Collections at the National Railway Museum

South Australian Railways

Broad Gauge

Class operators                                                   South Australian Railways; Australian National Railways

Condition                                                             Excellent

Provenance                                                         South Australian Railways

Ownership                                                           History Trust of South Australia

Built by                                                                S.A.R Islington Workshops

Class                                                                   600

Number in class                                                   8

Number series                                                     600 - 607

Entered service                                                  12th October 1937

Withdrawn                                                          13th October 1981

Entered the museum                                         11th January 2001

Length (over coupling points)                            71’ 9’’ (21.87m)

Seating capacity                                                64

During the 1930s, the South Australian Railways began an extensive program of upgrading passenger accommodation. Part of this program involved the construction of ‘all steel’ first and second class passenger carriages. The first of these new carriages entered service in 1936, painted in the new South Australian Railways colours of green and gold and classified as 500 and 600 class ‘main line corridor passenger cars’. Built completely at the Islington Workshops, each car measured 21.87m (71’ 9’’.) long and 2.89m (9’ 6’’) wide, with a height of 4.025m (13’ 2’’) above the rail.

The 4 first class cars were numbered 500-503 and had seating accommodation for 42 passengers in 7 compartments. The 8 second class cars were numbered 600-608 and accommodated 64 passengers in 8 compartments. Toilets and vestibules were located at each end, with all compartments leading off a full length side corridor. The interior of each car was fitted out with polished timber panelling and chrome fittings. First class compartments were also fitted with mirrors and arm rests between each seat. Each compartment had a single external window and twin wooden sliding doors fitted with large etched glass panels. All windows were originally designed to drop down into the body of the car, but later, due to maintenance problems, these were replaced by half drop windows.

Car 606 was withdrawn from service in 1981 and sold to SteamRanger. It eventually became surplus to requirements and was sold to the museum in late 2000, arriving on site on 11.1.2001. The car has been returned to its original South Australian Railway livery.