Rm 6
In the 1920’s the New Zealand
Railways acquired a 32 ton, 120Hp Edison electric storage battery
railcar. It was used for a number of years on a service between Christchurch
and Little River until being destroyed by fire at Christchurch in
1934.
Rm 4 and 5
Only two of the cars were built, Rm 4 and Rm 5, in New Zealand Railways'
Petone Workshops in 1926, the basis being a Ford Model T engine and
transmission. Rm 4 and 5 were tiny vehicles, the body was only 11
ft by 7 ft wide, and held 11 passengers. Weight in working order was
two and a half tons and the maximum speed was 30 mph.
The railcars were initially placed in service on the Greytown branch
In the Wairarapa before being transferred to the Glenham and Switzers
branches in the South Island. They were dismantled in the early 1930s
after the Glenham line was closed.
photograph: Alexander Turnbull Llbrary
RM20 and 21
Condensed from an article written in the New Zealand Railway Observer
issue 89 of spring 1961.
Classified "Rm" and numbered 20 and 21, they were, just
a couple of little four-wheeled railcars. Nowadays no doubt, we would
call them railbuses, but in August 1936, they were the first diesel-powered vehicles to go into revenue-earning service on New Zealand Railways.
They were designed to facilitate rapid delivery of the Christchurch
morning newspaper to the West Coast of the South Island, the service
being subsidised by the newspaper company. Each railcar was built
around a conventional Leyland “Tiger" bus chassis adapted
for railway purposes and was powered by a Leyland 8.6-litre diesel
engine developing 95 h.p. at 1950 r.p.m. The maximum speed was 50
m.p.h. Originally Rm 20 was fitted with a standard four-speed manually
operated gearbox, but this was soon replaced by a fluid torque converter
of the type installed in Rm 21. Seating was provided for 19 passengers,
although with a full load of newspapers aboard the capacity was reduced
to 13 passengers.
According to the New Zealand Railways Staff Bulletin of May-June 1955,
the small 7.75 ton railcars were intended only as a temporary expedient
until larger and more powerful vehicles could be made available. Accordingly,
they had rather a short life, being dismantled at Addington Workshops
in 1942, by which time the double-bogie Vulcan railcars were at work.
The four-wheelers had been built at the Hutt Workshops in the North
Island. Their overall length was 25 ft. and wheelbase was 14 ft. 6
in.
The timetable to which these railcars were to operate was dated to
take effect from Monday, August 3, 1936, with departure from Christchurch
at 2.20 a.m. each day except Sunday and arrival at Greymouth at 6.40
a.m. and Hokitika, 169 miles, at 7.55 a.m., shortly afterwards altered
to 7.45 a.m. The return journey started in the late afternoon, leaving
Hokitika at 4.25 p.m. and Greymouth at 5.42, with Christchurch arrival
at 10.23 p.m. These schedules were nearly 2.5 hours. quicker than
the best ordinary express train schedules at that time.
During the stopover at Hokitika, the railcar was used to make a trip
north to Reefton and back, and then an after lunch return trip to
Greymouth, before returning to Canterbury. The Greymouth - Reefton
part of the morning working evidently was not well supported, for
it had been discontinued by August 1938. This working enabled the
cars to run a total of 526 miles daily when Reefton was included,
and 434 miles subsequently.
Just five weeks after the introduction of this railcar service, which
was the first main-line service of its kind in New Zealand, another
notable development occurred when some larger, 13.5 ton, 49-seat railcars
were put to work on the Wairarapa line between Wellington, Masterton,
and Palmerston North. Specially designed to negotiate the Rimutaka
Incline, each of these cars was powered by a 120 h.p., 10-litre Leyland
petrol engine mounted under the floor of the passenger compartment.
These engines were replaced two or three years later by diesel engines,
the petrol motors being used in some small "Tr" class shunting
locomotives.
