South Australian Railways Redhen railcar

300 / 400 Class Redhen
Two 400-class Redhens working a Belair line local train in 1990.
Interior of a 400-class Redhen. (No 400)
Manufacturer	South Australian Railways
Built at	Islington Workshops
Replaced	Barwell Bulls
Entered service	1955–71
Scrapped	1987–96
Number built	74 (300-class) 37 (400-class)
Fleet numbers	300–373, 400–436
Operators	South Australian Railways State Transport Authority (STA) TransAdelaide
Specifications
Car length	20.0 m (65 ft 7 in)
Width	3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)
Height	4.27 m (14 ft 0 in)
Track gauge	1600

A Redhen is a type of diesel railcar, formerly used on the suburban railway system in Adelaide, South Australia. Redhens were the backbone of Adelaide’s metropolitan rail system between the late 1950s and the early 1990s. They operated on all the State Transport Authority (STA) routes, including several lines which are now closed to local trains (for example Bridgewater, Port Dock, Hendon and Wingfield).

The first Redhens were introduced by the South Australian Railways (SAR) in October 1955 to replace ageing suburban steam trains in Adelaide. Construction of Redhen vehicles continued until 1971, when the latest examples were built to supersede 1920s-era diesel railcars known as Barwell Bulls.

TransAdelaide withdrew the last Redhens from regular service in October 1996, following delivery of a new fleet of 3000-class diesel-electric railcars. A number of Redhens have been preserved and are now operated by heritage and tourist railways in Australia.

Fleet details

The Redhens comprised two designs:-

• 300-class had a driving cab at one end of each railcar. These needed to run as a minimum of 2-car trains.
• 400-class had driving cabs at both ends, and could be used as a single car when needed, or in multiple with other railcars to make up longer trains.

In addition, there were a number of unpowered trailer cars, designated 820-class or 860-class. These had been modified from steam-era suburban carriages and were used with the Redhens between 1955 and 1987.

Construction

The Redhens were built in three batches. The overall design of the railcars was very similar, but there were differences in detail between the batches. Several railcars in the 300 class were re-numbered later in life, taking on the numbers of written-off or modified units.

The exterior of the units was always painted red, with variations in the colour of roofs and bogies over the years. The interior design and layout remained largely unchanged throughout their life. Some 300-class units were modified to provide guard’s accommodation or space for bikes when the 860-class trailers had been withdrawn in 1987. This slightly reduced the seating capacity of these modified cars.

300-class
Unit   numbers	Dates introduced	Weight (tonnes)	Passenger seating capacity
300–341	1955–1958	40.7	91
342–361	1959–1961	42.7	91
362–373	1968–1970	41.9	84

400-class
Unit   numbers	Dates introduced	Weight (tonnes)	Passenger seating capacity
400–419	1959–1961	42.5	80
420–436	1968–1971	42.5	78

Mechanicals

Each Redhen had two under-floor diesel engines and hydraulic transmission. Engines were sourced from either General Motors or Rolls Royce as follows

Redhen power plant
Unit numbers	Engine Details
300–341 400–419	2 x GM model 6/71–6086 inclined 2-stroke diesels 6.97 litre displacement. 163 kilowatts (219 hp) at 2100 rpm.
342–361	2 x Rolls Royce model C6SFLH horizontal 4-stroke diesels with supercharger 12.17 litre displacement. 170 kilowatts (228 hp) at 1850 rpm.
362–373 420–436	2 x GM model 6/71–6086 inclined 2-stroke diesels 6.97 litre displacement. 157 kilowatts (211 hp) at 2100 rpm.

• GM and Rolls Royce engines were subsequently exchanged between cars in the interests of standardisation.
• All Redhens were equipped with twin disc hydraulic torque converters with reversing gearbox.
• Braking was by Westinghouse SEM electro-pneumatic air brakes.

History

Deployment

Cab of Redhen 402 at the South Gippsland Railway.

When first introduced, all the 300-class Redhens were made up into 3-car consists, comprising an 820 or 860-class trailer sandwiched between two powered 300-class railcars. In peak hours, two sets were coupled together to make 6-car trains. On rare occasions, at times of heavy traffic demand, trains of Redhens could be up to 9 cars long.

Instead of building trailer cars to work with the 300-class cars, SAR chose to convert existing rolling stock instead. Initially, the five 800-class trailers and nine 850-class trailers were converted, becoming the 860-class trailers. Ironically, these cars were built in the mid 1940's as part of a plan to electrify Adelaide's suburban railways. After the 800/850-class trailers were converted, thirteen end loading suburban baggage cars were converted, becoming the 820-class trailers.

