The 900/800 class railcars (or DEB sets) is a type of diesel multiple units, built by the New South Wales Government Railways between November 1951 and November 1960, and which operated from 1951–1994.
Configuration As introduced, the DEB sets comprised four car, with a power car at either end of two trailer cars. The set consisted a driving power car with luggage compartment and second-class seating (HPF), a first-class sitting car (TB), a second class-sitting car with buffet (TFR) and a driving power car with second-class seating (PF). Later configurations included a three-car set with two power cars and a composite (first- and second-class) seating and buffet (TCR). Trains consisting of two four-car sets, or a four-car and a three-car set, were operated on a number of services, including the Canberra Monaro Express and the Northern Tablelands Express.
History The body shells of the DEB sets were very similar to the two-car 600/700 class railcars that had entered service in 1949. However, as they were intended for long distance services, they were air-conditioned.
A troubled beginning The first four-car set entered service on the North Coast Daylight Express between Sydney and Grafton in November 1951, powered by four horizontal in-line six cylinder, four stroke Hercules DFXH-F diesel engines (two per power car), coupled to Torcon hydraulic transmissions. The engines and hydraulic transmissions proved unreliable and the set was withdrawn in May 1952 after less than six months in service. The construction of further vehicles was suspended until a satisfactory solution could be found.
Rebirth The solution involved the fitting of two General Motors Detroit Diesel 6/110 inclined in-line six cylinder, two stroke diesel engines, coupled to Allison model TCLA 965 hydraulic transmissions on each power car. Production resumed and two four-car sets entered service in May 1955 on the Canberra Monaro Express to Cooma. Other sets were deployed on the Far West Express from Dubbo to Bourke, Cobar and Coonamble in December 1957 and the Northern Tablelands Express in June 1959."More Timetable Changes" Railway Digest November 1985 page 326 Later cars were fitted with Allison RC3 transmissions.
The DEB sets were able to provide flexible main line services with a seven or eight car train operating from Sydney to a major junction station and then dividing into two trains to travel through to their destinations. The Canberra Monaro Express (8 cars) divided at Queanbeyan with separate portions for Canberra and Cooma while the Northern Tablelands Express (seven cars) divided at Werris Creek with one portion operating to either Glen Innes or Tenterfield and the other to Moree, and Walgett once a week for a short period.
Service changes The Canberra Monaro Express was reduced to a single four-car set in July 1973 following a fall in patronage. The repeated failures of the Tulloch railcars working the Riverina Express resulted in the now spare Canberra DEB set being assigned to Riverina workings in August 1973, allowing one Tulloch set to be withdrawn with a second set replacing the remaining Tulloch set following the cessation of the Far West Express in September 1975.
During the 1980s, a program of retrofitting higher performance Cummins NTA-855-R4 engines with Japanese Niigata DAFRG 2001 lock-up torque converter transmissions to all units commenced. Part way through the rebuilding program, use of the Niigata transmission was dropped in favour of the Voith T211r model.
Redeployed DEB sets were replaced by XPTs on the Riverina Express in June 1982 and the Northern Tablelands Express in June 1984. One set was transferred to operate on a Canberra service in August 1982 before that too went over to XPT operation (not the Canberra Monaro Express) in August 1983, with the set transferred to operate Illawarra line services from Sydney to Bomaderry from November 1983."Pre-Electrification Services" Railway Digest January 1986 page 11 DEB sets were also used to operate connecting services from Junee to Griffith and Werris Creek to Moree.
Budd railcars took over the Griffith service in February 1983. The Moree service was replaced by road transport in February 1986,"More Trains to Buses" Railway Digest April 1986 page 106 but a DEB service was reinstated in November 1988,"Last Passengers" Railway Digest January 1989 page 21 before again being withdrawn in February 1990."The New Timetable" Railway Digest March 1990 page 95
In late 1984, a DEB set took over the operation of the Orange – Lithgow – Mudgee service from a 620/720 set"620 Sets" Railway Digest December 1985 page 355 until replaced by road transport in December 1985."Mudgee Coach Services Introduced" Railway Digest March 1986 page 81
The Canberra Monaro Express to Cooma ceased operating in September 1988 due to the government not restoring the Chakola bridge over the Numeralla River north of Cooma."Cooma" Railway Digest February 1989 page 55
CityRail From April 1989 all were reallocated to CityRail to operate South Coast services to Bomaderry and Main Southern line services to Moss Vale and Goulburn."Southern Passengers" Railway Digest May 1989 page 177
Demise The last were retired in February 1995 after being replaced by Endeavour railcars.
