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New South Wales S set

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The S sets are a class of electric multiple units (EMU) that operated on Sydney's suburban rail network from 1972 up until 2019. Originally entering service under the Public Transport Commission, the sets also operated under the State Rail Authority, CityRail and Sydney Trains. Prior to their retirement, the S sets were the last class in the Sydney Trains fleet to not be air-conditioned, earning them the nicknames "Tin cans" and "Sweat Sets". They were also nicknamed "Ridgys" because of their fluted ("ridged") stainless steel panelling; they shared this nickname with similar looking K sets and C sets. Their stainless steel appearance was also shared with the intercity V sets and U sets. All remaining sets were withdrawn from service in June 2019.

S sets
S90 arriving at Liverpool, February 2014
Upper deck Interior viewing the seats
In service1972–2019
Manufacturer
Built at
Constructed1972–1980
Entered service1972
Refurbished1990s
Scrapped2011–2015, 2018–2020, 2024
Number built509 carriages
Number preserved16 carriages
Number scrapped496 carriages
SuccessorA & B sets
Formation
  • 2-car or 3-car sets (L-set)
  • 6-car sets (R-set)
  • 4-car sets (S-set)
Fleet numbers
  • C3001–C3080, C3741–C3765, C3805–C3986
  • D4011–D4095
  • T4101–T4170, T4921–T4987
Capacity
  • Comeng: 484 (112 in control motors, 130 in trailer cars)
  • Goninan: 486 (113 in control motors, 130 in trailer cars)
Operators
DepotsFlemington
Lines servedUntil 2015: all Sydney Suburban lines
Until retirement:
Specifications
Car body constructionStainless steel
Car length20.22 m (66 ft 4 in)
Width
  • Comeng: 3,077 mm (10 ft 1.1 in)
  • Goninan: 3,036 mm (9 ft 11.5 in)
Height
  • Comeng: 4,382 mm (14 ft 4.5 in)
  • Goninan: 4,368 mm (14 ft 4.0 in)
Maximum speed115 km/h (71 mph)
Weight
  • Comeng control motors: 47 t (46 long tons; 52 short tons)
  • Goninan control motors: 45 t (44 long tons; 50 short tons)
  • Trailers: 34 t (33 long tons; 37 short tons)
Traction systemMitsubishi camshaft resistance control
Traction motors4 × Mitsubishi 150 kW (200 hp) series wound DC motor
Power output600 kW (800 hp)
Electric system(s)1,500 V DC (nominal) from overhead catenary
Current collector(s)Pantograph
UIC classification
  • Bo′Bo′ (control motors)
  • 2′2′ (trailers)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

Delivery

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Goninan trailer car vestibule with stairs leading to upper & lower decks after refurbishment

Two manufacturers built 509 carriages, based on a largely common design:

  • 359 carriages were built by Comeng between 1972 & 1980.[1] They were externally distinguished by the peaked front of driving cars and a prominent line across each side of its carriages above the upper deck windows. They also had thin flutings at the top and upper half of the sides of the carriages.
  • The Series 1 Comeng power cars featured no fluting on the lower half of the carriage and one peaked front and rear end.
  • The Series 2/3 Comeng power cars featured fluting on the lower half of the carriage and one peaked front end. These two types were identical aesthetically.
  • The Series 4 Comeng power cars were identical to the Series 2/3 cars with headlights fitted above the destination box.
  • Cars D4011–D4020 featured the driver/guard window and vertical window close together with no pantograph. These carriages also lacked a driver/guard doors and had no destination boxes.
  • Cars D4021-D4095 featured the same as a Comeng power car with a driver/guard door with no pantograph. These cars had no destination boxes.
  • All 85 driving trailers were converted into trailer cars with the driving compartment, cab and guard instruments removed with head and tail lights plated over.
Qty Series Class Car numbers
207 Mk1 Power car C3805–C3857
Mk2 C3858–C3911
Mk3 C3912–C3986
Mk4 C3741–C3765
67 Mk1 Trailer car T4921–T4962
Mk2 T4963–T4987
85 Mk3 Driving trailer D4011–D4020
Mk4 D4021–D4095
  • 150 carriages built by A Goninan & Co between 1978 & 1980.[2] They were externally distinguished by the flat front of driving cars and lower windows on the upper deck. They also had larger windows at the end between carriages. They also had thicker flutings at the top and around the top of the carriages and lacked the line around the top of the sides of the carriages unlike the Comeng carriages.
Carriage numbers Class
C3001–C3080 Power cars
T4101–T4170 Trailer cars

