Carriages

Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society has a significant collection of historic carriages from the South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways. These pages describe their histories.

NSS34 at Port Augusta Railway Station. (Photo: Commonwealth Railways/Australian Archives)

 

  • All
  • CR Carriages
  • Long Tom
  • MacArthur
  • SAR Carriages
  • Short Tom
  • WWII

South Australian Railways short tom carriage 5

Short tom carriage no. 5 is a first-class carriage and one of a group of six short tom (31' 6") carriages that were built between 1905 and 1907 by the South Australian Railways (SAR) at its Islington Workshops. The other carriages in this group were cars 6, 154, 155, 159 and 160. Car 5 was the only first-class carriage of the group.1

Carriage 5 was issued to the SAR's Northern Division2 and it entered service on 22 April 1905.3 It is the second narrow-gauge SAR carriage to be numbered 5; the original no. 5 was a four-wheeled carriage that was withdrawn from service in 1900.4

South Australian Railways carriage 167 / Flinders

Flinders was built in the 1890s as carriage 167, a standard Short Tom, with first and second class seating. In 1929, cars 167, 168, 169 and 170 were converted for use on the Commissioner's train. All had the longitudinal seating removed, and were assigned to different functions.

South Australian Railways carriage 209

South Australian Railways (SAR) carriage 209 was built at about the same time as carriage 207, but was modified several times during its service life. Initially of standard Long Tom design, it had a seating capacity of approximately 50, and two toilets.

South Australian Railways carriage 207

207 is a Long Tom type carriage, fitted with longitudinal seating and two lavatories. It was constructed at the South Australian Railways' (SAR) Islington workshops and entered service on 18 December 1914.

207 saw extensive service on the Peterborough Division of the SAR until it was transferred to the Port Lincoln Division on 4 November 1954 after extensive modifications.

Commonwealth Railways Special Car No. 3, NSS34

NSS34, Commonwealth Railways Special Car No. 3, was constructed at the Commonwealth Railway's Port Augusta workshops, commencing in July 1928. It entered service in April 1929, and spent its entire life on the Port Augusta to Alice Springs railway.

A distinctive feature of this carriage is a round-ended observation lounge which allowed guests and CR officers panoramic views of the track and countryside when the carriage was attached to the rear of trains.

Commonwealth Railways NRC36 / NIA36

NRC36 was the first sleeping carriage to be built by the Commonwealth Railways (CR) for the Central Australia Railway. It was constructed at the CR's Port Augusta workshops, and entered service in July 1929.

It was a composite sleeping car, having 5 first class sleeping compartments, and 3 second class sleeping compartments. The first class compartments each had two berths, while the second class compartments had four. In addition, a conductor's compartment was provided.