The Tulloch suburban carriage stock are a type of electric multiple unit formerly operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors between 1940 and 1993, serving the Sydney suburban network. They were nicknamed Tullochs after their Manufacturer by enthusiasts.

In their later years, they, along with the Standard and Sputnik stock, were nicknamed "Red Rattlers". The term was borrowed from Melbourne, originally referencing the Tait trains. They were also known as 1940 type carriages.

History

In 1940, 24 first series power cars and 24 trailer cars were built by Tulloch Limited for the New South Wales Government Railways.

They were built as a response to help run the newly electrified East Hills line and the opening of the Cronulla line in 1939.

Due to the higher passenger loads and further lines having been opened, the operating suburban trains proved to be insufficient for the network and so more trains had to be commissioned.

The next batch were not built for another 11 years due to a shortage in steel following World War II. In 1951, a further three first series power cars were delivered, followed between May 1952 and March 1956 by 47 second series power cars, Between July 1950 and October 1957, 105 trailer cars were built.

They operated in sets with the 1920s built steel carriages along with the timber carriages built earlier the same decade across the Sydney suburban network.

These carriages would use the same targeting system as the previously built suburban carriages. All Standard, Wooden, and Tulloch cars were allocated to the depots at Hornsby, Mortdale, Punchbowl, and Flemington.

One set of carriages that was delivered was formed into set "F39" which was the first electric multiple unit in New South Wales to have power operated doors.

When the first Tulloch double deck carriages were built in 1964, Only two double deck cars would be thrown into four car sets until further trails showed that the older motor carriages could handle the heavier passenger loads.

Between 1968 and 1975, 52 power cars (C3453, C3457, C3459, C3465, C3474–C3477, C3480–C3518 and C3522–C3526) were converted to 4 motors using traction equipment similar to the W sets and U sets and were fitted with two motor air suspended bogies with all having their numbers increased by 4000.

Between 1967 and 1980, some trailer cars would be renumbered and some would become driving trailers. The renumbered cars were T4579 which became T4617 and T4679 in July 1980, and T4586 which would be renumbered T4468 in May 1988. The cars that were converted into driving trailers were T4571, T4578, T4591 and T4593 which were all converted into driving trailers numbered D4057–D4060 before later renumbered again in November 1976 as D4675–D4678.

Originally painted Tuscan red, from 1973 they were repainted in the Public Transport Commission blue and white livery before the livery was changed to Indian red in 1976.T4554 - Tulloch 1940 Suburban Trailer Car NSW Environment & Heritage The interiors were painted in two-tone green, but not all cars were repainted. In 1984, a trio of three car sets as well as one back up train were chosen to run from Carlingford and Clyde. These were targeted Y1-Y3, which would have a mix of Standard and Tulloch cars.

Overhauls of the stock continued up until 1988, with some receiving sliding aluminium Beclawat windows to alleviate rust problems. Withdrawals commenced in the 1980s, with 94 remained in service with CityRail in July 1991."Rolling Stock" Railway Digest January 1992 page 31

In March 1991, carriages C7491, T4603, T4662 and C3468 on set "H22" were repainted in different animal themed liveries to advertise Toronga Zoo, with C7491 repainted as 'The Fish', T4603 as 'The Leopard', T4662 as 'The Bird', and C3468 as 'The Snake'.This set was dubbed the "Zoo Train".

The final passenger service with Tulloch motor carriages was with four car Mortdale set "M40" (C7465, T4834, T4900 and C7512) on the Carlingford line which ran 22 January 1993. Cars C3501-C3526 would have their numbered recycled for the double deck K set motor cars built by A Goninan & Co.

These cars would be disposed of at various places along with other single deck suburban cars throughout the 1990s. Some carriages were converted into yellow depot shunters before retirement. Several carriages have been preserved.C7489 - 1950 Post War Tulloch Motor Car Sydney Electric Traction SocietyC7510 - 1950 Post War Tulloch Motor Car Sydney Electric Traction SocietyC7512 & C7513 - 1950 Post War Tulloch Motor Car Sydney Electric Traction Society

Construction

By the 1930s, Australia had plenty of experience in steel carriage building with the construction of many suburban cars built between 1926 and 1937 by both Walsh Island Dockyard and Clyde Engineering and so it was decided that the next suburban trains would built locally.

Similarly to the standard stock built in the mid-1920s and late 1930s, the Tullochs were built using riveting to hold the car body together. These cars also differed from the 1920s built carriages in having a pillar between the doors to increase passenger circulation space."Sydney's Electric Trains from 1926 to 1960" ARHS Bulletin issue 761 March 2001 pages 90-93

This feature would also be included in the suburban single deck cars built by Commonwealth Engineering later in the same decade as the last of the Tulloch built cars.

