Chakola bridge over the Numeralla River north of Cooma.^[10]

CityRail

From April 1989 all were reallocated to

The last were retired in February 1995 after being replaced by Endeavour railcars.

Several were saved for preservation.^[12] One set is under restoration by Lachlan Valley Railway, based in Cowra. Five DEB set carriages have been designated heritage items and remain in the ownership of Transport Asset Holding Entity and are currently in storage at Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot.^[13]

Status table

Configuration

The diesel engines were direct coupled to a torque converter, the output from the torque converter was then transferred to a Spicer model 8 final drive unit mounted on the inner axle of each bogie via a propeller shaft. The bogies were of cast steel construction & were constructed by

Each power car was fitted with a driver's compartment to enable the train to be controlled from either end. The driving controls were electric; brake controls were electro-pneumatic and enabled coupled multiple units to be controlled by one driver. A safety device in the form of a dead man's foot pedal was also fitted in the driver's cabin. A guard's compartment was located adjacent to the driver's compartment in the end of the power cars.

The

All the passenger seats were originally similar to the ones installed in the locomotive hauled air-conditioned daylight expresses of the same era; the first-class seats could be rotated and reclined; the second-class seats were of the turn-over type. Originally smoking and non-smoking accommodation was available in both classes. With the banning of smoking in enclosed places the cars then become all non-smoking.

The cars followed the modern trend and were air-conditioned for passenger comfort. The condenser and conditioner units being located above the ceiling at the end of each car. The conditioned air was conveyed along ducts in the car ceilings and delivered through anemostats to the passenger saloons. The air conditioning compressor units were mounted on the underframe of the trailer cars and in the control cabinets situated in the non-driving end vestibule of the power cars.

The power cars had two different configurations, the 900 Class (PF 901–910) having full passenger seating with a capacity of 39 Second Class passengers, while the 950 Class (HPF 951–958) had a luggage compartment at one end with a capacity of 5 tons, the other end compartment had a seating capacity of 24 Second Class passengers. PF 906 was rebuilt as HPF 959 between 1982 and 1984.

The trailer cars had a number of different seating configurations, depending upon which of the services they were deployed. There were three First Class passenger cars (TB 801–803), three Second Class sitting cars with buffet with a seating capacity of 38 passengers (TFR 851–853), four First Class sitting cars with buffet with a seating capacity of 38 passengers (TBR 854–857), two composite sitting cars with buffet (TCR 861–862) and three composite sitting cars with a capacity of 24 First Class and 31 Second Class passengers (TC 751–753).

There were also three parcel trailers built with dual braking systems to enable them to work with normal Westinghouse braked passenger stock and with the rail car fleet. These were coded TP 351–353 and worked through from Sydney on the Western Mail to connect with the Far West Express at Dubbo and obviated the necessity of transhipping luggage and parcels between the mail and the rail car service. Power for lighting and air-conditioning was provided to the trailer from the adjoining power car.

Gallery

• 
  Interior of 1st Class Passenger section of Buffet Car TBR 856
• 
  Interior of the 2nd Class Passenger section of Power Car HPF 952
• 
  Exterior view of 2nd Class Power Car HPF 954
• 
  One of the Cummins engines & Voith Transmissions on Power Car PF 910
• 
  One of the Cummins engines & Voith Transmissions on Power Car PF 952
• 
  One of the Cummins engines & Niigata Transmissions on Power Car PF 954
• 
  End view of power car PF 910 in storage at Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot
• 
  First Class Buffet Trailer Car TBR 856 in storage at Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot
• 
  Composite Class Trailer Car TC 753 in storage at Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot

References

New South Wales Government Railways publicity pamphlet "The Canberra-Monaro Express" c1955

Further reading

Neve, Peter (October–November 2012). Australian Railway History – Worms to The Bush parts 1 & 2. Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division.