This could mean a forced fan assisted air flow that was filtered but not a true air conditioning system them, but back then it need a name put to it so Air conditioning was used! A wild guess but it might be right though! Cars would tend to get stuffy going across the Nullabor in hot weather so forced air movement might be what it is!

The N cars in NSW had this Clayton's aircon when they first appeared, too. Didn't last long.

Hi Guys, in reply to all the replies..............

I have no doubt it is true in some form or they would not have printed it in 1937. After all back in the day it would not have taken much research to see what the other systems had.

Possibly their interpretation of air-conditioning may vary from what we now know.

Either way the people travelling across the Nullarbor would have been very appreciative of the comforts it provided with the added bonus of keeping the dust and flies out in summer.

Not sure what they would have thought of our "remote control, climate controlled sterile environments" of today!

Fact 59 / 100 – The War Comes to Australia “Passenger Traffic on the Trans”

As you would expect passenger traffic on the Trans-Australian Railway increased dramatically during the Second World War. Non-Essential passenger traffic was either curtailed or ceased entirely as the railway was run exclusively for Defense traffic.

Between July 1942 and May 1945 only one passenger train per week on average each way was hauled on the TAR.  Whereas for example in 1943-44  there were 154 westbound and 198 eastbound trains for military personnel.

Source:  “Riders of the Steel Highways” – Monte Luke

Amazingly my grandmother managed to get across to Perth from Victoria by train in 1944 to visit her daughter who was dying of cancer in a Perth Hospital. It was said that she went by train, to which I said "during WW2, you must be kidding". But then I realised, she was a Railway widow, and no doubt some strings got pulled - the railways (and their fellow employees) looked after the widows well then.

Fact 59 / 100 – The War Comes to Australia “Passenger Traffic on the Trans”

As you would expect passenger traffic on the Trans-Australian Railway increased dramatically during the Second World War. Non-Essential passenger traffic was either curtailed or ceased entirely as the railway was run exclusively for Defense traffic.

Between July 1942 and May 1945 only one passenger train per week on average each way was hauled on the TAR.  Whereas for example in 1943-44  there were 154 westbound and 198 eastbound trains for military personnel.

Source:  “Riders of the Steel Highways” – Monte Luke

Amazingly my grandmother managed to get across to Perth from Victoria by train in 1944 to visit her daughter who was dying of cancer in a Perth Hospital. It was said that she went by train, to which I said "during WW2, you must be kidding". But then I realised, she was a Railway widow, and no doubt some strings got pulled - the railways (and their fellow employees) looked after the widows well then.

There was a level of 'Camaraderie' amongst the troops years ago that does not exist today.

It is difficult to define this in greater detail but it was there. There were still bastards, of course, who would go out of their way to maintain that status.

One example of camaraderie that still exists these days, however, is between employees of both their home (and other systems) who have been through the horrors of privatisation.

This could mean a forced fan assisted air flow that was filtered but not a true air conditioning system them, but back then it need a name put to it so Air conditioning was used! A wild guess but it might be right though! Cars would tend to get stuffy going across the Nullabor in hot weather so forced air movement might be what it is!

That thought had occurred to me, but by 1937 the CR should have had "real" air conditioning, so why mention an earlier system that had been superseded?

In Italy in 1974, I travelled in cars fitted with pressure ventilation and heating, and in winter this was quite effective. The air was blown into the car through grilles just below the windows and this prevented the windows from fogging up while allowing window passengers to warm their hands. These carried the lettering "aria soffiata" while fully air conditioned cars read "aria condizionata" (assuming I'm remembering correctly after more than 40 years.) But it was intended for keeping cold cars warm. At least some of the French "inox" (stainless steel)  first class cars had this feature too.

I've not heard of anything like that on the CR in 1928. Does anyone know a car number or even type?

Peter

This could mean a forced fan assisted air flow that was filtered but not a true air conditioning system them, but back then it need a name put to it so Air conditioning was used! A wild guess but it might be right though! Cars would tend to get stuffy going across the Nullabor in hot weather so forced air movement might be what it is!

That thought had occurred to me, but by 1937 the CR should have had "real" air conditioning, so why mention an earlier system that had been superseded?

In Italy in 1974, I travelled in cars fitted with pressure ventilation and heating, and in winter this was quite effective. The air was blown into the car through grilles just below the windows and this prevented the windows from fogging up while allowing window passengers to warm their hands. These carried the lettering "aria soffiata" while fully air conditioned cars read "aria condizionata" (assuming I'm remembering correctly after more than 40 years.) But it was intended for keeping cold cars warm. At least some of the French "inox" (stainless steel)  first class cars had this feature too.

