Creamy Kate is a former

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

railmotor Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it. Steam railcars ...

, numbered 38. It is an evolution of the CPH rail motor class.

Overview

Between 1923 and 1930, the

took delivery of 37 of the 42-Foot (CPH) rail motors and 5 similar 42-Foot trailers to replace locomotive-hauled passenger trains on lightly trafficked lines with a low patronage. With their popularity, patronage had increased beyond their normal operating capabilities and it had become clear that a larger and more powerful rail motor was needed. The main problem standing in the way of development was finding a suitably sized internal combustion engine to power this larger vehicle. A larger engine with enough power would lower the

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement ...

and consequently defeat the purpose of the Rail Motor. This meant that existing steam trains and Rail Motors would have to be alternated to meet service requirements. A solution was found in building a rail motor with two engines in the form of a 6-cylinder Leyland

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends ...

and Lysholm-Smith hydraulic transmission. A similar vehicle had been built in 1933 by the

Northern Counties Committee The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway which opened ...

(

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

) division of the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

and proved successful. The Rail and Road Motor Engineer, NE Stafford supervised the building of these new vehicles in the

Eveleigh Carriage Workshops The Eveleigh Carriage Workshops were built by the New South Wales Government Railways in 1888 as a depot for its passenger carriage fleet. The workshops are located west of what is now Redfern station on the northern side of the Main Suburban r ...

and rail motor CHP 38 emerged from the workshops in June 1934. Externally it was similar to the rail motors, but was considerably longer at . It was nicknamed ''Creamy Kate'' after being released in a livery of cream with blue lining. A matching trailer carriage, CT 81, was built to the same size and design as No.38 on the underframe of passenger carriage BX 1048 that had been damaged in an accident at Bowning. The pair were allocated to

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

for use on services to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

Molong Molong is a small town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Cabonne Shire Council, Cabonne Shire. History The name Molong comes from the indigenous Australians, Aboriginal word for 'all ro ...

and

Coonamble Coonamble is a town on the central-western plains of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the Castlereagh Highway north-west of Gilgandra. At the 2016 census, Coonamble had a population of 2,750. It is the regional hub for wheat growing and ...

. In 1938, the second class seating was removed and the area converted to accommodate 7.5 tons of luggage and the vehicle was recoded BPH. In 1949, BPH 38 was reallocated to

Narrandera Narrandera ( ), until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the central Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell Highway, Newell and Sturt Highway, Sturt highwa ...

where it operated with 400 class rail motors on services to

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

and

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. The town, north of the city of Melbourne, lies on the northern bank of the Murray ...

connecting with the ''

Riverina Express The Riverina Express was a passenger train operated by the New South Wales Government Railways between Sydney, Griffith and Albury from September 1949 until November 1993. History The ''Riverina Express'' was introduced in September 1949 and ...

''. In 1958 the Leyland petrol engines were replaced with GM 6/71 diesel engines. The vehicle was again converted in 1967 when the first class area was recoded to second class and the toilet that was located adjacent to the driver at the front of the car was moved into the passenger compartment, removing a significant blind spot and the vehicle was recoded FPH. In the 1970s, FPH 38 was reallocated to

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had a ...

to operate services on the Barraba line from Tamworth connecting with the '' Northern Mail'' and ''

Northern Tablelands Express The Northern Tablelands Express is the legacy name for the passenger train service in Australia between Sydney and Armidale, and between Sydney and Moree, operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors since June 1941. H ...

''. It returned to Narrandera, back to Werris Creek, back to Narrandera and finally to

Cowra Cowra () is a town in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. Cowra is located approximate ...

where it operated services to Harden to connect with the ''

'' and '' South Mail''. With the replacement of many branch line services by road coaches, CHP 38 became surplus to requirements and was condemned in April 1983 and sold to the Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum.Railmotors
Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum Meanwhile, trailer CT 81 was renumbered 551 in 1945. It was sent to

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

in 1958 and modified to operate with CPH rail motors on the Sutherland to

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

services on the

Illawarra railway line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra railway or the South Coast line) is a Commuter rail, passenger and Rail freight transport, freight railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry, New South Wales, Bomaderry in New So ...

. Following the electrification of the line to

Waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

in July 1980, it was stored, then condemned in April 1983 and sold to the Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum.

References

{{NSWLocos, state=collapsed Railcars of New South Wales Train-related introductions in 1934