History

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In service

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Comeng power car
 
A Goninan & Co power car


Following the successful trial of four double-deck power cars built by Tulloch in 1968, 53 Series 1 power cars were ordered from Comeng and delivered in 1972–73.[3] They were paired with 1965–67 Tulloch-built trailer carriages that had previously operated in company with single deck power cars. The first 39 were painted tuscan to match the trailer cars while the last 14 were painted in the newly introduced Public Transport Commission blue and white livery.

 
Carriage interior in the 1970s with Beclawat windows which were replaced when the cars were refurbished in the 1990s

From 1976, the blue and white livery was replaced by an Indian red livery. In 1979, painted Series 1 cars began to have their paint removed to match the Series 2 cars. Only seven were completed, and it wasn't until August 1988 that the program recommenced with the last carriage treated in 1990.[4][5]

Subsequent orders saw another 154 power cars, 67 trailer cars and 85 driving trailer cars built by Comeng. These were all built to the Series 2 design with Budd type polished inserts on the carriage sides, flat rather than tapered number 2 ends, throw-over rather than sliding reversible seats, upgraded interior lights and a natural stainless steel finish.[3]

A further order saw 80 power cars and 70 trailer cars constructed by A Goninan & Co in 1978–80. These cars differed in having a squarer type of fluting and flat fronts on the power cars.

All were formed into either four-car S sets or two-car T sets. In practice, there were only a few diagrams requiring two carriage sets resulting in most T sets being used to form six and eight-car sets. By the early 1980s, some permanent six-car sets had been formed and targeted as R sets. In December 1983 there were 60 T sets, 12 months later this was down to 19.[6][7]

In April 1982, ten driving trailers were introduced on local services between Scarborough and Port Kembla. They were targeted as PK sets, and operated in two-car sets. These PK sets ran until the line was electrified in December 1985.[8] They were hauled by 48 class diesels but because of incompatibility between the electrical systems, the guard operated doors were disconnected.

From June 1984, four three-car sets of Goninan stock operated suburban services from Newcastle to Fassifern and Morisset as NC sets.[9] This stock was allocated to Mortdale and periodically rotated. In August 1989, this was reduced to two sets.[10] In September 1989, the remaining NC sets were replaced by two carriage L sets from Hornsby.[11] These were replaced in January 1992.[12]

 
The vestibule of a converted R set in November 2008

In May 1987, the ten newest driving trailers based at Hornsby were renumbered D4001–D4010 and the remainder began to have their control equipment removed and revert to ordinary trailers.[13] To allow the Tangaras to be targeted as T sets, the remaining two-car sets became L sets in April 1988.[14][15] When refurbished in the 1990s the crew compartments were removed.[16]

To operate services on the newly electrified Riverstone to Richmond line from August 1991, all 10 driving trailers and a number of Series 1 power cars were fitted with headlights.[17]

From October 1996, two-car L sets replaced U sets on suburban services between Thirroul, Port Kembla and Kiama.[18] These were later extended to three cars before being replaced by Tangaras in October 2011.

During the 1990s, all carriages were refurbished as part of the CityDecker program. This saw the interiors refurbished with white walls and ceilings, grey floors and blue seats. Power cars received a destination indicator and had yellow applied to the lower half of their fronts. Sliding Beclawat windows were replaced with hopper windows and doors painted yellow.

