DP 14 Railcar.
DP14 is a self-propelled passenger carrying vehicle.
The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) ordered four steel bodied, diesel engine railcars in 1939.
The bodies were built by Waddingtons in NSW and powered by a Gardner engine.
Being powered by the smaller 102hp engine they became known as the “small DP’s” as they couldn’t operate
with the PT trailers.
DP 14 was fitted with a toilet from new, unlike the other three that would later receive this modification.
When public passenger services ceased in 1978, most remaining railcars were scrapped but several were preserved. DP14 had its motor removed, as with several other railcars, as the diesel engine was found to be perfect for small fishing boats. The Tasmanian Transport Museum Society (TTMS) purchased three railcars in 1979, and DP14 was offered to the society as an afterthought.
It was moved to their museum site in October of the same year and was used as a members’ crib and storage room until 1994, when it was sold. The new owners, Classic Rail Tours, returned DP 14 to operational condition and operated several public and private charter excursions on the Tasrail network using DP14 and its sister railcar, DP13.
In 2002, Classic Rail Tours sold the train to the Burnie City Council, which developed plans to operate regular public excursions on the Western Line between Burnie and Penguin on the Northwest Coast. With a ban on passenger trains in 2006, the railcars remained in storage adjacent to the old Emu Bay Railway station at Burnie. Falling victim to arson in 2012 DP13 was partially destroyed, but DP14 escaped without major damage.
After this DP 13 was sold to a group in Queensland, and DP 14 along with PT 5 was orgainised to be loaned to Don River Railway in 2017 for the want of a safer home. Although this was to be short lived as it was purchased by a private business operator and was transported to private property at Karoola.
Restoration by the owner is on going.
PT 5
PT5 is one of several steel-bodied railcar trailers built for the Tasmanian Government
Railways. PT5 was one of an additional two delivered in 1944. They were designed to operate as motor-trailer multiple unit pairs with the TGR’s 153hp diesel railcars. They featured a driving compartment at one end and could each accommodate 60 passengers. Both PT5 and PT6 featured an interconnecting door at both ends.
PT5 commenced service as part of a multiple unit set on the Western Line between Launceston and Smithton. With the gradual withdrawal of regional passenger services through the 1950s and 1960s, PT5 was relocated to Hobart for operation on the suburban service. When the service was axed in 1975, it was then stored in Hobart.
In 1979 it was sold to the Wee Georgie Wood Society at Tullah, on the West Coast. PT5 was one of the last passenger vehicles to be removed from Hobart, its delivery not proceeding until 1981. The society eventually sold it on to a private owner, also in Tullah.It remained on the property until 2001, when it was purchased by the Burnie City Council.
It was then returned to working condition by Don River Railway and operated with railcars DP13 and DP14 as a three-car passenger set. This meant both railcars had to be running, as it was not intended to be towed by the small DPs. When the Council ceased its passenger operations in 2005, it remained stored with the railcars at the former EBR station.
In 2012 when DP 13 was burnt PT 5 was slightly damaged and was moved to Don River with DP 14 until purchased by a private business man.