DRC railcar

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DRC railcar
DRC 43 in V/Line livery at the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre
Manufacturer	Tulloch Limited
Built at	Rhodes
Constructed	1971
Entered service	1971–1995
Number built	4
Number in service	0
Number preserved	4 (1 operational)
Number scrapped	0
Formation	Single cars, can run with cars from the same order
Fleet numbers	DRC40-43
Capacity	56 seats
Specifications
Car length	23.470 m (77 ft)
Width	2.880 m (9 ft 5.386 in)
Height	4.158 m (13 ft 7.701 in)
Articulated sections	End doors and open gangways
Maximum speed	115 km/h (71 mph)
Weight	65 t (64.0 long tons; 71.7 short tons)
Engine(s)	Two Cummins NT-855-R 6-cylinder 225 kW (302 bhp) turbo-charged diesels
Transmission	Voith T113 2 stage automatic hydraulic transmission, Dana-Spicer axle drive to one axle per bogie
Track gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)

The DRC (Diesel Rail Car) was a class of railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways on the country rail network Victoria, Australia. The cars were built by Tulloch Limited in New South Wales and featured stainless steel construction, air-conditioning, and a diesel hydraulic transmission.

History

The first railcars of this type were built for the New South Wales Government Railways as the 1200 class railcars in 1970.^[1] The Victorian Railways decided to order two railcars of their own to replace the 280hp Walker railmotors then in use.^[2] The first railcar entered service in May 1971 as DRC40, followed by DRC41 on November 1971.^[3] The cars suffered numerous failures in service,^[4] and by 1974 the New South Wales Public Transport Commission had decided to withdraw their fleet.^[2]

Victorian Railways purchased two of the NSW 1200-class cars and modified them for Victorian use in June 1974: DRC42 (formerly PCH 1224) and DRC43 (formerly PCH 1227). The eight remaining railcars were converted to loco hauled carriages in 1982 and used on South Coast until January 1991 and Moss Vale and Goulburn services until November 1993.^[5]^[6] They entered VR service in August and December 1975 respectively.^[4] By 1978 the railcars still had issues with reliability, with a modification program being carried out at the Bendigo Workshops in 1983-84.^[7] Four MTH carriages were converted from Harris suburban carriages in 1984, for use as trailers with the DRC railcars.^[8]

In 1980s the DRC railcars were the fastest train in Australia by average speed, running 107 kilometres from Ararat to Hamilton on Mondays and Saturdays in 72 minutes, for an average speed of 89 km/h.^[9] A regular usage of the railcars was the Stony Point service from 1984 when passenger services were reintroduced,^[10] but regular failures saw them replaced by locomotive hauled trains by the early 1990s. The DRCs were used on the Leongatha line for a few years when the line reopened in 1984 but were replaced by P Class locos hauled with three MTH carriages.^[11] The unreliability issues were later solved, but the fleet was withdrawn in June 1995 with the introduction of the new Sprinter railcars.^[2]

Technical details

The features of the DRC railcar.^[12] From the No.1 End:

Driver's cab
Male and female toilets
Exit doors
Second class compartment; Features 8 fixed seats- 4 at each end, 28 rotating seats
First class compartment; Features 20 rotating and reclining seats

No.2 end:

Exit doors
Luggage and guards compartment
Driver's cab

Today

DRC40 is preserved and operational at the Daylesford Spa Country Railway^[2] while DRC43 is stored and deactivated at the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre.^[13]^[14]^[15] DRC 41 and 42 are privately owned and stored at Newport Workshops in Melbourne.^[16]

Gallery

DRC40 in the bare silver livery at the Daylesford Spa Country Railway
DRC41 and DRC42 locked up at Newport Workshops
The first class seating compartment in DRC43
The second class seating compartment in DRC43
The conductor's seat at the No.2 end of DRC43
The Driver's cab at the No.2 end of DRC43
DRC43's Controls at No.2 Cab

References

↑ Cooke, David (1984). Railmotors and XPTs. Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division. ISBN 0-909650-23-3.
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Daylesford Spa Country Railway: DRC40
↑ Peter J Vincent: DRC - Tulloch Diesel Rail Car
↑ 4.0 4.1 VictorianRailways.net - DRC railmotors
↑ "South Coast timetable" Railway Digest April 1991 page 114
↑ "Loco-Hauled Car Changes" Railway Digest February 1994 page 36
↑ VictorianRailways.net - DRC diagram
↑ V/LineCars.com - MTH Carriages
↑ Railpage Australia: What lines did the DRCs run on?
↑ "The Stony Point passenger service reopened". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): page 309. October 1984.
↑ "News". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): page 89. March 1990.
↑ DRC diagram
↑ Seymour Railway Heritage Centre - Railfans - Locomotives Register
↑ Martin Bennett: SRHC depot - General
↑ Evan Cottle: DRC43 at SRHC
↑ Railpage Australia: DRC's

External links

v t e Locomotives and rolling stock of the Victorian Railways and successors

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