Jump to content

Diesel Electric railmotor (VR)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Anothersignalman (talk | contribs) at 14:07, 21 February 2016. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM)
RM58 At Newport Workshops
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel engine, Originally Petrol
DesignerSt Louis Car Company
BuilderSt Louis Car Company (First)
Victorian Railways
Build date1928 - 1931
Total produced10
Specifications
Gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Length58 ft (18 m)
Loco weight43.07 long tons (43.76 t; 48.24 short tons)
Fuel typeOriginally Petrol, converted to Diesel fuel
Fuel capacity750 litres (200 US gal)
Engine type220 hp Winton six-cylinder petrol engine (Petrol)
2 x General Motors series 71 twin six-cylinder diesel engines (Diesel)
GeneratorGeneral Electric DT 501E2
Traction motors2 x General Electric GE 273A
Performance figures
Maximum speed100 kilometres per hour (62 mph)
Power output220 hp (Petrol), 255 bhp (Diesel)
Career
OperatorsVictorian Railways, VLine
Number in class10
Numbers55RM - 64RM
First run1928
RM 63 as restored by DSCR in 2007
RM 55 as a PERM pre 1952

The Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM) was a railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways of Australia.[citation needed]

History

Originally built as a Petrol Electric Rail Motor (PERM), they were the longest-lived railmotor on the Victorian Railways, with the first entering service in 1928 and the last being withdrawn in 1991. The first railmotor was built by the St. Louis Car Company and shipped to Australia where the Victorian Railways built a further nine copies of it. It was powered by a 220 hp Winton petrol engine which was used until the 1950s when they were converted to twin Diesel Electric engines giving a total of 255 bhp.[1]

By the 1970s the longest regular scheduled journey run by a DERM was the Bendigo to Robinvale run, withdrawn on 3 June 1978. A DERM with a DERM Trailer car ran a regular passenger train on the South Gippsland Line from the 1960s - 1970s.[2] In the late '70s RM 55 and RM 61 were extensively modified with the cab being rebuilt, the engine being relocated and the engine room rebuilt with porthole windows, and new aluminium cabin windows fitted. As such they looked significantly different.[citation needed]

DERMs with the porthole windows were a familiar sight on the Mornington and Stony Point lines prior to the line closures in the early 1980s.

Motors

Trailers

As of 1983, 28MT had been scrapped and 27, 29 and 30MT were all withdrawn account poor condition, and the Brill trailer 200MT was stored unservicable at Newport workshops. 26MT was still in use along with the ex-W-type trailers 31MT, 32MT, 33MT and 34MT.

Details of vehicles

Motor units

Railmotor Entered service Upgraded to DERM Withdrawn Scrapped Current Status Notes
55RM
56RM
57RM
58RM
59RM
60RM
61RM
62RM
63RM
64RM

Trailers

Railmotor Entered service Withdrawn Scrapped Current Status Notes
26MT 1930-04-29
27MT 1930-04-29
28MT 1930-10-04 1982-06-09 Off Register, 1981-08-17 broken up[3]
29MT 1930-09-26
30MT 1930-09-26

Preservation

All but one of the DERMs have survived into preservation, with 57RM being the only DERM to have been scrapped. Two are operational, with the remaining seven in various conditions. Below is a brief outline of the status of the DERMs (as at February 2016):

  • 55RM - Stored at the former South Gippsland Tourist Railway awaiting sale
  • 56RM - Stored at Ballarat East, owned by VicTrack Heritage
  • 57RM - Scrapped
  • 58RM - Operational for mainline use, owned by DERMPAV
  • 59RM - Was stored at Mornington Railway, transferred to DERMPAV in September 2015. To be used as parts for 58RM, then as a long-term restoration project.
  • 60RM - Stored at Newport Workshops, owned by DERMPAV
  • 61RM - Stored at the Victorian Goldfields Railway.
  • 62RM - Undergoing restoration at the Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
  • 63RM - Operational on the Daylesford Spa Country Railway; visually restored to 1930s livery of dark red with silver stripes
  • 64RM - Under restoration by DERMPAV

Model Railways

HO Scale

Steam Era Models produces a plastic kit (including a motor) for the DERM.[4][5]

Trainbuilder has released sets of DERM+Trailers in ready-to-run brass.[6]

Eureka Models has announced an intent to release ready-to-run models sometime in the future.

See also

References

  1. ^ "DERM Railmotors". VictorianRailways.net. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  2. ^ Banger, Chris (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail. 25 (3). Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division): 77–82.
  3. ^ Newsrail Feb 1983 Pg25
  4. ^ http://www.steameramodels.com/locos.htm
  5. ^ http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p1117090.htm
  6. ^ http://trainbuilder.com/derm

This article about rail transport in Victoria, Australia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diesel_Electric_railmotor_(VR)&oldid=706108739"