The American Suburban Carriages are a type of passenger carriage that were built for the New South Wales Government Railways.
History
Locomotive hauled carriages
The American Suburban Carriages were built between 1877 and 1912 by a number of manufacturers with timber frames and truss sided body work. Due to the truss bodywork, it was difficult to cut doors in the sides of the body so doors at either end of the cars were provided with covered platforms to allow access to the carriages.
They became the most numerous group of carriages built for any Australian railway system with a total of 659 carriages built. A further 196 carriages, known as Lucy Suburban Carriages were constructed between 1913 and 1916 but had steel under frames and separate bodywork.
While they retained the general layout and appearance of the American Suburban Carriage, they were generally not referred to as such. Most carriages were converted for use on longer distance services, whilst others were transferred to Newcastle and Wollongong for continued suburban service or to country branch lines. The American Suburban Carriages were built primarily as suburban passenger carriages for the Sydney network., The last examples were withdrawn in the mid-1970s.Carriage, HFA1171
Wooden electric carriages
Following the electrification of the Sydney network in the 1920s and 1930s, 193 were rebuilt as carriages for use in electric train stock, including the Wooden motor carriage and the Standard suburban carriage.
These carriages became (T4101–T4284), with nine more becoming driving trailers (D4001-D4009).
T4101-T4284 would become colloquially known as the "Wooden Trailers" to distinguish them from the wooden motor cars, nicknamed "Bradfield carriages" after John Bradfield.
They would also serve intermediately with the standard and Tulloch carriages. The conversions would involve closing the end platforms and the placement of passenger doors on the sides, along with replacement of the coupling receptacles. Some would be refurbished with Plywood to extend their service lives.
These carriage would be superseded by 120 new aluminium constructed double deck trailer carriages built by Tulloch Limited at Rhodes between 1964 and 1966 when they became uneconomical to repair because of their advanced age.
Preservation A number of these carriages have been preserved. Examples are held at the Canberra Railway Museum, Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum, Lachlan Valley Railway, NSW Rail Museum and the Valley Heights Rail Museum.
Surviving examples include: +NumberImageLocationManufactuerOwnerStatusCBI1073 (ex. BB 1073)Valley Heights, NSWHudson BrothersValley Heights Rail MuseumUnder restorationBI1561Broadmeadow, NSW?Broadmeadow Loco DepotStatic displayLFA153Thirlmere, NSW Morrison & CoTransport Heritage NSWStatic displayLFA179Valley Heights, NSW Morrison & CoValley Heights Rail MuseumOperationalLFA1958Broadmeadow, NSWJohn MorrisonBroadmeadow Loco DepotStatic displayLFA942Broadmeadow, NSWHudson BrothersBroadmeadow Loco DepotStatic displayHFA1032Broadmeadow, NSW?Broadmeadow Loco DepotStatic displayHFA1171Broadmeadow, NSW?Broadmeadow Loco DepotStatic displayHFA1957Broadmeadow, NSW?Broadmeadow Loco DepotStatic displayRBI1561Broadmeadow, NSW?Broadmeadow Loco DepotStatic display
Surviving Wooden trailers A few that were converted for use in with the early electric stock survive. Notably one carriage T4279 remains in the custody of Historic Electric Traction and under the ownership of Transport Heritage NSW. The Hunter Valley Rail Trust had three other converted carriages, Including D4004, the last surviving wooden driving trailer. +NumberImageLocationManufacturer OwnerStatusD4004 (ex. BB1862)UnknownRitchie BrothersHunter Valley Railway Trust (formerly)UnknownT4186 (ex. FA1997)Unknown?Hunter Valley Railway Trust (formerly)UnknownT4224 (ex. FA1823)Unknown?Hunter Valley Railway Trust (formerly)UnknownT4279 (ex. FA888)Redfern, NSWRitchie BrothersTransport Heritage NSWStored
References
Further reading