I've not heard of anything like that on the CR in 1928. Does anyone know a car number or even type?

Peter

"aria soffiata" translates to "Blown Air"
"aria condizionata translates to "Conditioned Air"

Fact 70 / 100 – Daisy Bates


Daisy Bates (born Margaret Dwyer) was born on the 16th of October 1863 in Tipperary, Ireland. In November 1882 she emigrated to Australia and settled in Townsville, North Queensland.


Records show that she married poet and horseman Breaker Morant (yes, Breaker Morant – really!) also known as Edwin Murrant on the 13th of March 1884 in Charters Towers although the marriage only lasted a month or so before Dwyer reputedly threw Morant out because he failed to pay for the wedding, stole a saddle, two horses and 32 pigs! Significantly, they were never divorced. Dwyer married two more times including to John (Jack) Bates. The polygamous nature of these marriages was kept secret during Bates's lifetime.


In February 1894, Bates returned to England arriving there penniless, but eventually found a job as a journalist. In about 1899 a letter was published in The Times about the cruelty of West Australian settlers to Aborigines. As Bates was preparing to return to Australia, she wrote to The Times offering to make full investigations and report the results to them. Her offer was accepted and she sailed back to Australia in August 1899.


In all, Bates devoted 40 years of her life to studying Aboriginal life, history, culture, rites, beliefs and customs. She researched and wrote on the subject while living in a tent in small settlements from Western Australia to the edges of the Nullarbor Plain, including at Ooldea in South Australia. She was also famed for her strict lifelong adherence to Edwardian fashion, including boots, gloves and a veil.


In the early 1930’s she left Ooldea and went to Adelaide where, with the help of Ernestine Hill, she produced a series of articles for leading Australian newspapers, titled My Natives and I.


Some of the topics discussed proved quite confronting so I will not mention them in this forum.


In 1941 she went back to her tent life at Wynbring Siding, east of Ooldea, and she remained there on and off until her health forced her back to Adelaide in 1945.


Daisy Bates died on 18 April 1951, aged 91 ( Note: I know the dates do not add up but birth records may not have been entirely accurate). She is buried at North Road Cemetery in Nailsworth South Australia.


Sources:  Various including the National Library of Australia

This could mean a forced fan assisted air flow that was filtered but not a true air conditioning system them, but back then it need a name put to it so Air conditioning was used! A wild guess but it might be right though! Cars would tend to get stuffy going across the Nullabor in hot weather so forced air movement might be what it is!

That thought had occurred to me, but by 1937 the CR should have had "real" air conditioning, so why mention an earlier system that had been superseded?

In Italy in 1974, I travelled in cars fitted with pressure ventilation and heating, and in winter this was quite effective. The air was blown into the car through grilles just below the windows and this prevented the windows from fogging up while allowing window passengers to warm their hands. These carried the lettering "aria soffiata" while fully air conditioned cars read "aria condizionata" (assuming I'm remembering correctly after more than 40 years.) But it was intended for keeping cold cars warm. At least some of the French "inox" (stainless steel)  first class cars had this feature too.

I've not heard of anything like that on the CR in 1928. Does anyone know a car number or even type?

Peter

A carriage at the NRM a slightly rebuilt Commonwealth Railways AR 33 sleeping car might provide a bit of a clue here. It has a duct along one side of the roof over the  corridor but it does not have any grilles etc over the openings though into each compartment, the openings are large enough to crawl through though. This duct might be the clue and it was in the end  fully fitted with proper full air conditioning and head power cables each end. It was rebuilt in 1953 to the condition it is now and  got full air conditioning, but it was built in 1920 and had this duct by the looks of it installed then so what happened in between 1920 and 1953 though, as the inside of the car has not been changed that much from the original the only change made to the car was newer windows in the compartments and corridor and sheeting the sides flush. So it might have had a simple fan forced ventilation system fitted to the car to operate off, of a battery charged by the generator as it went along before head end power etc was installed into it.

http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/rollingstockexhibit.php?exhibitID=18

http://www.comrails.com/cr_carriages/r_ar.html#ar33

Rail Tours Australia       TAR-100 Port Augusta Tour        21st and 22nd of October 2017

If you want a truly unique experience to coincide with the events in Port Augusta on Sunday the 22nd of October please check out the link below. Rail Tours Australia are hosting a bus tour via Burra, Terowie, Peterborough to Quorn following part of the original transcontinental route. The tour will travel down from Quorn to Port Augusta on the special Pichi Richi train to take part in the days activities at the Port Augusta Railway Station.

