Tourist Passenger First Class Carriage No BL356

1. Exhibit History

BL 356 is a non-air conditioned tourist centre aisle first-class sitting car. The carriage was originally constructed by Hudson Brothers as a first class cross-seat side loading compartment carriage originally numbered BI 6. It entered service as a suburban carriage (without toilets) in October 1890.

It was renumbered and re-coded BI 356 in the system wide carriage renumbering in October 1892.

After the completion of the first stage of suburban electrification in Sydney, the Railways administrators decided to withdraw from service all of the suburban side loading compartment carriages which were by then, deemed to be unsuitable for country working due to their lack of toilet facilities. The carriages were used for country services, but the complaints from the travelling public about the lack of toilet facilities were very vocal.

Rather than scrap the carriages completely, it was recognised that parts of the carriages could be re-used and rebuilt to satisfy the growing demands for what was to become the first "interurban" services in the area bounded by Nowra, Goulburn, Lithgow, and Newcastle.

The carriages were gutted, leaving their under-frames, bogies, roofs, and in some cases, the floors.

The new type of carriage to emerge was the "L" series comprising BL (1st Class), FL (2nd Class), RFL (2nd Class with Buffet) and HFL (2nd Class with Guards compartment).

The cars were formed into close-coupled sets of 6 carriages and designated CUB Sets. They were the first country stock to be close coupled into fixed sets.

In May 1933 the original body of BI 356 was gutted and rebuilt into corridor carriage BL 356. It retained only the underframe, bogies, and roof. The carriage was formed into CUB close-coupled set No. 85.

BL 356 is one of the "short" BL carriages. There were 11 similar vehicles with seating capacity for 36, compared to 40 for the 13 "long" BL carriages. The short BL could be recognised by the single window adjacent to the entrance door.

The original formation of CUB Set 85 was HFL 343, BL 337, BL 356, RFL 418, FL 355, and HFL 416. It remained in this format until 1945 when cars were changed within the sets as overhauls demanded.

The carriage was withdrawn from service and condemned in May 1985.

The Museum owns this car (although the SRA Heritage Web-site indicates that the SRA owns the car).

The technical details are:

Tare weight: 23 tons

Seating: 36 first class passengers

Underframe: Steel

Body: Timber construction, with Square-ended Mansard roof and end vestibules.

Couplings: Screw type with buffer diaphragms.

Bearings: Plain journal type with oil axleboxes.

The object is currently on display at the NSWRTM's Valley Heights Site.

2. Collection History

The NSW Rail Transport Museum purchased BL 356 in 1985.

BL 356 was chosen for conversion to a buffet/sales car by the NSWRTM for use on the Tourist Railway Loop Line. Work commencing in 1986, being abandoned in 1987, after internal partitions were cut out and the interior partially stripped.

BL356 was selected as an exhibit for the Valley Heights Museum and was transported to that site in 1998.

Currently BL 356 is subject to conservation work which will see the removed seating and partitions reinstalled and the carriage returned to its correct configuration.

BL 356 is listed as an NSWRTM exhibit because it demonstrates the type of vehicle used from the 1930's by the NSWGR to provide lightweight express trains and later in their careers, interurban travel to major country centres.

3. Statement of Significance

BL 356 is one of the few surviving examples of the "Thow" style of carriage building of the late nineteenth century which were common vehicles on the NSWGR system for many years.

It displays some features of that era in the adoption of standardised body construction, common components and steel fabrication for under-frames by the NSWGR.

Equally important is that this car displays the result of a complete change in body design. This change was brought about passenger rejection of the lack of toilets in the original all-compartment design. The carriage displays how a new saloon body, more suited to travelling in the mid twentieth century was constructed utilising the original underframe, bogies and roof sections.

This car performed as part of the early twentieth century urban railway services and the mid twentieth century tourist services in NSW and has strong period qualities.

The alterations to the car demonstrates how the railways modified carriages in line with technological and commercial developments.