Replacement

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Tulloch trailer T4873 at Sydenham station in July 2003

After nearly 40 years of service, the Tulloch trailers were deemed life expired and the last withdrawn in March 2004. This resulted in a disproportionate number of power cars. To address the balance, 23 Comeng power cars were converted into trailers. Most of the conversions were Series 1 cars, however a few conversions involved Series 2 cars. This involved the removal of the yellow painted front (on some cars), pantograph and opening up of the driving compartment for passengers. Some cars had their external lights removed and plated over, and their cabs removed, other retained these fittings. All retained their motors and compressors for ballast purposes. The destination indicators were also retained as it would have cost too much to have them removed; they were painted over instead. These cars are easy to recognise as they have an open space where the pantograph once was.

During their history, S sets operated on all Sydney lines. The last six car R sets were deemed life expired in August 2012, with all carriages formed into four car S sets (which were typically operated in pairs). The last sets were transferred from Mortdale to Flemington in March 2013 bringing an end to their operation on Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra services. However, one set remained operational through parts of March and April on the line. In May 2014, all Hornsby sets were transferred to Flemington.

All remaining 498 carriages were to be replaced by A sets from 2012, with the last scheduled for replacement in 2015.[19] In March 2013, it was revealed that forty eight S sets would need to be retained after the full introduction of the A sets, as the option to build further A sets had lapsed, meaning no trains had been ordered for the South West Rail Link.[20] The last Series 1 power car was withdrawn in January 2014. The final A set was delivered in June 2014.[21] Following the delivery of the final A sets, Sydney Trains retained 48 four-car sets (192 carriages).[22]

In June 2014, the government announced that all timetabled services except those on the T7 Olympic Park shuttle, would be operated by air-conditioned trains.[21] With the introduction of a new timetable in November 2017, 40 four car sets were temporarily required to operate the weekday service, while the B sets were delivered. This meant that S sets would once again be scheduled to operate services on all lines in Sector 2.

Final days

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The remaining forty eight S sets were gradually replaced by twenty four eight-carriage B set trains throughout the course of 2018 and 2019, with 14 S set carriages being retained for heritage purposes. Six S sets were initially kept for emergencies but sufficient availabilities of other air-conditioned rolling stock ultimately deemed this redundant.[23][24][25] The new B sets replaced timetabled K set runs, while the K sets moved on to S set runs. The remaining S sets were mostly phased out by the end of April 2019, with the introduction of an updated timetable of the Sydney Trains network. All of the final sets were withdrawn by June 2019.

On 27 June 2019, Transport Minister Andrew Constance joined Sydney Trains Chief Executive Howard Collins and rail employees on a farewell run from Central Station across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Lavender Bay.[26][27] The last timetabled S set service ran on the following night, on 28 June 2019, on the T7 Olympic Park Line. Two public farewell events were held on Sunday 21 July 2019.[28][29] The final revenue S set service was a special charter on the afternoon of 21 July, organised by the Sydney Electric Train Society and operated in conjunction with Transport Heritage NSW and Sydney Trains.

During their final days S sets operated on the following lines:

Preservation

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[30]
Car Number Set Owner Build Date Notes
T4058 DT1 Sydney Trains October 1977 (As D4058)

October 1997 (As T4058)

Petersham Training Centre. Painted flake grey (likely) to deter vandalism.

Not accessible to the public.

C3840 DT1 Sydney Trains (Lewisham Training Centre) January 1973 Petersham Training Centre. Painted flake grey and yellow (likely) to deter vandalism. Destination board is covered.

Not accessible to the public.

C3861 S1 Sydney Trains / Sydney Electric Train Society 4 December 1973 Stored. Not accessible to the public.
T4983 S1 20 November 1978 Stored. Not accessible to the public.
T4003 S1 5 March 1979 (as D4080)

July 1987 (as D4003)

October 2005 (as T4003)

Stored. Not accessible to the public.
C3057 S1 22 April 1980 Stored. Not accessible to the public.
C3805 SP1* Sydney Trains / THNSW / HET 4 April 1972 Painted in PTC blue and white between February 1976 and the 1980s.