The tour will be hosted by prominent rail historian and author John Evans.

For more details check out the link below.


https://www.railtoursaustralia.com.au/

A carriage at the NRM a slightly rebuilt Commonwealth Railways AR 33 sleeping car might provide a bit of a clue here. It has a duct along one side of the roof over the  corridor but it does not have any grilles etc over the openings though into each compartment, the openings are large enough to crawl through though. This duct might be the clue and it was in the end  fully fitted with proper full air conditioning and head power cables each end. It was rebuilt in 1953 to the condition it is now and  got full air conditioning, but it was built in 1920 and had this duct by the looks of it installed then so what happened in between 1920 and 1953 though, as the inside of the car has not been changed that much from the original the only change made to the car was newer windows in the compartments and corridor and sheeting the sides flush. So it might have had a simple fan forced ventilation system fitted to the car to operate off, of a battery charged by the generator as it went along before head end power etc was installed into it.

http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/rollingstockexhibit.php?exhibitID=18

http://www.comrails.com/cr_carriages/r_ar.html#ar33

I think the space over the corridor may have been used for storage of luggage, hence the large openings.
The early NSWGR Mann type sleeping cars had luggage space here


On the other hand, it could have been used as an air duct.

I note that AR 50, otherwise very similar to AR 33 was introduced in 1928
It seems logical that any new system would be in a new first class car.
AR 50 seems to be the only car introduced in 1928.

So it is possible that AR50 was built with a pressurised air system.
It could have used ice as a cooling medium, as was used in some American systems or water trickling down a straw pad, as used in evaporative cooling systems, or it might just have acted as ventilation, allowing the windows to be closed at night.

AF 49, built in 1923 was the first air conditioned car on CR, converted in 1936. It has the same arch roof design as the AR class which made it easier to fit ducting.

Someone must have felt that claiming a first, even if it wasn't successful, was more important than being second with a successful system.

Peter

A carriage at the NRM a slightly rebuilt Commonwealth Railways AR 33 sleeping car might provide a bit of a clue here. It has a duct along one side of the roof over the  corridor but it does not have any grilles etc over the openings though into each compartment, the openings are large enough to crawl through though. This duct might be the clue and it was in the end  fully fitted with proper full air conditioning and head power cables each end. It was rebuilt in 1953 to the condition it is now and  got full air conditioning, but it was built in 1920 and had this duct by the looks of it installed then so what happened in between 1920 and 1953 though, as the inside of the car has not been changed that much from the original the only change made to the car was newer windows in the compartments and corridor and sheeting the sides flush. So it might have had a simple fan forced ventilation system fitted to the car to operate off, of a battery charged by the generator as it went along before head end power etc was installed into it.

http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/rollingstockexhibit.php?exhibitID=18

http://www.comrails.com/cr_carriages/r_ar.html#ar33

I think the space over the corridor may have been used for storage of luggage, hence the large openings.
The early NSWGR Mann type sleeping cars had luggage space here


On the other hand, it could have been used as an air duct.

I note that AR 50, otherwise very similar to AR 33 was introduced in 1928
It seems logical that any new system would be in a new first class car.
AR 50 seems to be the only car introduced in 1928.

So it is possible that AR50 was built with a pressurised air system.
It could have used ice as a cooling medium, as was used in some American systems or water trickling down a straw pad, as used in evaporative cooling systems, or it might just have acted as ventilation, allowing the windows to be closed at night.

AF 49, built in 1923 was the first air conditioned car on CR, converted in 1936. It has the same arch roof design as the AR class which made it easier to fit ducting.

Someone must have felt that claiming a first, even if it wasn't successful, was more important than being second with a successful system.

Peter

Peter and others who have commented......................I'm devastated!!!!!!!!!

We have had 70 Trans-Australian Railway Facts so far (which took ages to read up on, decide upon what was relevant and then type out) along with a few tidbits of other information here and there and the one with the biggest and most contentious response is an Air-Conditioning Duct!  I guess it shows someone is reading it!

Peter and others who have commented......................I'm devastated!!!!!!!!!

We have had 70 Trans-Australian Railway Facts so far (which took ages to read up on, decide upon what was relevant and then type out) along with a few tidbits of other information here and there and the one with the biggest and most contentious response is an Air-Conditioning Duct!  I guess it shows someone is reading it!

