The New South Wales Tulloch double deck carriage stock is a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) carriages operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors between 1964 and 2004.
Train at Loftus in 1966 with a Tulloch Double deck carriage
When the carriages were first ready for service, the plan was to only include them in the Comeng built single deck sets as the motor cars had better propulsion efficiency, but it was found that the older Standard and Tulloch motor cars were just as capable of taking on the 4 meter tall trailers and so all wooden trailers on the suburban network were retired within the following years.[2]
In 1966, tenders were called for double deck power car prototypes to take advantage of the advances in electric carriage technology being made at the time. Tulloch would respond with four power cars two years later that were numbered C3801 - C3804 with the latter being the first one to be completed.[3] These power cars alongside trailer cars T4839, T4840, T4843, and T4844 were combined into a dividable eight car set that was targeted S10.
This decision was made as the Comeng single deck stock had been designated S1-S9 years earlier. To operate with the four experimental double deck power cars, in 1968 the latter two trailer cars were converted for powered door operation. The train entered service on 6 January 1969.
S10 proved unreliable as the train broke down regularly. A problem which was worsened by all four power cars having electrical systems coming from different manufacturers. As a result of the power cars having electrical controls from four different companies, repairs were difficult to carry out as train maintenance crews would not know how to fix the faulty carriage in question.[4]
S10 passing through Lavender bay in October 1969
Despite these problems, the train was considered successful enough that all trains built following it would be of double deck construction.[3] This consist would remain in active service until 1977 when the set was split up and the cars were shuffled into other sets. All power cars would be painted in The Public Transport Commission blue and white livery aside from C3804 before all ended up being with drawn in the early to mid 1970s.
Further carriages were converted to power door operation in 1972/73 to operate with the Series 1 S set carriages (C3805-C3857). After the conversions were completed, T4801-T4833 formed part of the Sputnik sets, T4839-T4895 were part of the S sets and T4834-T4838 and T4896-T4920 were operated in manual door form with Suburban and Tulloch stock.[1][5]
T4797 (ex-C3801) mixed in with an S set leaving central station
Due to the non standard nature of their electrical systems, between 1978 and 1982, three of the experimental power cars were scheduled to be converted into trailer cars.[6] This would involve the removal of most of the electrical equipment including driver's controls, and pantographs. One of them was C3801 which became T4797. This conversion was a low effort and low budgetary task, which showed as the carriage remained outwardly identical to the other power cars however it was able to be distinguished by still having the space on the roof where its pantograph once sat.
Another was C3803 which was converted into T4799. This rebuild by contrast was more thorough as the crew doors were sealed off and the roof was replaced. By the time the car re-entered service in 1982, it was more reminiscent of the original built trailers. The carriage could still be identified by its number as well as the outlines of were the crew compartment door and sun shade once were.[7]
While C3802 was planned to be converted into trailer car T4798, this process was never finished because of the special braking system design that its bogeys had which meant replacement of the bogeys was impossible.[6][8] Instead the power car was scrapped at the Elcar works where the conversion was planned. As for the other converted power cars, T4797 would serve in its converted state until withdrawal in 1986 and was cut up in 1991 at Chullora.
While T4799 remained in service until 2003. These carriages were both shuffled into younger S sets until their retirement from service.[3] C3804 remained at the Elcar works until its closure in 1994 and was transferred to the NSW rail museum at Thirlmere where the car resides as part of an interactive exhibit set along with Standard suburban carriage T4310 and Bradfield motor carriage C3045.
Originally painted Tuscan red, from 1973 the trailer carriages were repainted in the Public Transport Commission blue and white livery before the livery was changed to Indian red in 1976. In order to create a consistency with the stainless steel carriages they operated with, T4852 and T4867 were repainted in an experimental silver livery. After a three-year lapse, T4872 was repainted flake grey and this was gradually rolled out to those carriages in S sets with the last completed in June 1993.[9] The interiors were painted in two-tone green.[1]
Those operating in single deck sets were withdrawn in the early 1990s, while those in S sets remained in service until the end of March 2004. They were the oldest serving cars at the time of their retirement and when these last trailer cars were finally removed from service, some S set power cars were converted into trailer cars to fill the imbalance of power to trailer cars in the S set fleet. The vast majority of these carriages would be broken up for scrap in the years following.[10][11]
Design and Contracting
T4801, fresh from the Phoenix Iron works in 1964
When tenders were called for a replacement to retire the converted timber carriages in the 1960s, Both Tulloch Limited and Commonwealth Engineering began work on a proposal to answer the issued plan. Both had the idea of making double deck carriages with Tulloch coming up with one as the population had increased to the point of overcrowding on the single deck cars.
