The NZR RM class Vulcan railcars were operated by the New Zealand Government Railways (NZR) in the South Island of New Zealand. All New Zealand railcars are classified as RM (Rail Motor), and this class derived their nomenclature from the name of the manufacturer, the Vulcan Foundry of Britain.
Background
On 9 May 1938, the Minister of Railways announced an order for ten railcars from the Vulcan Foundry of Britain. Six railcars of the Standard type were under construction at the Hutt Workshops but delays in deliveries of materials and equipment from England meant it was impracticable to build more cars in New Zealand. The order for ten more railcars was therefore placed overseas.
The first Vulcan railcar arrived in New Zealand in September 1940. Three more arrived by April 1941, with all nine members in operation by the second half of 1942. Ten railcars were built, but only nine arrived in New Zealand as the ship carrying the tenth was sunk during World War II.
Description
The Vulcan railcars had a driver's compartment at each end, so they did not need to be turned at the terminus for the return journey. They originally had 28 and 22 seats in the two passenger compartments. In the mid-1950s the smaller compartment in each vehicle was reduced by 2 seats and replaced with a small guard's compartment, thus reducing the total number of passengers from 50 to 48.A luggage compartment had space for about 1 ton of luggage, and an onboard toilet was provided.
The original livery was plain Midland red with a grey roof and black undergear. From 1951 onwards, as they came in for overhauls, they were repainted Carnation red with silver or off-white stripes on the sides and ends, and silver or white roofs.
They had a low axle loading to allow them to operate on the light track and bridges on the Stillwater–Westport Line to provide a proposed new Greymouth–Westport service, once the building of the line was completed. Hence the power bogie was built with three axles with an intermediate carrying axle (with flangeless wheels) instead of two axles as originally proposed. They were designed to operate at speeds of up to , though in service they were restricted to a maximum speed of , which was still fast for rural New Zealand railway lines at the time.
Speed records
On trials on 25 October 1940, RM 50 achieved a speed of on a section of the Midland Line east of Springfield. This remains the fastest speed officially attained on New Zealand's railway network.
Operation
Before all members of the class had arrived, from 28 October 1940 Vulcan and Midland railcars alternated the Christchurch–Greymouth–Hokitika services along the Midland Line and the Ross Branch. A Vulcan railcar ran on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and a smaller Midland railcar ran on the other days. By September 1942, the Vulcans had fully taken over the service and the Midland railcars were withdrawn and then scrapped.
From 7 September 1942, wartime petrol restrictions meant the Vulcans were put into service on the Stillwater–Westport Line between Greymouth and Westport (150 km or 93 miles), even though the line through the Buller Gorge technically wasn't finished and hadn't been handed over to the Railways Department from the Public Works Department. Early morning and mid-afternoon services were provided in each direction daily. With double running (two cars coupled together) this meant four vehicles could be required for these services, which connected with Christchurch–Greymouth passenger express trains at Stillwater. Also due to the petrol restrictions, a service between Christchurch and Timaru was instituted and the Hokitika run extended all the way to Ross. After the war ended, the West Coast services continued to operate, but the Timaru run ceased.
On 20 February 1956, the new articulated 88 seater railcars replaced the Vulcans on the Christchurch–Greymouth–Ross services. This allowed freed-up Vulcan railcars to provide daily Dunedin–Cromwell passenger services along the Otago Central Line (250 km or 155 miles) from 1 October 1956. From 11 May 1958, the services were cut back to Dunedin–Alexandra (220 km or 136 miles) due to low passenger numbers beyond Alexandra.
On 29 September 1958, a weekday morning service commenced using Vulcans on part of the Main South Line from Palmerston to Dunedin, and a return service run in the evening. The railcars were also used for Dunedin suburban services – notably a midday service to Port Chalmers – whenever they were available for such use.
The Vulcan railcars were never used in the North Island, where the Standard railcars performed a similar role.