Railways and Tramways of Australia

Petrol power

 

Western Australia’s first railcar entered passenger service on 1 August 1922.

 

Three AO Class petrol-engined railcars commenced service with the Western Australian Government Railways, Tramways and Electricity Supply in 1922.

 

They featured 40-horsepower (30-kW) engines built by WH Dorman and Co. of Stafford, England. Chassis were supplied by the Motor Rail and Tramcar Co. at their Simplex Works in Bedford, England. The bodies were designed and built at Midland Workshops in Perth. Their overall length was 24 foot 4 inches (7.4 metres).

 

The new railcars resembled wooden locomotive-hauled passenger carriages, but they had a cowcatcher and a driver’s cab at each end. Each car had four compartments, providing accommodation for 38 passengers in Second Class.

 

The first car was numbered 430. An official trial run took place on 20 July from Perth’s central station to Midland Junction and return. On board were Minister for Railways John Scaddan, Commissioner of Railways Colonel Harold Pope, and various other Members of Parliament and railway officers. People on platforms and near the railway line stared curiously as it passed by: they had seen nothing like it before. The railcar averaged a speed of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) and reached a maximum of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h).

 

No. 430 commenced regular passenger service on 1 August, running from Albany to Denmark, Mount Barker and Kendenup. The other two cars were numbered 431 and 432. They mostly operated on branch lines in the state’s south-west. One trailer car, converted from a brake van, was also placed in service.

 

A fire at Albany locomotive depot in August 1936 completely destroyed no. 430. No. 432 was also destroyed by fire in 1926. The remaining car, no. 431, continued in service until 1950.

 

Western Australia’s first railcars were powered by petrol.

 

Bibliography

A May & B Gray, A history of WAGR passenger carriages, Bill Gray, 2006.

‘Motor coach burned: fire at loco depot’, The Albany Advertiser, 31 August 1936, p 1.

‘Motor coaches: railway innovation’, The West Australian, 21 July 1922, p 8.

Western Australian Government Railways, Tramways and Electricity Supply, Report on the working of the Government railways, tramways and electricity supply for the year ended 30th June, 1923, Parliament of Western Australia, Perth, 1923.