In the early 1970s SAR set aside funds to build eight 300-class cars and four trailer cars to work with them. The trailer cars would have been the 120-class. The cars were never built and the money set aside for their construction was ultimately used on the construction of the 2000/2100-class railcars.

400-class were used as single cars on the main lines during the evenings and at most other times on lightly patronized services such as the Grange, Tonsley and Northfield lines. They were also used in multiple with other 300 or 400-class units to increase the length of trains when necessary.

Super Chooks

Following the introduction of the STA’s new 2000-class railcars in 1980, two 300-class Redhens and a 860-class trailer were chosen for an experimental rebuild at the Regency Park workshops. Nos. 300, 337 and trailer 862 were modified in 1983 with new interiors, elevated cabs (similar to the 2000-class) and an exterior appearance like a hybrid between a traditional Redhen and a 2000-class Jumbo.

The rebuilt cars were re-numbered 2301, 2302 and 2501 and nick-named Super Chooks (a chook is a chicken in Australian vernacular). The exercise was not successful and no more Redhens were modified. The Super Chooks saw only limited passenger service and often 2301-2302 was sandwiched in between 2 400 class redhen railcars before they were withdrawn in 1992. Following the collapse of the Lions Club of Yorke Peninula Rail Inc, they are for sale.

Withdrawal

Preserved Redhens (June 2006)
Unit Numbers	Location
321 400 875	National Railway Museum Port Adelaide, SA
364 412 428 824	SteamRanger Mount Barker, SA
334 405 424 874	Mount Gambier, SA
2301 2302 2501 406 416 432 435	Wallaroo, SA currently for sale
311 402	South Gippsland Railway Korumburra, VIC
409 436 339 368 372 373	Stored in various locations in SA, VIC and NSW, No 368 is an information car, No 436 had its interior burnt out

All thirteen of the 820-class trailers were retired by December 1976 (these were wooden-bodied coaches and most had originally been built between 1912 and 1918). The corresponding 300-class Redhens were then coupled to a 400-class railcar to form 2-car trains (designated 300/400-class).

In 1987, the steel-bodied 860-class trailers were withdrawn and all the 300-class Redhens were reconfigured as 2-car trains, usually consecutively numbered pairs.

By the mid-1980s the Redhens ranged from 15 to 30 years in age. Whilst they had been faster and more comfortable than the steam trains they replaced in the 1950s, the design of the Redhens compared unfavourably with contemporary standards of passenger rolling stock. For example, they have neither heating nor air conditioning, which made them unpopular with commuters in mid-summer and mid-winter. They also have manually operated sliding doors, which were perceived as a safety hazard (particularly since de facto air conditioning was achieved during hot summer weather by passengers leaving the Redhens’ sliding doors wide open between stations).

In 1987 and 1988 the State Transport Authority (STA) introduced the first of its new fleet of diesel electric 3000 class railcars, which were intended to replace the Redhens. As more 3000 and 3100-class railcars were delivered through the early 1990s, the Redhens began to be withdrawn and were gradually restricted to operating only during weekday peak hours. This was especially the case when the STA moved towards driver-only-operation (DOO) of the rail system in the early 1990s. The manual sliding doors made Redhens unsuitable for DOO and guards had to be retained to supervise passenger boarding and alighting.

Following the final delivery of 3100-class railcars, TransAdelaide operated their last Redhens in public service in October 1996 which were railcars 428 and 436.

Preservation

Whilst in service the Redhens were mechanically robust and reasonably reliable; they were attractive options for use on heritage and tourist railways after retirement. However, their age, and the increasing service time since overhaul, has affected their reliability in preservation. Some continue to operate on broad gauge lines in south-eastern Australia. Many have been broken up, but the first and last units and a few others still exist.

The National Railway Museum’s 3-car Redhen set was a centrepiece of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Port Adelaide railway. On Sunday 23 April 2006, the Redhens worked a number of special trains between Adelaide, Woodville and the Port Dock station museum. The South Gippsland Tourist Railway purchased the Red Hen 311, 402 and 416 in 1993.

References

Redhen railcar 402 at Leongatha on the South Gippsland Railway.

• S.T.A. Railcars   S. McNicol, pub. Railmac Publications (1981) ISBN 0-949817-01-5

• Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin vol.26 no.576 (Oct 1985); vol.26 no.577 (Nov 1985); vol.26 no.578 (Dec 1985). ISSN 1449-6291

• Transit Australia (Journal of the Australian Electric Traction Association Inc.), pub. Transit Australia Publishing, Sydney. ISSN 0818-5204

See also

• State Transport Authority
• TransAdelaide
• Railways in Adelaide

External links

• More information on individual Redhens

Operators

• National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide
• SteamRanger
• South Gippsland Railway