Several were saved for preservation."Eligible Preservation Groups Car Allocations" Railway Digest December 1998 page 39 One set is under restoration by Lachlan Valley Railway, based in Cowra. Five DEB set carriages have been designated heritage items and remain in the ownership of Transport Asset Holding Entity and are currently in storage at Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot.RailCorp S170 Heritage & Conservation Register RailCorp 17 September 2012
Status table NumberCodeEntered serviceWithdrawnStatus901PFNov 195124 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Cowra 902PFMay 195522 Aug 1994Damaged by fire in 1995 and scrapped903PFMay 195524 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Rothbury904PFSep 195729 Apr 1994Scrapped 04/2015905PFSep 195722 Dec 1994Preserved Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum906PFJun 1959Mar 1978Rebuilt as HPF 959 1982–1984907PFApr 195916 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Cowra 908PFNov 195930 Jan 1986Destroyed by fire in 1986 & scrapped909PFNov 19609 Aug 1994Preserved LVR, Cowra 910PFNov 196023 Jan 1995Preserved Transport Heritage NSW Chullora Heritage Hub951 HPFNov 195120 Feb 1995Scrapped952HPFMay 1955 23 Jan 1995 Privately Owned, The Station Hunter Valley953HPFJun 195524 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Cowra954HPFApr 195920 Feb 1995Privately Owned, The Station Hunter Valley955HPFJuly 195916 Nov 1994Preserved Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum956HPFOct 19599 Aug 1989Scrapped957HPFNov 196024 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Rothbury958HPFNov 196023 Jan 1995Preserved LVR, Rothbury959HPFrebuilt from PF 906 198424 Nov 1994Preserved Lachlan Valley Railway, Cowra801TBNov 195116 Nov 1994Scrapped802TBMay 195522 Aug 1994Scrapped803TBApr 195624 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Rothbury751TCSep 195724 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Rothbury752TCSep 195724 Nov 1994Preserved Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum753TCNov 196022 Dec 1994 Privately Owned, The Station Hunter Valley851TFRNov 195116 Nov 1994Preserved Walcha Road852TBRMay 1955converted to TFR 852 Dec 1956852TFRconverted from TBR 852 Dec 195624 Nov 1994Preserved Lachlan Valley Railway, Cowra853TBRMar 1956converted to TM 853 Jul 1990853TMconverted from TBR 853 Jul 1990?Preserved LVR, Cowra854TBRSep 195724 Nov 1994Preserved Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum855TBRJun 195924 Nov 1994Preserved LVR, Rothbury856TBRNov 196023 Jan 1995Preserved Transport Heritage NSW Chullora Heritage Hub857TBRJun 1959converted to TM 857 Sep 1990857TMconverted from TBR Sep 199023 Jan 1995Preserved Lachlan Valley Railway, Cowra861TCRJul 195923 Jan 1995Preserved LVR, Cowra862TCRNov 196024 Nov 1994 Preserved LVR, Cowra351TPNov 1957Feb 1974Scrapped352TPDec 1957Feb 1974Scrapped353TPJun 1958Jun 1958Scrapped
Configuration
The diesel engines were direct coupled to a torque converter, the output from the torque converter was then transferred to a Spicer model 8 final drive unit mounted on the inner axle of each bogie via a propeller shaft. The bogies were of cast steel construction & were constructed by AE Goodwin. Coil spring suspension was fitted to both the axleboxes & bolster and the axles were fitted with roller bearings. Each engine also drove 24 Volt DC & 120 Volt DC generators, as well as an air compressor for the air brakes. Engine cooling was by two vertically mounted radiators contained in the body in a small compartment separating the two main passenger compartments. The air was drawn in through louvres in the walls and exhausted through the roof by thermostatically controlled fans.
Each power car was fitted with a driver's compartment to enable the train to be controlled from either end. The driving controls were electric; brake controls were electro-pneumatic and enabled coupled multiple units to be controlled by one driver. A safety device in the form of a dead man's foot pedal was also fitted in the driver's cabin. A guard's compartment was located adjacent to the driver's compartment in the end of the power cars.
The underframe construction consisted of two steel, all-welded Pratt trusses, extending from bolster to bolster and in depth from waist rail to below floor level constitute the main strength members of the cars. A light gauge aluminium framework made of pressings, in a similar manner to aircraft construction, was built on to the truss, the whole being then sheathed with aluminium. The floors were made up of 16 gauge aluminium alloy sheet covering the whole of the underframe upon which timber floor bearers were bolted to support the plywood flooring. Linoleum was laid over the plywood. The floor under the plywood, body sides, and the roof were insulated with kapok. Longitudinal luggage racks extending the full length of the saloons were built into the body sides. These were fabricated from aluminium alloy. Interior partitions and doors were of 13/16" resin-bonded plywood. All side windows were double glazed, set in rubber channels, and fitted with silica gel crystals in containers to prevent frosting of the windows.
All the passenger seats were originally similar to the ones installed in the locomotive hauled air-conditioned daylight expresses of the same era; the first-class seats could be rotated and reclined; the second-class seats were of the turn-over type. Originally smoking and non-smoking accommodation was available in both classes. With the banning of smoking in enclosed places the cars then become all non-smoking.
The cars followed the modern trend and were air-conditioned for passenger comfort. The condenser and conditioner units being located above the ceiling at the end of each car. The conditioned air was conveyed along ducts in the car ceilings and delivered through anemostats to the passenger saloons. The air conditioning compressor units were mounted on the underframe of the trailer cars and in the control cabinets situated in the non-driving end vestibule of the power cars.
The power cars had two different configurations, the 900 Class (PF 901–910) having full passenger seating with a capacity of 39 Second Class passengers, while the 950 Class (HPF 951–958) had a luggage compartment at one end with a capacity of 5 tons, the other end compartment had a seating capacity of 24 Second Class passengers. PF 906 was rebuilt as HPF 959 between 1982 and 1984.
The trailer cars had a number of different seating configurations, depending upon which of the services they were deployed. There were three First Class passenger cars (TB 801–803), three Second Class sitting cars with buffet with a seating capacity of 38 passengers (TFR 851–853), four First Class sitting cars with buffet with a seating capacity of 38 passengers (TBR 854–857), two composite sitting cars with buffet (TCR 861–862) and three composite sitting cars with a capacity of 24 First Class and 31 Second Class passengers (TC 751–753).