In addition to the spacing out of the passenger doors, a crew compartment door was installed on both sides of the power car, while the standard carriages were originally built with only one on the left-hand side. The second batch of motor cars onward featured an enlarged guard's compartment. The cars with larger guard's compartments could identified by the extra door on the left hand side of the car between the passenger and cab door.

These cars also featured longitudinal seating in the vestibules, which some of the standard cars were fitted with at a later date during refurbishment. Most of the power cars were fitted with sun shades above the driver and guard's windows. The Tulloch carriages were very similar to the previously built suburban cars aside from this aforementioned pillar and extra crew compartment door. NumbersYears BuiltTotalNotesC3453–C34761940241st seriesC3477–C3479195131st seriesC3480–C35261952–1956472nd seriesT4543–T4566194024T4567–T46711950–1957105 These also had a row of ventilators on the roof, as there were not many ways to keep the carriages cool in hot weather. These were larger than those on the standard and timber carriages.

This design choice would be used for all future single deck trains, both suburban and interurban. Like the previously built standard suburban carriages and wooden stock, the Tulloch carriages were supplied with tractive equipment from Metropolitan-Vickers with two motors placed on the bogie below the pantograph.

Because of the doors being manually operated, passengers often would leave the doors open on warm days to make up for the lack of proper air conditioning.

Preservation

Following the end of manual door single deck service on the suburban network, The Sydney Electric Train Society (SETS) made efforts to secure a collection of carriages for mainline tour runs on behalf of the State Rail Authority. By late 1993, they had managed the preservation of 15 carriages which had all been stored across the maintenance centres of Mortdale, Punchbowl and Hornsby. Two of the cars at Punchbowl were 7000 series post-war motor car C7485 and pre-war trailer T4554. These two cars, with 7000 series Clyde Engineering carriage C7396, were formed into what was known as set "B1". T4554 is notably the only preserved Pre-war Tulloch trailer.

The heritage carriages were transferred from Punchbowl shed to Redfern in November 1994 with C7396 and a four car heritage set that would eventually become W3. In 1997, SETS would go to embark on becoming owners of their own rolling stock, resulting in some members leaving the group and creating Historic Electric Traction to become the subsequent caretakers of the SRA owned heritage cars.

In 2001 C7485 was repainted in the Public Transport Commission blue and white livery by HET painters as a way to cover up graffiti. It was also used as a part donor for C7396. While plans were made to sell the car as it had been taken off of the SRA preservation list, this never happened. T4554 was planned to be restored to traffic in set F1. As of the early 2020s, the car currently remains in a grey undercoat. In 2013, these cars along with the rest of the government owned heritage electric carriages would fall into the ownership of Transport Heritage NSW. These cars are now both planned for restoration to traffic.

SETS would take four 7000 series post-war motor cars C7489, C7510, C7512, and C7513. These carriages were purchased off of The government from Flemington Maintenance Centre between 9 September 1998 and 11 November 1999 with all having been reverted to motor cars from yellow shunting units C3664 and C3666-C3668.

All carriages, with the exception of C7510, were transferred for storage in a siding at Meeks Road from 1999 to 2000 with W set motor cars C3714 and C3725 that were acquired in November 1998 under a monthly $100 rent agreement, becoming known as the "Meeks Road cars". All carriages were planned for restoration to operational status, but work to restore any of these assets to working order was quickly undermined by elemental deterioration and damage from vandals.

Eventually in 2009, these carriages were transferred to a Chullora siding where they have remained since. Two more cars were purchased at a Cataract Scout Park public auction on 24 November 1998, although these are not part of the official SETS collection. These are trailer car T4609 and motor car C7465, the latter of which was reverted back from yellow shunting unit C3663.

+The following carriages have been retained for heritage reasons:NumberLocationOwnerStatusNotesC7465 (ex. C3465)Cranebrook, NSWSETS (Unoffical)StoredC7485 (ex. C3485)Redfern, NSWTransport Heritage NSW / Sydney TrainsUnder restorationC7489 (ex. C3489)Chullora, NSWSETSStoredC7510 (ex. C3510)Castlereagh, NSWSETSStoredKept as a spare for equipment storageC7512 (ex. C3512)Chullora, NSWSETSStoredC7513 (ex. C3513)Chullora, NSWSETSStoredT4554Redfern, NSWTransport Heritage NSW / Sydney TrainsUnder restorationT4609Molong, NSWSETS (Unoffical)Stored

Privately owned carriages Many cars, including C3460, the last remaining 3000 series motor car, were sold via contract to Milfren Pty Ltd from 1992 to 1993 to private buyers. Usually this would only include the body of the carriage, lacking pantographs and bogies, however there are some exceptions to these. One of these cars, C7497 was sold to a private owner in Mona Vale on On 25 May 1992. It was later destroyed by the Sydney bushfires of January 1994.