This is all a good thing....

Further reflection suggests that the intention of the author in 1937 was to claim AF49 as the first air conditioned car in Australia but someone pointed out that VR had beaten them by a few weeks. So he looked about and found that something similar had been done in 1928, and claimed that.

The good news is that
(a) AR 50 was never later fitted with Stones air conditioning as was AR33
(b) AR50 is preserved in virtually original condition at Peterborough (OK, it is on NG Westwaggon bogies but you can't have everything....)
So it might be possible to find some indications of the 1928 ventilation system.

There may have been something published in 1928 that gave details of the ventilation system.

I thought I had a good idea of CR passenger car history after John Beckhaus and I started to put a list together of carriage numbers in 1967 after my first visit to South Australia. I hadn't heard of this 1928 system but I think we are narrowing down the possibilities.

To return to AF49 briefly, in those days, the lounge cars were divided in two with smoking allowed in one end only. "Locomotive" magazine published a description of the air conditioning system in AF 49. It had two separate systems mounted in the centre of the car so that air from the smoking and non smoking areas was never mixed (except when the connecting door was opened). I believe that was a first for the CR..... at the time I think VR allowed cigarette smoking in non-smoking areas, with only pipes and cigars banished to smoking areas. So AF49 was a real step forward for clean air!

Peter

Further reflection suggests that the intention of the author in 1937 was to claim AF49 as the first air conditioned car in Australia but someone pointed out that VR had beaten them by a few weeks.

Peter

That reminded me to re-read R Willson's 'Operation of air-conditioned trains in NSW' in ARHS Bulletin July 1975 page 150 for an account of this.  It notes AF 49 re-entered service 18th February 1936 and NSWR's RBX 124 with aircon 22nd December 1936 for the Brisbane Limited Express. VR's No. 36 of the AE type aircon date is recorded in that article as 12 December, 1935.
Cheers Peter Cokley

Further reflection suggests that the intention of the author in 1937 was to claim AF49 as the first air conditioned car in Australia but someone pointed out that VR had beaten them by a few weeks.

PeterThat reminded me to re-read R Willson's 'Operation of air-conditioned trains in NSW' in ARHS Bulletin July 1975 page 150 for an account of this.  It notes AF 49 re-entered service 18th February 1936 and NSWR's RBX 124 with aircon 22nd December 1936 for the Brisbane Limited Express. VR's No. 36 of the AE type aircon date is recorded in that article as 12 December, 1935.
Cheers Peter Cokley

Ross Willson and John Beckhaus have written an article on the locomotives and rolling stock of the CR up until 1920, which will appear in the "Australian Railway History" for October. It might be available if the ARHS have a stand at Port Augusta, but will appear in many Newsagents all over the country in October.

I think it is about ten (or more) pages, illustrates most steam classes but fewer of the carriages and wagons, although their details are listed. There is at least one photo of the first westbound train.

Peter

Fact 71 / 100 – The L Class Steam Locomotive

After World War Two Clyde Engineering NSW were awarded a contract to build 50 locomotives for China under the Commonwealth Government’s efforts to assist the UN Rehabilitation Scheme. They were to be based on the South Australian Railways 700 class. The communist party had come to power and both Government and public opinion were against any moves to trade with the new regime and the deal was cancelled.

The Government offered to sell the locomotives to various Australian Railway systems. Eventually the South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways agreed to take 10 each with the other 30 being cancelled.

Soon after the deal was done the Commonwealth Government suddenly made funds available to the Commonwealth Railways for dieselisation. Ironically it was Clyde Engineering who were awarded the contract to build the new diesels.

L80 and L81 were delivered in March 1951 on the same ship (the MV Belbetty) as the Budd Cars. They were placed in service on the eastern end of the Trans-Australian Railway. Due to a number of contributing factors the last of the 10 locomotives were not delivered to Port Augusta for another two years. By that time they were rendered surplus to requirements as the GM class had taken over from steam across most of the standard gauge Commonwealth network.

By 1960 all ten engines, minus their tenders, were lying derelict at Port Augusta. Most were later sold off for various purposes.  A few never saw service.

Authors Note:  Good to see that Governments were just as good with wastage back then as they are now!  I guess there were overlapping deals and conflicts of interest and the steam locos had already been agreed upon. Still seems such a waste.



