2000 class railcar

The 2000/2100 class were a class of diesel railcars operated by the State Transport Authority and its successors in Adelaide. They were built by Comeng in Granville, New South Wales in 1979–1980.

History

The 2000/2100 class were self-propelled diesel railcars operated by the State Transport Authority and its successors on the Adelaide rail network. The body shell design was based on the Budd SPV-2000, Metroliner and Amfleet cars but the 2000 class railcars have a slightly different curve to the Amfleet.

Twelve 2000 powercars and eighteen 2100 class trailer cars were built. The bodyshells were built by Comeng in Granville. Two (2001 and 2101) were completed at Granville while the remainder were railed to Adelaide via Lithgow and Broken Hill to comply with a contractual requirement to maximise local content, the fit out being conducted by Comeng's Aresco subsidiary at Dry Creek. The first delivery took place in late October 1979 and entered service on 22 February 1980. Delivery of the trains continued until August 1981."2000 Class Railcars" ''Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin'' issue 605 Match 1988 pages 50-69

They were nicknamed ''Jumbos'' owing to the raised driving cab, similar to the distinctive hump of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet. This raised cab was designed to meet Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Employees demands for a full width driver's cab whilst allowing inter-carriage doors to be fitted.

The powercars were originally powered by V12 turbocharged MAN D3650 engines that were replaced by two turbocharged 6 cylinder Cummins engines under the floor driving a Voith hydraulic transmission in the late 1980s. They usually operated in 2-car (power-trailer) or 3-car (trailer-power-trailer) configurations. It was originally intended that they primarily operate express services on the Gawler and Noarlunga Centre lines with the existing Redhens operating the all stops services, but they quickly ended up operating services across the network.

Six were stored for a number of years, being returned to traffic in 2007. One was sent to Bombardier Transportation's Dandenong factory in 2006 to assess the feasibility of a life extension program, but it was deemed not worthwhile. They did on occasions venture beyond the Adelaide metropolitan area, operating special services to Tanunda and Nuriootpa on the Barossa Valley line, however these excursions ended in April 2003.

From 23 February 2014, these railcars were no longer permitted to operate on the Belair, Tonsley (now Flinders) and Seaford lines due to low clearances as a result of the electrification of these lines, being restricted to the Gawler Central, Grange and Outer Harbor lines. Withdrawals commenced in late 2014. By 2015 only 11 cars were still in service and only operated peak hour express services and special event extra services such as Adelaide Oval event trains on the Gawler Central line and occasionally on the Outer Harbor line. The remaining fleet members was retired in August 2015 after running services between Gawler Central and Adelaide and were stored at the Dry Creek Railcar depot for 10 months before removal.

Preservation

Four have been preserved, however are not operational:
* 2006 and 2112 were preserved and gifted to National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide
* 2010 and 2109 were delivered to SteamRanger Heritage Railway via road. "SA Jumbos Preserved" ''Railway Digest'' January 2016 page 57

2009 and 2104 were donated to the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service for use in training exercises. The rest were sent by road and scrapped in June 2016 at Simsmetal."Jumbo Railcars Say Farewell" ''Catch Point'' issue 234 July 2016 pages 10-13

References

External links

{{South Australian Railways locos, state=collapsed

Diesel multiple units of South Australia
Train-related introductions in 1980
Transport in Adelaide