N type carriage.html



N type carriage
N class locomotive hauling a five car N type carriage set Interior of an unrefurbished ACN type first class carriage
Manufacturer	Victorian Railways
Built at	Newport Workshops
Constructed	1981 - 1984
Entered service	1981 -
Refurbishment	2007
Formation	ACN-BRN-BN, some sets have extra BZN and BTN cars.
Operator	V/Line, various heritage operators
Line(s) served	All lines
Specifications
Doors	Manual swing, 2 per side
Articulated sections	Rubber corridor connectors
Maximum speed	115kmh (70mph)
Power supply	Underfloor generator or Head end power
Gauge	Broad gauge only

The N type carriages are an intercity passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. They were introduced between 1981 and 1984 as part of the 'New Deal' reforms of country passenger rail services. Today there are seen on both V/Line long distance InterCity services, as well as shorter InterUrban services.

The carriage sets have both first class 2+2 seating, and 2+3 economy seating. Snack bar facilities are also provided onboard. Originally delivered as 3 car sets, some sets were extended in length with S and Z type carriages.

Today the carriages are normally hauled by N class diesel locomotives. The carriages can use an external head end power supply for lighting and air conditioning operation, or an internal generator set. Each carriage has two swing doors per side, which were originally manually opened by passengers, but have since been converted to powered operation by the conductor. Toilets, drinking fountains and luggage areas are provided throughout each carriage set.

History

The order for the N type carriages was placed in 1977 for 30 carriages (10 sets) for use on the Geelong line, with 6 cars added to the order in 1978 for the Ballarat line, due to a by-election in the city.¹ Under the New Deal of 1981 the order was extended to 54 carriages, and then to 57 due to cost savings during construction.² They were built between 1981 and 1984, based upon the structural design of the Victorian Z type carriages built between 1956 and 1960.³

In 2007 V/Line commenced a refurbishment program for their existing H type carriages and Sprinter railcars,⁴ this program later being extended to the N type carriages. In October 2007 the first refurbished N type carriage was released into traffic with the new V/Line grey exterior livery, as well as updated interior curtains and seat fabrics.⁵ Since then various complete sets have been released from refurbishment (FN3, FN6, VN12, N13, FN14, VN17), along with a number of loose BZN carriages. Work continues on the remainder of the fleet.

Coding

N type carriages are individually numbered in the 1 to 57 series. Sets were issued to traffic with three types of carriage:

• ACN first class with conductors van
• BRN economy class with snack bar
• BN economy class

From 1995 surplus Z type carriages were upgraded to N type interiors, with the following codes but with their original Z type numbers:

• BZN economy class with disabled access and toilet
• BTN economy class

Carriage sets

Interior of an unrefurbished BTN type economy carriage

The N cars appear in fixed sets not altered in ordinary service. The sets are numbered between 1 and 19. Initially issued to service as 3 car sets, from 1995 additional cars of the BCZ, ACZ, BS, BZN or BTN type were attached to give longer sets. Additional cars may also be temporary attached or detached to a set without the set code being altered.

• N: 3 car set
• FN: 4 car set
• VN: 5 car set
• SN: 6 car set (only 1 at present)

References

• V/Linecars.com: N set information
• Peter J Vincent: ACN cars
• Peter J Vincent: BRN cars
• Peter J Vincent: BN cars
• Peter J Vincent: BZN cars