Source:  “Riders of the Steel Highways” – Monte Luke
              “Locomotives and Railcars of the Commonwealth Railways” – NRM Publication

Also rather ironic is that the L class steam locomotives where almost built alongside the diesels for Commonwealth Railways at Clyde Engineering. There is a photo of a L class and a GM diesel standing side by side at Clyde's works!

Fact 71 / 100 – The L Class Steam Locomotive

The Government offered to sell the locomotives to various Australian Railway systems. Eventually the South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways agreed to take 10 each with the other 30 being cancelled.

.
.
.

Authors Note:  Good to see that Governments were just as good with wastage back then as they are now!  I guess there were overlapping deals and conflicts of interest and the steam locos had already been agreed upon. Still seems such a waste.

Good thing they were also gauge convertible too, eh!

Fact 71 / 100 – The L Class Steam Locomotive

After World War Two Clyde Engineering NSW were awarded a contract to build 50 locomotives for China under the Commonwealth Government’s efforts to assist the UN Rehabilitation Scheme. They were to be based on the South Australian Railways 700 class. The communist party had come to power and both Government and public opinion were against any moves to trade with the new regime and the deal was cancelled.

The Government offered to sell the locomotives to various Australian Railway systems. Eventually the South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways agreed to take 10 each with the other 30 being cancelled.

Authors Note:  Good to see that Governments were just as good with wastage back then as they are now!  I guess there were overlapping deals and conflicts of interest and the steam locos had already been agreed upon. Still seems such a waste.
/quote

The UNRRA arrangements were a little like the later Colombo Scheme in that the items were paid for by the government concerned. The People's Republic of China was established on 1 October 1949, by which time the construction of the locomotives was well under way. There is little doubt that the Chinese would have been happy to accept all fifty locomotives, but the Australian Government decided not to deliver them.

The Chinese were offered a choice of the 700 class or the NSW 38 class, which were equivalent to two standard designs in China, their MK-1 Mikado and the PS-6 Pacific types, and the Chinese selected the 700 as being the preferred design.

This posed a problem in that the 700 was too wide for use in NSW or Victoria which at the time had orders for steam locomotives under way. Had the locomotives not been too wide for operation in NSW, the NSWGR would probably have taken all twenty locomotives.

The UNRRA had delivered twenty of the American built British War Department 2-8-2s that we've discussed earlier which became Class MK-10 in China, before the change in government.

Even in 1950-51, the extent to which the diesel locomotives would change operations on the CR was not obvious and it was probably expected that reasonable use would be obtained by the CR from ten steam locomotives.

Since today a large proportion of Australian rollingstock is obtained from the Peoples Republic of China, still under the same government, one wonders if supplying all fifty locomotives to China in 1950-51 might not have been a good idea...

Peter

Fact 71 / 100 – The L Class Steam Locomotive

The Government offered to sell the locomotives to various Australian Railway systems. Eventually the South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways agreed to take 10 each with the other 30 being cancelled.

.
.
.

Authors Note:  Good to see that Governments were just as good with wastage back then as they are now!  I guess there were overlapping deals and conflicts of interest and the steam locos had already been agreed upon. Still seems such a waste.

Good thing they were also gauge convertible too, eh!

All of the Webb big locomotives could be easily converted from 5 ft 3in to 4ft 8 1/2 in gauge if required and if they followed the SAR plan down to the last detail which they did then the same would go for the L/740 class locomotives which where a copy of the 700 class locomotives right down to the chimneys SAR fitted later to all 700 class locomotives! There were slight differences as the L and 740 class had power reverser's where the SAR 700 had a manual type!

Good thing they were also gauge convertible too, eh!

All of the Webb big locomotives could be easily converted from 5 ft 3in to 4ft 8 1/2 in gauge if required and if they followed the SAR plan down to the last detail which they did then the same would go for the L/740 class locomotives which where a copy of the 700 class locomotives right down to the chimneys SAR fitted later to all 700 class locomotives! There were slight differences as the L and 740 class had power reverser's where the SAR 700 had a manual type!

The SAR method for gauge conversion involved dished wheel centres.

The wheel was designed so that fitted with the flat side out, it was broad gauge, and with the dished side out it was standard gauge. The cylinders and connecting rods remained in the same location. The tyres had to be removed and replaced facing the other way, of course. This may have required new tyres.

This can be seen in the book "700" in the 740 class entry where an L class and a 740 are illustrated at about the same angle on the same page. All wheels on the L class are visibly "dished" while those on the 740 are flat.

