DRC railcar

DRC Railcar
DRC43 at Seymour Railway Heritage Centre in March 2010
Manufacturer	Tulloch Limited
Built at	Rhodes
Constructed	1971-1973
Entered service	1971-1995
Number built	4
Fleet numbers	DRC40-DRC43
Operator(s)	Victorian Railways VLine
Specifications
Car length	23.47 metres
Width	2.88 metres
Height	4.18 metres
Maximum speed	112 km/h
Weight	65 t (64.0 long tons; 71.7 short tons)
Traction system	Diesel
Prime mover(s)	Cummins NTA 855-R
Transmission	Voith T113 2 stage automatic hydraulic transmission, Dana-Spicer axle drive to one axle per bogie
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)

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

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 Public Transport Commission had decided to withdraw their fleet.^[2]

The Victorian Railways purchased two of the NSW 1200-class cars and modified them for Victorian use in June 1974. The eight remaining railcars were converted to loco hauled carriages in 1982 and used on the South Coast Daylight Express until January 1991 and Moss Vale and Goulburn services until November 1993.^[5]^[6] They entered service as DRC42 (formerly PCH 1224) and DRC43 (formerly PCH 1227) 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 locomotives 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.^[16]

Model Railways

HO Scale

In 2013, Trainbuilder released a series of DRC railmotors for $1,195 each. The group included DRC40-43 in original unpainted aluminium, DRC's 40, 41 and 42 in V/Line and DRC 43 in VicRail. At the same time, small quantities of New South Wales PCH railmotors 1221, 1224 and 1227 were released.^[17]

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.
1 2 3 4 Daylesford Spa Country Railway: DRC40
↑ Peter J Vincent: DRC - Tulloch Diesel Rail Car
1 2 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
↑ MTH Carriages V/LineCars.com
↑ Railpage Australia: What lines did the DRCs run on?
↑ "The Stony Point passenger service reopened". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). October 1984. p. 309.
↑ "News". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). March 1990. p. 89.
↑ DRC diagram
↑ Seymour Railway Heritage Centre - Railfans - Locomotives Register
↑ Martin Bennett: SRHC depot - General
↑ Evan Cottle: DRC43 at SRHC
↑ Railpage Australia: DRC's
↑ http://trainbuilder.com/drc

External links

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

Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Company	Pile Driver Engine (1854) First Engine - 2-2-2WT (1854) 2-4-0WT (1854) Pier Donkey No.5 - 0-4-0WT (1857) 2-4-0WT (1858), later N Class

Geelong & Melbourne Railway Company	Ariel - 0-4-0T (1855) Titania, Oberon, Typhoon & Sirocco - 2-2-2WT (1855) Hurricane & Cyclone - 2-4-0WT (1857) Goliath, Hercules, Smason & Tubal-Cain - 0-6-0WT (1855)

Melbourne & Suburban Railway Company	Hawthorn & Richmond - 2-4-0T (1860) Kew & BN#1378 - 2-4-0WT (1861)

Melbourne Railway Company	Windsor & Prahran - 2-4-0WT (1863)

Melbourne & Essendon Railway Company	Essendon (BN#458), BN#459 & BN#488 2-4-0T (1861), later SAR E Class

Melbourne & Hobson's Bay United Railway Company	Toorak, Victoria, No.16 & No.19 - 2-4-0T (1865) 4-4-0WT (1871), later C Class Pier Donkey No.24 - 0-4-0WT (1875)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, F.C. Christy period (1858-1870)	No.1 (passenger) 2-2-2, later 2-4-0 (1857) 'Old' V class (goods) 0-6-0 (1857) P class 0-6-0 (1859) J class 2-2-2, later 2-4-0 (1859) B class 2-4-0 (1861) L class 2-4-0ST (1861) O class 0-6-0 (1861) G&MRC engines 19, 21, 34-44 evens only (1960's)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, W. Meikle period (1871-1877)	No.100 2-4-0 (1872) Q class 0-6-0 (1873) No.103, No.105 & U class 0-6-0 (1873) T class 0-6-0 (1874) F class 2-4-0 (1874), later 2-4-2T (1910) K class 2-4-0 (1874) G class 4-4-0 (1877) H class 4-4-0 (1877) No.162 & No.164 4-4-0 (1877)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, S. Mirls period (1878-1890)	M class 4-4-0T (1879), later ME class 4-4-2T (1901) 'Old' R class 0-6-0 (1879) W & S class 4-6-0 (1880) Pier locomotives 0-4-0WT (1880) 'Belgian' R class 0-6-0 (1883) Locomotives for Motor service - Rowan 0-4-0T (1883) 'Old' A class 4-4-0 (1884) X class 0-6-0 (1886) N class 2-4-0WT (1886) C Class 4-4-0WT (1886) D class 4-4-0 (1887) Y class 0-6-0 (1888) 'New' A class 4-4-0 (1889) 'New' R & R^Y class 0-6-0 (1889) E class 2-4-2T (1889)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, A.D. Smith period (1877, 1890-1893)	E^E class 0-6-2T (1893) Locomotives for Motor service - Z Class 2-4-0T & 0-6-0T (1893)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, T.H. Woodroffe period (1893-1912)	V class 2-8-0 (1899) A^A class 4-4-0 (1889) M class 4-4-0T (1879), later M^E class 4-4-2T (1901) D^D class 4-6-0 (1902), D^D_E later D⁴ class 4-6-2T (1908) A² class 4-6-0 (1907) Modified tank locomotives for Motor service - N class 2-4-0WT (1895), C Class 4-4-0WT (1904), F class 2-4-2T (1910) Modified tender locomotives for Motor service - H150 4-4-0 (1908), J4, J6 2-4-0 (1908)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, W.M. Shannon period (1912-1919)	C class 2-8-0 (1918)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, A.E. Smith period (1919-1928)	D¹ class 4-6-0 (1922) , D² class 4-6-0 (1922) K class 2-8-0 (1922) N class 2-8-2 (1925) S class 4-6-2 (1928)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, N.C. Harris period (1928-1933)	D³ class 4-6-0 (1929) X class 2-8-2 (1929)

Victorian Railways steam locomotives, A.C. Ahlston period (1933-1955)	H class 4-8-4 (1941) R class 4-6-4 (1951) J class 2-8-0 (1954)

Diesel-electric	A Class Co-Co (1983) B class Co-Co (1952) C class Co-Co (1977) F class 0-6-0 (1951) G class Co-Co (1984) H class Bo-Bo (1968) N class Co-Co (1985) P class Bo-Bo (1984) S class Co-Co (1957) T class Bo-Bo (1955) V class Co-Co (2002) X class Co-Co (1966) XR class Co-Co (2002) XRB class Co-Co (2005) Y class Bo-Bo (1963)

Diesel-hydraulic	M class 0-6-0 (1959) V class 0-4-0 (1959) W class 0-6-0 (1959) CS class CargoSprinter (2002)

Rail tractor	RT class 0-4-0 (1952) LT4 0-4-0

Electric	E class Bo-Bo (1923) L class Co-Co (1953)

Railmotors	Rowan Steam Car McKeen Kerr Stuart AEC Leyland (Double Ended) Brill DERM (PERM) Walker railmotors DRC railcar Sprinter DMU VLocity DMU Trailer cars

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