Diesel Electric railmotor (VR)
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The Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM) was a railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways of Australia.
History
Originally built as a Petrol Electric Rail Motor (PERM), they were the longest-lived railmotor on the Victorian Railways, with the first entering service in 1928 and the last being withdrawn in 1991. The first railmotor was built by the St. Louis Car Company and shipped to Australia where the Victorian Railways built a further nine copies of it. It was powered by a 220 hp Winton petrol engine which was used until the 1950s when they were converted to twin Diesel Electric engines giving a total of 255 bhp.[1]
By the 1970s the longest regular scheduled journey run by a DERM was the Bendigo to Robinvale run, withdrawn on 3 June 1978. A DERM with a DERM Trailer car ran a regular passenger train on the South Gippsland Line from the 1960s - 1970s.[2] In the late '70s RM 55 and RM 61 were extensively modified with the cab being rebuilt, the engine being relocated and the engine room rebuilt with porthole windows, and new aluminium cabin windows fitted. As such they looked significantly different.
DERMs with the porthole windows were a familiar sight on the Mornington and Stony Point lines prior to the line closures in the early 1980s.
Trailers
As of 1983, 28MT had been scrapped and 27, 29 and 30MT were all withdrawn account poor condition, and the Brill trailer 200MT was stored unservicable at Newport workshops. 26MT was still in use along with the ex-W-type trailers 31MT, 32MT, 33MT and 34MT.
Details of vehicles
Motor units [3][4]
Railmotor | Entered service | Upgraded to DERM | Withdrawn | Scrapped | Current Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
55RM | 7/3/1928 | 27/10/1952 | 1993 | Preserved - Operational | "Super DERM" - SGR | |
56RM | 29/3/1930 | 29/8/1952 | Pending Restoration | Steamrail Ballarat | ||
57RM | 16/4/1930 | 30/12/1952 | 1982 | Scrapped | ||
58RM | 3/5/1930 | 10/5/1952 | Preserved - Operational | DERMPAV | ||
59RM | 14/5/1930 | 23/5/1953 | Preserved - Unservicable | DERMPAV | ||
60RM | 18/6/1930 | 29/10/1951 | Pending Restoration | DERMPAV | ||
61RM | 21/6/1930 | 29/10/1953 | 1978 | Preserved - Operational | "Super DERM" - VGR | |
62RM | 21/7/1930 | 26/1/1952 | Preserved - Unservicable | YVR | ||
63RM | 7/8/1930 | 6/12/1952 | Preserved - Operational | DCSR | ||
64RM | 27/4/1931 | 26/7/1952 | Under Restoration | DERMPAV |
Trailers [5]
Railmotor | Entered service | Withdrawn | Scrapped | Current Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
26MT | 1930-04-29 | 1982 | DCSR | ||
27MT | 1930-04-29 | 1982 | |||
28MT | 1930-10-04 | 1981 | 1981 | ||
29MT | 1930-09-26 | 1982 | |||
30MT | 1930-09-26 | 1982 |
Preservation
All but one of the DERMs have survived into preservation, with 57RM being the only DERM to have been scrapped. Four are operational, with the remaining five in various conditions. Below is a brief outline of the status of the DERMs (as at February 2016):
- 55RM - "Super DERM" Stored at the former South Gippsland Tourist Railway Owned by VicTrack heritage, allocated to ARHS Museum on lease to SGR.
- 56RM - Stored at Steamrail Ballarat East, owned by VicTrack Heritage
- 57RM - Scrapped
- 58RM - Operational for mainline use, owned by DERMPAV
- 59RM - Was stored at Mornington Railway, transferred to DERMPAV in September 2015. To be used as parts for 58RM, then as a long-term restoration project.
- 60RM - Stored at Newport Workshops, owned by DERMPAV
- 61RM - "Super DERM" Operational at the Victorian Goldfields Railway.
- 62RM - Undergoing restoration at the Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
- 63RM - Operational on the Daylesford Spa Country Railway; visually restored to 1930s livery of dark red with silver stripes
- 64RM - Under restoration by DERMPAV
Model Railways
HO Scale
- Steam Era Models produces a plastic kit (including a motor) for the DERM.[6][7]
- Trainbuilder has released sets of DERM+Trailers in ready-to-run brass.[8]
- Eureka Models has announced an intent to release ready-to-run models sometime in the future.
See also
References
- ↑ "DERM Railmotors". VictorianRailways.net. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ↑ Banger, Chris (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). 25 (3): 77–82.
- ↑ "Surviving E.M.C. Railcars - DERMPAV". Retrieved 1 November 2016.
- ↑ "DERM/PERM - Pjv101.net". Retrieved 1 November 2016.
- ↑ "Derm Trailers - Pjv101.net".
- ↑ http://www.steameramodels.com/locos.htm
- ↑ http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p1117090.htm
- ↑ http://trainbuilder.com/derm