Leaving the cylinders in the same place made conversion easier, but meant that the locomotive was out of gauge for NSW and Victoria. VR did not agree with the dished wheel concept for technical reasons, and the R class required moving the cylinders inward to a standard gauge position, which meant that it met NSW loading gauge restrictions.

This does mean that all the preserved Webb and post Webb locomotives could be converted to standard gauge.

One other obvious difference was that the L class maintained the high headlight position originally used by the 700 and 710 classes, while the 740 class headlight was placed in the centre of the smokebox door.

The 400 class Garratt had plate frames and would have required much more work to convert to standard gauge, but even it had dished wheels on the leading bogie so that at least the leading bogie could be easily converted.

Peter

Fact 72 / 100 – The Budd RDC

In 1950 the idea of having a fast rail car service between Port Pirie and Pimba (the Woomera Long Range Weapon Project) was proposed. Tenders were called and the successful tender was received from the Budd Company of Philadelphia, USA. The three “Budd Cars” would be fully air-conditioned and seat 90 passengers in each car. They had two General Motors engines generating 410kW and were capable of speeds of up to 140kph.

The Budd Company started out as an auto parts manufacturer in 1923.  They manufactured the first all-steel car bodies. They also had worldwide sales of a wheel-disc safety rim before experimenting with rubber-tired trains. Although that train was a complete failure it did establish the “shot welding” process which formed stainless steel car bodies without rivets.

Pre World War Two Budd did produce two trainsets that, although successful on level track, struggled with great difficulty to negotiate any inclines as the under floor engines were just not strong enough for the task.    

During World War II, General Motors developed and produced many thousands of hydraulic (torque converter) transmissions for tanks, small ships and heavy armoured vehicles and the lightweight and simplistic characteristics of this system led the Budd Company and General Motors to decide on this combination of diesel engine, transmission and stainless steel construction for what would be a composite design for the 'ideal' railcar.


In total 398 Budd RDC's were manufactured between 1949 and 1962. They mainly saw service in America (and Alaska), Canada and Brazil. A few were sold to Cuba and Saudi Arabia. Some still survive in service to this day, whilst many are preserved in both the USA and Canada.  The Commonwealth Railways Budd Cars were the 25^th ,  26^th and  27^th Budd’s ever made.
 
The Budd Cars arrived in Port Augusta aboard the MV Belbetty in March 1951.

A Budd railcar achieved immediate fame when on the 28^th of April 1951, it completed the 1,051 mile or 1,691 km journey between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie in 18 hours and 40 minutes, giving an average speed of 90 kph. In all, 35 stops were made en route, producing a running time of 16 hours and 49 minutes at an average speed of 101 kph. From Ooldea to Nurina (317 miles or 510 km), the average speed was 117 kph and the top speed attained during the trip was over 145 kph.

Regular passenger services were introduced from May 1951 when the cars operated between Port Pirie Junction and Pimba. In 1952 the service was extended from Pimba along the military stores siding to the Woomera township. From July 1952 the cars made regular runs to Tarcoola. The Budd car service to Tarcoola was discontinued on 25th January 1961, although the service was retained between Port Augusta and Woomera.

The Budd’s also saw service on the standard gauge Marree line. Following the opening of the Port Augusta to Whyalla line Budd Rail cars ran a regular service.

This version of the Budd (RDC 1) had no large luggage or mail compartments although later variations in America did have this space built into the car (RDC 2,3 and 4’s were equipped with various size luggage and postal compartments) so a steel luggage van was often seen attached to the Budd Cars for luggage, parcels and mail. Prior to this the Budd Cars also pulled a Brill passenger car (these had been purchased from the Reading Railroad in the USA). As the Budd Company advised against pulling any form of carriage the Budd Car warranty was deemed to be void by the Budd Company.

The cars were taken out of service in 1976 and placed in storage until refurbished in 1985 for a new service between Adelaide and Whyalla. The “Iron Triangle Limited” (don’t you just hate that name!) ran its first regular trip on 21st April 1986. The Iron Triangle Limited was withdrawn from service on 31st December 1990.

A Budd RDC derivative was also made under license in Australia by Commonwealth Engineering Group (COMEG). The New South Wales system used the 1100 Class cars mainly on the South Coast Daylight Express from 1961. Other Budd inspired variations included the 2000 Class Queensland Railways Rail Motor and the WAGR had the famous “Prospector” train WCE / WCE class which ran from Perth to Kalgoorlie from 1971 – 2005.

