Railways and Tramways of Australia

Multi-purpose railcar

 

Railcar DP13 entered service in Tasmania on 7 July 1939.

 

The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) began experimenting with self-propelled railcars when a motorised trolley began operating from Zeehan on the west coast in 1912. Eight different railcars were built by the TGR at Launceston from 1923 to 1926. Further railcars were obtained, including nine steam railcars introduced in the 1930s.

 

DP13 was one of four railcars, numbered DP11–14, that commenced service on the same day in 1939. Built by Waddingtons in New South Wales, they featured 102-horsepower (761-kW) Gardner diesel engines and aluminium bodies. Their design enabled them to work as single cars or as multiple units. They were used in a range of duties, including rural branch lines and Hobart suburban services.

 

A change came for DP13 when it was converted to an inspection vehicle in 1959. Passenger seats were removed and replaced with tables, kitchen components and seating useful for its new work. Tasmanian Government Railways came under control of Australian National Railways in 1975, and DP13 was painted in the new Australian National green and yellow colour scheme. DP13 saw little use during the 1980s, but operated special services and charters in the 1990s, including trips for the annual Burnie Show.

 

DP13 was sold to Classic Rail Tours in 1996, joining DP14, and was converted back to its passenger configuration. Both railcars were sold to Burnie City Council in 2001 and refurbished at the Don River Railway in Devonport. DP13 was badly damaged by fire in 2012. The following year it was sold to DownsSteam in Toowoomba, Queensland. It was rebuilt and restored to operation, being named the Gatsby Flyer. DP13 returned to private ownership in Tasmania in 2023.

 

A railcar introduced in 1939 became used for multiple purposes.

 

Bibliography

A Dix, Locomotives of the Tasmanian Transport Museum, 2nd edn, Tasmanian Transport Museum, Hobart, 2007.

‘DP13 and DP14’, Tasmanian Rail News, no. 196, January 1997, p 4.

‘DP13 fire’, Tasmanian Rail News, no. 250, July 2012, p 8.

J Dunn, Comeng: a history of Commonwealth Engineering, volume 1: 1921–1955, Rosenberg, Sydney, 2006.

‘Inspection motor DP13’, Rail Tasmania, https://railtasmania.com/loco/loco.php?id=dp13, accessed 28 June 2026.

‘Sparks fly over council’s sale of burnt railcar’, The Mercury, 15 December 2013, www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/sparks-fly-over-councils-sale-of-burnt-railcar/news-story/01355d8241bbba1000b95f07332ce344, accessed 28 June 2026.

‘TGR – railcars’, Tasmanian Transport Museum, https://tasmaniantransportmuseum.com.au/transporthistory/tgr-ra, accessed 28 June 2026.

‘Tracking down the past on DP13’, AN News, no. 148, January/February 1994, p 6.