Diesel Electric railmotor (VR)

Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM)
RM58 At Newport Workshops
Type and origin
Power type	Diesel engine, Originally Petrol
Designer	St Louis Car Company
Builder	St Louis Car Company (First) Victorian Railways
Build date	1928 - 1931
Total produced	10
Specifications
Gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Length	58 ft (18 m)
Locomotive weight	43.07 long tons (43.76 t; 48.24 short tons)
Fuel type	Originally Petrol, converted to Diesel fuel
Fuel capacity	750 litres (200 US gal)
Engine type	220 hp Winton six-cylinder petrol engine (Petrol) 2 x General Motors series 71 twin six-cylinder diesel engines (Diesel)
Generator	General Electric DT 501E2
Traction motors	2 x General Electric GE 273A
Performance figures
Maximum speed	100 kilometres per hour (62 mph)
Power output	220 hp (Petrol), 255 bhp (Diesel)
Career
Operator(s)	Victorian Railways, VLine
Number in class	10
Number(s)	55RM - 64RM
First run	1928

RM 63 as restored by DSCR in 2007

RM 55 as a PERM pre 1952

The Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM) was a railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways of Australia.

History

Originally built as a Petrol Electric Rail Motor (PERM), they were the longest-lived railmotor on the Victorian Railways, with the first entering service in 1928 and the last being withdrawn in 1991. The first railmotor was built by the St. Louis Car Company and shipped to Australia where the Victorian Railways built a further nine copies of it. It was powered by a 220 hp Winton petrol engine which was used until the 1950s when they were converted to twin Diesel Electric engines giving a total of 255 bhp.^[1]

By the 1970s the longest regular scheduled journey run by a DERM was the Bendigo to Robinvale run, withdrawn on 3 June 1978. A DERM with a DERM Trailer car ran a regular passenger train on the South Gippsland Line from the 1960s - 1970s.^[2] In the late '70s RM 55 and RM 61 were extensively modified with the cab being rebuilt, the engine being relocated and the engine room rebuilt with porthole windows, and new aluminium cabin windows fitted. As such they looked significantly different.

DERMs with the porthole windows were a familiar sight on the Mornington and Stony Point lines prior to the line closures in the early 1980s.

Preservation

All but one of the DERMs have survived into preservation, with 57RM being the only DERM to have been scrapped. Four are operational, with the remaining five in various conditions. Below is a brief outline of the status of the DERMs (as at September 2012):

55RM - Operational on the South Gippsland Tourist Railway
56RM - Stored at Ballarat East, owned by VicTrack Heritage
57RM - Scrapped
58RM - Operational for mainline use, owned by the Diesel Electric Rail Motor Preservation Association of Victoria (DERMPAV)
59RM - Stored at Mornington Railway
60RM - Stored at Newport Workshops, owned by DERMPAV
61RM - Operational on the South Gippsland Tourist Railway.
62RM - Undergoing restoration at the Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
63RM - Operational on the Daylesford Spa Country Railway; visually restored to 1930s livery of dark red with silver stripes
64RM - Under restoration by DERMPAV

References

↑ "DERM Railmotors". VictorianRailways.net. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
↑ Banger, Chris (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)) 25 (3): 77–82.

External links

The Great Victorian Train Website Project - DERM (PERM)

Locomotives and rolling stock of the Victorian Railways, predecessors and successors

Melbourne & Hobsons Bay Railway Company	First Engine (1854) 2-4-0WT (1854) 0-4-0WT (1857) 2-4-0WT (1858), later N Class

Geelong & Melbourne Railway Company	2-2-2WT (1855) 2-4-0T (1855) 0-6-0WT (1855) 0-6-0T Ariel (1855)

Melbourne & Suburban Railway Company	2-4-0T (1860)

Melbourne Railway Company	2-4-0T (1863)

Melbourne & Essendon Railway Company	2-4-0T (1858)

Melbourne & Hobson's Bay United Railway Company	2-4-0T (1866) 4-4-0WT (1871), later C Class 0-4-0WT Pier Donkey (1876)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, F.C. Christy period (1858-1870)	No.1 2-2-2 'Old' V class (1859) 0-6-0 P class 0-6-0 J class 2-2-2, later 2-4-0 L class 2-4-0ST B class 2-4-0 O class 0-6-0