There were also plans for a replacement single deck car as an alternative. Before the tender closed, Tulloch had bid for the construction of a Single deck carriage made of steel and a double deck carriage made from aluminium and monocoque.
Meanwhile, Comeng made an offer for both a single and double deck carriage made of normal and or stainless steel. Comeng would remove their double deck carriage offer out of concerns that: four designs were too excessive, that the rail operators did not request a double deck carriage in the first place, and not wanting to give away any plans to Tulloch. The latter was awarded the contract for 120 double deck carriages in 1962.[12]
A total of 124 carriages were built to the double deck design.
Numbers
Count
Used in
Notes
T4801–T4840
40
Powered door single/double deck sets
T4841–T4920
80
Used in manual door single deck sets
Later put into S sets as single deck cars were retired
C3801-C3804
4
Used in set S10, Used in S sets
Two Converted into trailers
The Tulloch double deck carriages were only a meter shorter in length compared to the S sets that they would mix with and at the time of their release were likely the heaviest carriages in the fleet, as while the older single deck motor cars were capable enough to pull them, they would move slower and have more difficulty accelerating due to the extra weight they were taking.[13] The carriages were fitted with 40 tinted Beclawat sliding windows with the windows in the lower deck being slightly larger.[3] The cars had two rows of ventilators fitted to the roof to make up for the limited air-conditioning technology at the time. These were smaller than those on the single deck carriages that would haul them.
Notably, they also were the first carriages not just in New South Wales, but Australia as a whole to ride on airbags which improved comfort for passengers. This feature would be implemented on all future trains in Australia with the exclusion of Melbourne's X'Trapolis 100.[12]
The power cars for the most part followed the same design as the trailer carriages however The roof was less rounded and had a depression on the back end to make space for the pantograph to be attached.
Headlights were placed above the gangway door on the front of the carriage with additional lights next to the windows at the front that would be used on future rolling stock and had been on previously built stock alike. A sun shade was placed over the driver's window. The Tulloch power cars were the last carriages in New South Wales to receive this attribute. The set S10 that was lead by power car C3804 gained the nickname "The Flying Nun" by the rail circles as a result of the shape of the roof of the power cars.[14] All cars were built with vent slits in the doors and round vents in the walls.
C3801 would receive its electric equipment from Japanese electrical engineering company, Mitsubishi which would later provide tractive power for all four doubledecksilversets and the Tangara T sets. The power car was fitted with a cross arm pantograph, also from Mitsubishi which was also given to C3803. The bogeys were provided by Bradford Kendall.
Newly built C3804 in June 1968
C3802 was fitted with tractive power gears from Toshiba. The resulted in the car using a solid-state voltage regulator and rectifier that was capable of 120 VDC which assisted with both control and battery charging. with Budd Pioneer III disk braking bogeys which made the car stand out as the other motor cars had forward facing braking. The car went through two pantographs in its service life with the first one coming from Faiveley but it was replaced in 1975 with an airmate cross-arm type.
C3803 was equipped with propulsion control from Hitachi. This included a 120 VDC rectifier set electrical device.
C3804 was given its traction equipment including its pantograph from English Electric of Strand, London. The car had a conventional motor generator set that provided 120 VDC. The carriage's air suspension bogeys came from A.E. Goodwin at Auburn.[3]
Preservation
C3804 at Thirlmere in 2012
Over 15 carriages remain in existence, including T4916, the only surviving manual door double deck trailer. Other surviving examples are T4801, T4814, T4816, T4820, T4828 and T4830, which were used in power door single deck sets. Carriages used in S sets include T4840, T4844, T4857, T4864, T4874, T4881 and T4799. T4801 and T4814 are preserved by Historic Electric Traction and are operational in set W3.[15]
Various carriages were converted into alternatives for housing and similar buildings. These were the last carriages in New South Wales to be repurposed in this manner as they proved unpopular due to the double deck design limiting the height of both decks. Future double deck carriages that followed this format would not be used due to both not meeting ceiling height and fire safety standards.
Some cars retain their bogeys while others only survive as carriage bodies. Power car C3804 remains at the rail museum at Thirlmere. However, due to age and the lack of maintenance during its time at the Elcar works, its status as an interactive carriage may become subject to change. This is seen as the upper deck is currently inaccessible. The drivers compartment is also sealed off and the drivers controls are missing.[14]
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