Of the three original American built Budd’s in Australia only two remain, one at the NRM Adelaide and the other in Port Augusta.


Source:  The Budd RDC – Donald Duke & Edmund Keilty
Riders of the Steel Highways – Monte Luke &
Railmotors and XPT’s – David Cooke  Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division

Fact 72 / 100 – The Budd RDC



Pre World War Two Budd did produce two trainsets that, although successful on level track, struggled with great difficulty to negotiate any inclines as the under floor engines were just not strong enough for the task.    

During World War II, General Motors developed and produced many thousands of hydraulic (torque converter) transmissions for tanks, small ships and heavy armoured vehicles and the lightweight and simplistic characteristics of this system led the Budd Company and General Motors to decide on this combination of diesel engine, transmission and stainless steel construction for what would be a composite design for the 'ideal' railcar.
 
In total 398 Budd RDC's were manufactured between 1949 and 1962. They mainly saw service in America (and Alaska), Canada and Brazil. A few were sold to Cuba and Saudi Arabia. Some still survive in service to this day, whilst many are preserved in both the USA and Canada.  The Commonwealth Railways Budd Cars were the 25^th ,  26^th and  27^th Budd’s ever made.

This version of the Budd (RDC 1) had no large luggage or mail compartments although later variations in America did have this space built into the car (RDC 2,3 and 4’s were equipped with various size luggage and postal compartments) so a steel luggage van was often seen attached to the Budd Cars for luggage, parcels and mail. Prior to this the Budd Cars also pulled a Brill passenger car (these had been purchased from the Reading Railroad in the USA). As the Budd Company advised against pulling any form of carriage the Budd Car warranty was deemed to be void by the Budd Company.

The cars were taken out of service in 1976 and placed in storage until refurbished in 1985 for a new service between Adelaide and Whyalla. The “Iron Triangle Limited” (don’t you just hate that name!) ran its first regular trip on 21st April 1986. The Iron Triangle Limited was withdrawn from service on 31st December 1990.

A Budd RDC derivative was also made under license in Australia by Commonwealth Engineering Group (COMEG). The New South Wales system used the 1100 Class cars mainly on the South Coast Daylight Express from 1961. Other Budd inspired variations included the 2000 Class Queensland Railways Rail Motor and the WAGR had the famous “Prospector” train WCE / WCE class which ran from Perth to Kalgoorlie from 1971 – 2005.

Source:  The Budd RDC – Donald Duke & Edmund Keilty
Riders of the Steel Highways – Monte Luke &
Railmotors and XPT’s – David Cooke  Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division

Quite a few points here:

I know of no small ships fitted with hydraulic transmissions or torque converters.
I think you will find that the reference is to the use of Detroit Diesel 71 series engines in small ships rather than Allison transmissions. The VR purchased sets of Detroit 6/71 engines in geared pairs as used in landing craft to replace the petrol engines in their Petrol Electric Rail Motors. The current RAN ANZAC class Frigates have fluid couplings which are used to isolate the propellers and shafts from noise and vibration from the diesel engines to reduce the chance of detection by submarines using passive sonar.

But as far as I know no WWII small ships used any form of hydraulic transmission in their propulsion system. Lots of armoured vehicles, as you say.

The Budd cars used a Detroit 110 series engine, basically an enlarged six cylinder version of the 71. Like EMD locomotive engines the Detroit engines were described by their displacement in cubic inches, per cylinder. The 71 was in some ways a half scale model of the 567.

Detroit later began building 71 series engines with more cylinders, V-8 and V-12 and larger and these superseded the 110 series. Eventually by the 1970s, Detroit stopped supplying spares and it was this as much as anything that caused the withdrawal of the standard Budd cars worldwide. Other engines could be used. I think CB-3 had two Rolls Royce engines fitted.

The railcars in Brazil were smaller metre gauge vehicles based on the later Budd "Pioneer III" vehicle.

The Brill trailers hauled by the Budd cars were converted to include a baggage compartment and became class BM. There was at least one full passenger car Class B but it was used between two converted DH (ex NDH) railcars to run a school train service from Stirling North to Port Augusta. The vans hauled by the Budd cars were converted to use straight air braking rather than Westinghouse and were coded VDB.

The Queensland Budd Cars were 1900 class, numbers 1900 and 1901. The 2000 class were a different design built by QR themselves, the first pair having aluminium bodies, but later units being stainless steel.