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, W. Meikle period (1871-1877)	C Class 4-4-0WT No.100 2-4-0 Q class 0-6-0 U class 0-6-0 T class 0-6-0 F class 2-4-0, later 2-4-2T K class 2-4-0 Pier locomotives 0-4-0WT G class 4-4-0 H class 4-4-0 No.162 & No.164 4-4-0

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, S. Mirls period (1878-1890)	W & S class 4-6-0) G&MRC engines 19, 21, 34-44 evens only N class 2-4-0WT M class 4-4-0T, later ME class 4-4-2T 'Old' R class 0-6-0 'Belgian' R class 0-6-0 'Old' A class 4-4-0 X class 0-6-0 Motor Cars - Rowan 0-4-0T, Z 0-6-0T, C 4-4-0WT, H/J/N/Z 2-4-0T, F 2-4-2T Crane locomotives D class 4-4-0 Y class 0-6-0 'New' A class 4-4-0 'New' R class 0-6-0 E class 2-4-2T, later E^E 0-6-2T

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, T.H. Woodroffe period (1893-1912)	A^A class 4-4-0 V class 2-8-0 Dd class 4-6-0, Dde 4-6-2 A2 class 4-6-0

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, W.M. Shannon period (1912-1919)	C class 2-8-0

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, A.E. Smith period (1919-1928)	K class 2-8-0 N class 2-8-2 S class 4-6-2

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, N.C. Harris period (1928-1933)	X class 2-8-2

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, A.C. Ahlston period (1933-1955)	H class 4-8-4 R class 4-6-4 J class 2-8-0

Diesel-Electric	A Class B class C class F class G class H class N class P class S class T class V class X class XR class XRB class Y class

Diesel-Hydraulic	M class V class W class

Rail Tractor	RT class

Electric	E class L class

Railmotors	Rowan McKeen Kerr Stuart AEC Leyland DERM 102hp Walker 153hp Walker 280hp Walker DRC railcar Sprinter DMU VLocity DMU Trailer cars

Road Transferrable Locomotives	RTL class

Suburban electric	Swing Door Tait Harris Hitachi Comeng 4D double deck X'Trapolis 100 Siemens Nexas

Passenger carriages	Fixed wheel carriages 44ft American Saloon cars Victorian Railways 45ft wooden bogie carriages Victorian Railways 50ft 2in wooden bogie carriages ABCL cars E type carriages H type carriages K type carriages L type carriages N type carriages O type carriages P type carriages PL type carriages R type carriages S type carriages V type carriages W type carriages Z type carriages Royal Trains Dining & Buffet cars Sleeping cars Joint and shared stock (SAR) Joint and shared stock (NSWGR)

Freight vehicles by type	Box vans Flat Wagons Hopper wagons Iced vans Louvre vans Open wagons Tank wagons

Freight vehicles by traffic	Ballast, Sleepers and Spoil Black Coal, Brown Coal & Briquettes Cement Powder Coiled & Slab Steel Corpses Dolomite Explosives Fertiliser Flour, Grain & Rice Gypsum Refrigerated Goods Lime Livestock Mail vans Bitumen, Oil & Petroleum Quarry products Perishables Sand Soda Ash Timber Vehicles & Vehicle Parts Water

Vans	Fixed-Wheel (D, Z vans) Power vans Bogie guards vans Mail vans

2 ft 6 in (762 mm) Narrow Gauge	G class NA class Passenger carriages Freight vehicles Guards vans Other

Other	Rail tractors Cranes Miscellaneous Special loads Way and Works stock Staff Accommodation

Named/Significant Trains	Albury Express Ambulance Train Better Farming Train The Boat Train Display train Funeral Trains Fruit Flyer Geelong Flyer The Gippslander The Great Northern Limited The Intercapital Daylight The Jubilee Train Train of Knowledge The Melbourne Express The Mildura Sunlight The Northerner The Overland R.A.A.F. Recruiting Train Reso Train Southern Aurora Spirit of Progress The Sydney Express The Vinelander The Vintage Train The WestCoaster

Rail transport in Victoria Railways in Melbourne Narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways Victorian Railways V/Line Metro Trains Melbourne

Diesel Electric railmotor (VR)

History

Preservation

See also

References

External links