First Comeng S set carriage. Under restoration.

T4150 SP3* 9 May 1980 Carriage that Queen Elizabeth rode on. Under restoration.
C3814 SP2* June 1973 Painted in PTC blue and white between March 1976 and November 1979.

Stripped for spare parts, scrapped 21 May 2024.

C3001 S56 20 December 1978 Stored. Last ran 27th of March during Super 8 Tour to Wyong.
T4101 S56 20 December 1978
T4961 S56 14 April 1976
C3862 S56 10 December 1973
C3986 S28 July 1978 Operational and certified. Accessible to the public on tour runs.
T4050 S28 11 July 1977
T4013 S28 22 February 1974
C3765 S28 9 May 1980

*SPx is denoted on internal fleet lists as of circa June 2016. L1 has been seen around 2018 when HET acquired the cars, however presently no setplates are worn.[31]

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References

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  1. ^ L, R and S Set (Comeng type) control motor – CityRail (Internet Archive)
  2. ^ R and S Set (Goninan type) control motor – CityRail (Internet Archive)
  3. ^ a b Dunn, John (2010). Comeng A History of Commonwealth Engineering Volume 3 1966–1977. Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 151–173. ISBN 9781877058905.
  4. ^ "EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1989 page 86
  5. ^ "Rolling Stock – The EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1991 page 96
  6. ^ "Deployment of the Electric Train Fleet as at 31 December 1983" Railway Digest March 1984 page 88
  7. ^ "EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1985 page 61
  8. ^ "1982/83 SRA Annual Report" Railway Digest June 1984 page 212
  9. ^ "Rostering Electrics to Newcastle" Railway Digest August 1984 page 250
  10. ^ "Electric Cars" Railway Digest August 1989 page 281
  11. ^ "Electric Cars" Railway Digest December 1989 page 414
  12. ^ "The New Timetable" Railway Digest December 1991 page 454
  13. ^ "The Thirty-First of May" Railway Digest July 1987 page 210
  14. ^ "EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1988 page 77
  15. ^ "L Sets" Railway Digest June 1988 page 219
  16. ^ "A Review of Electric Multiple Unit rolling stock" Railway Digest September 1996 page 31
  17. ^ "Rolling Stock – The EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1992 page 113
  18. ^ "EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1997 page 38
  19. ^ Railcorp selling off train carriages – perfect for the person who has everything Daily Telegraph 29 December 2011
  20. ^ Commuters stuck with old trains on new rail link Archived 18 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Sydney Morning Herald 15 March 2013
  21. ^ a b "NSW Government delivers final Waratah train: all Sydney services air-conditioned". Transport for NSW. 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  22. ^ Saulwick, Jacob (16 July 2013). "Old trains will stay in service for long after choose-by date". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  23. ^ Sydney EMU order to cope with growth Archived 7 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 2 December 2016
  24. ^ New Waratah trains finally signal end to Sydney's sweat sets Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine Sydney Morning Herald 22 March 2018
  25. ^ New air conditioned trains arrive Transport for NSW 22 March 2018
  26. ^ "End of the line for the S-Set trains". Transport for NSW. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  27. ^ End of the line for Sydney's 'sweat set' trains Archived 27 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine Sydney Morning Herald 27 June 2019
  28. ^ "SETS Tours – S-Set Farewell Tour". sets.org.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  29. ^ "S-Sets Farewell | Transport Heritage NSW | Australia". thnsw.com.au. 20 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  30. ^ "SETS Fleet – Double-Deck Suburban Cars". sets.org.au. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  31. ^ "Ancillary Fleet List". trackrecordfl. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  32. ^ "5 SECONDS OF SUMMER Release Video For 'Old Me'". GIG GOER. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.

Beckhaus, John; Halgren, Stephen (2007), Sydney's Electric Trains, Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division, ISBN 978-0-9757870-8-3

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