Peter

Pre World War Two Budd did produce two trainsets that, although successful on level track, struggled with great difficulty to negotiate any inclines as the under floor engines were just not strong enough for the task.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTbay8TZhM

Fact 72½  -  100             Budd RDC !

“Ships” may have been a step too far. “Landing Craft” is more like it and I did hear something about PT boats but I cannot clarify this.

During World War II all of Budd’s efforts went toward the war effort.

During the war, a large demand developed for medium sized diesel engines. At this time diesel engines were not available so it was necessary to utilise multiple engine power plants. The Department of Ordinance went to Detroit Diesel Engine Division of General Motors and asked them to undertake the development of a larger and compact engine. These engineering advances during WW2 would prove to be instrumental in the development of Budd’s RDC.

Budd had heard that GM had produced a two-stroke cycle V-6 power plant for a new tank. It was just what Budd needed for its RDC.

Major General G M Barnes, who replaced Earl J W Ragsdale (the inventor of the shot weld process in 1933) when he retired  as Budd’s Chief Engineer and Vice-President of Engineering was enthusiastic about a new torque-converter transmission which had been developed for Army tanks. Based on his Army ordinance experience, Barnes strongly believed that the fluid coupling used in tanks and earth-moving equipment also could be applicable on a railcar. To see if this was feasible, he contacted General Motors Detroit Diesel Engine Division engineers. He questioned them about the small two-stroke cycle tank engine they had developed and the possibilities of using it to produce an engine-and-torque converter power package on a railcar.

By 1947 Budd decided it was time to head back into the railcar business. They managed to keep their work quite secret until the first RDC 1 hit the rails for trials in 1949 on the Delaware division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The trials proved a resounding success.  
 

The Brazilian Railways were among the last Budd Cars made. The first nine (delivered in 1958 and 1962) were of the RDC 1 and 2 design and were broad gauge 5 foot 3 inch.

The remaining 19 were delivered in 1962 also and were the metre gauge. Budd listed the cars as  RDC 1’s although they were of a completely different design. Their bodies were a shortened version of the Pioneer III electric cars built for the Philadelphia area suburban lines. They also lacked the RDC bulge roof.

Yes it is the Queensland Railways 1900 class. My mistake. 1901 is preserved I believe.

Source:  RDC The Budd Rail Diesel Car – Donald Duke and Edmund Keilty

I think this movie is a little more appropriate.

I reckon I have posted it before. It is a propaganda, oh sorry promotional film from Budd in the early 1950's.

Budd certainly put a great deal into both the development and subsequent promotion of the Budd Rail Diesel Car.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOmggYeIH0w

Fact 72½  -  100             Budd RDC !

“Ships” may have been a step too far. “Landing Craft” is more like it and I did hear something about PT boats but I cannot clarify this.

Budd had heard that GM had produced a two-stroke cycle V-6 power plant for a new tank. It was just what Budd needed for its RDC.

The Brazilian Railways were among the last Budd Cars made. The first nine (delivered in 1958 and 1962) were of the RDC 1 and 2 design and were broad gauge 5 foot 3 inch.

The remaining 19 were delivered in 1962 also and were the metre gauge. Budd listed the cars as  RDC 1’s although they were of a completely different design. Their bodies were a shortened version of the Pioneer III electric cars built for the Philadelphia area suburban lines. They also lacked the RDC bulge roof.

Yes it is the Queensland Railways 1900 class. My mistake. 1901 is preserved I believe.

Source:  RDC The Budd Rail Diesel Car – Donald Duke and Edmund Keilty

As I said before, the Detroit 71 series engines were used in numerous small ships.
However, to my knowledge no Allison hydraulic transmissions were used.

Allison may have built the fixed reduction gears for these ships but these are strictly "gearboxes" and not "transmissions" in normal parlance.

The PT Boats had large petrol engines, often the "Hall-Scott Defender" type. I think they had three engines driving three shafts, certainly British MTBs had this arrangement. None that I know of had diesel engines, although the German Schnellbooten (often known as E-boats by the Allies) had diesel engines.

The 110 series was only made as an in-line six cylinder.
There were no vee type 110 series engines although Detroit later built vee type 71 and 92 (and even 149) series engines.
In the Budd car, the engine sat on its side with the cylinders almost horizontal, with just enough angle to allow the oil to drain to the sump.

The original Pioneer III prototype vehicle was a very light loco hauled vehicle. The design was later used for Pennsylvania Railroad multiple unit cars.

Peter