H type carriage.html



H type carriage
H type carriage set, led by a A class locomotive, and power van. Interior of a carriage refurbished in 2007
Manufacturer	Victorian Railways
Built at	Newport Workshops
Replaced	Wooden bodied stock
Constructed	Built 1956 - 1968 as Harris suburban EMU's. Rebuilt 1984 - 1990 to locomotive hauled carriages.
Refurbishment	2007
Formation	Varies by set, but generally contains 3-5 cars.
Operator	V/Line
Specifications
Doors	Manually opened but remotely closed and locked, 2 per side
Articulated sections	Open gangways
Maximum speed	115kmh (70mph)
Power supply	Head end power
Gauge	Broad gauge only

The H type carriages are an interurban passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. Fitted with economy class only high density 2+3 seating, they are exclusively used on short distance interurban services with V/Line.

History

Between 1983 and 1992 Clyde Engineering converted 61 cars from early Harris suburban Electric Multiple Units to replace the last of the older wooden carriage stock¹ They had been ordered after the success of the 1981 New Deal in increasing patronage.

The four 'MTH' variants were originally converted for use with the DRC railcars until the early 1990s, being provided with underfloor generators. They were then used as locomotive hauled carriages on the unelectrified suburban Stony Point line operated by Connex Melbourne until 26 April 2008 when Sprinter trains were introduced on the route instead. Two H cars, BIH181 and BIH187 have been removed from their original sets (FSH21 and FSH27) in October 2006 and are stored in the Newport Workshops.

Set FSH25 was the first set to be refurbished and repainted into the new V/Line livery, reentering service in September 2007.² FSH23 followed in May 2008,³ with refurbishment of the remainder of the sets is to be completed by mid 2009.⁴

Usage

The carriages are hauled by N class, A class or P class diesel locomotives, with though cabling providing multiple-unit train control and enabling push pull train operations. The carriages require a head end power supply for lighting and air conditioning operation, either supplied by an appropriate locomotive or a separate power van. Each carriage has two doors per side, manually opened by passengers, but remotely closed and locked by the train conductor. Toilets, drinking fountains and luggage areas are provided throughout each carriage set.

Coding

H type carriages are numbered in the 121 - 194 series. Sets were issued to traffic with three types of carriage:

• BCH economy class with conductors van
• BH economy class
• BTH economy class with terminal connections

Additional cars were later constructed to increase capacity. These cars did not feature toilets:

• BIH economy class intermediate

Carriage sets

The H type carriage are fixed into semi permanent sets, identified with the following codes, in conjunction with a unique number:

• SH - 3 carriages
• FSH - because of the F, this means that the sets contains 4 carriages.
• VSH - the V means that the set contains 5 carriages

Two sets were created from 75 feet (23 m) long Harris trailers, originally made up of carriages BCH-BH-BTH, these are known as the 'long' sets. The H sets with only conventional length cars are known as the 'short' sets.

• SH - the S meaning short.
• VLH - the L meaning long.

Sets originally entered service as 3 car sets, later having additional cars added to being them up to four cars. With the breaking up of some sets and reallocation of carriages longer carriage sets have since been formed.

Gallery

2 MTH cars at Stony Point station

H set in the original orange and grey V/Line livery

References

• Vicsig: H Cars information
• V/LineCars.com: H Cars information
• Peter J Vincent: BCH cars
• Peter J Vincent: BH cars
• Peter J Vincent: BTH cars
• Peter J Vincent: BIH cars