69-633: The New South Wales XPT (short for e X press P assenger T rain) is a class of diesel-powered passenger trains built by Comeng and ABB . Based on the British Rail -designed High Speed Train , each XPT set comprises two XP power cars in a push-pull configuration and, between them, between four and seven passenger carriages. The XPT was procured following a competitive tendering process under an initial contract for 30 trainsets, comprising 10 power cars and 20 carriages, in March 1980. The design of
138-579: A level crossing in the Gerogery level crossing accident . Five people in the car were killed, and the train was derailed. On 20 February 2020, a Sydney to Melbourne bound XPT derailed in the Wallan derailment , killing the train's driver and pilot and injuring twelve. The leading powercar, XP2018 was rebuilt as XP2019, re-entering service in February 2023. Two carriages were written off. In October 2016,
207-551: A loading gauge bigger than that of railways in Britain, were based on a Budd design. Nonetheless, the passenger car bogies were based on the British Rail BT10 design; later trailer cars used an ABB design. The XPT is theoretically capable of reaching speeds of 200 km/h (125 mph). During August 1981, the first power car and trailer commenced testing with a stainless steel luggage van . The initial XPT livery
276-534: A "mixed marriage" because the odd-numbered car came with General Electric motors and equipment and was permanently coupled to the even-numbered car, which had Westinghouse motors and equipment. One car in this fleet was air conditioned. These cars were replaced with more modern, air-conditioned M-4 units from 1997 to 1999. Some cars were transferred to the Norristown High Speed Line in the early 1990s. The cars had to be re-trucked , because
345-518: A change in how the commuters were handled but were the first cars in commuter service to have air conditioning . The Burlington retrofitted its earlier cars with air conditioning once the new cars entered service. With the first of the new commuter cars in service on the Burlington , the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway also approached Budd to improve their rolling stock. In September 1952,
414-800: A further five power cars and 15 trailers were ordered; these allowed the Canberra XPT to commence in August 1983 followed by the Northern Tablelands XPT to Glen Innes and Tenterfield (two times per week only) in June 1984. The XPT cut 50 minutes off the trip between Sydney and Canberra. By tightening up the diagrams, an overnight South XPT to Albury was introduced, but was withdrawn in June 1985 due to low patronage. During 1985, an additional 12 trailer carriages were ordered to allow six sets of 7 carriages to be formed. From October 1985,
483-464: A locomotive hauled set on a service to Grafton. During October 1990, the government announced that eight sleeper carriages would be ordered for use on overnight services to Brisbane, Murwillumbah and Melbourne. These were included in an order placed with ABB in 1991 for four power cars and 13 trailers that was jointly funded by the New South Wales and Victorian governments. At the same time,
552-683: A modernized diesel passenger car which was very problematic, as it had only four buyers: ( Amtrak , ONCF , Metro-North and Connecticut Department of Transportation ) and was prematurely retired within 15 years. The fallout from the SPV-2000 furthered the company's decline. In 1978, as Budd began to phase out its railcar business to concentrate on the automotive industry, it was acquired by Thyssen AG, becoming its automotive division in Europe (Thyssen Automotive) and North America (Budd Thyssen). The CTA 2600 series cars were finished in 1987 and were
621-607: A number of Budd-built cars in its collection in Strasburg : the 1937 observation car built for the Reading Company " Crusader ", a Lehigh Valley Railroad rail diesel car of 1951, and Pennsylvania Railroad 860, a Metroliner snackbar-coach built in 1968. The Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society has two RDCs in its collection: #5718, built in 1953 for the New Haven Railroad , and #7001, built in 1961 for
690-582: A number of railroads; many of these were known, at least colloquially, as "silverliners". After briefly dabbling with French Michelin rubber-tired technology (" Michelines " and the Silver Slipper ), they built the Pioneer Zephyr for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1934, the first of several integrated streamliner trainsets. The General Pershing Zephyr of 1938 pioneered
759-503: A reinforced plastic in sheet form, suitable for stamping out body panels in much the same way, and as quickly as sheet metal equivalents are made. The Pontiac Fiero has some exterior SMC body parts manufactured by Budd Plastics – such as quarter panels, roof skin, headlamp covers, and trunk lids. From the 1930s until 1987, the Budd Company was a leading manufacturer of stainless steel streamlined passenger rolling stock for
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#1732779825983828-568: A report into NSW rail services. On purely economic grounds, the report recommended closing all country passenger services as they were judged unviable; however this was not politically acceptable. If services were to be maintained, the report recommended operating a reduced rail service, all with XPTs. During February 1990, both the Brisbane Limited and Pacific Coast Motorail were withdrawn and replaced by XPT services to Brisbane and Murwillumbah . To provide rolling stock for these,
897-698: A seven-day repeating cycle as follows: Between each duty in Sydney, trains are serviced at the XPT Service Centre south of Sydenham station . This pattern has led to the XPT being one of the most utilised train fleets worldwide with only three significant periods of downtime in the cycle. This includes one overnight stabling in Grafton, between days 2 and 3, and two overnight stablings in Sydney, between days 4 and 5, and days 7 and 1. During 1986, an agreement
966-477: A similar concept to Ford first. In 1961, Budd combined a 1957 Ford Thunderbird body with a 1961 Ford Falcon chassis to produce a sporty convertible. Ford chose to develop its entry into this segment, the Mustang , on its own Falcon chassis. In 1965, Budd designed and manufactured a front disc brake system for some Chrysler , Imperial , and full-size Plymouth and Dodge automobiles from 1966 to 1968. By
1035-704: A similar set of cars (known as the Breda A650 ) were built by Breda for the Red and Purple lines of the Los Angeles Metro Rail between 1988 and 1997. Stainless steel railcars were also built in Portugal by Sorefame under license. Amtrak 's 492 Amfleet I and 150 Amfleet II cars were built by Budd in 1975–77 and 1981–83. The Metroliner-based Amfleet body was recycled for use in the SPV-2000 ,
1104-706: A small class of four-current six-axle high speed electric locomotives for Trans Europ Express service between Paris , Brussels , and Amsterdam and SNCB class 56 EMU. In Japan, the Tokyu Car Corporation became the licensee of the Budd process and made stainless steel commuter cars like its Series 7000. Mafersa continued to manufacture cars based on Budd designs, building 38 for Virginia Railway Express between 1990 and 1992, some now at Shore Line East . Canadian Vickers and Avco built cars and incomplete kit shells (for GE) under Budd license, including
1173-526: A tender for a train based on the British Rail designed High Speed Train , which had entered service in the United Kingdom in 1976. During August 1979, Comeng was announced as the successful bidder and, although the tender had called for 100 vehicles, by the time the contract was signed in March 1980, the order was only for 30: 10 power cars and 20 carriages, enough to form four five-carriage trains with two spare power cars. The High Speed Train design
1242-443: A way to increase capacity on commuter trains serving Chicago, Illinois , without having to add more cars. Chicago Union Station charged railroads by the length of each train. Budd proposed coaches that were taller than the typical lightweight passenger car while keeping the streamlined car's length of 85 feet but with double the capacity of cars. To address the issue of the conductor collecting tickets without having to climb stairs,
1311-1011: The Northern Tablelands XPT and the Riverina XPT . An XPT fare surcharge was discontinued in May 1985. During the early 1990s, sleeping cars were procured, permitting the XPT to effectively take on overnight services such as the Sydney/Melbourne Express . There were also advanced plans made for additional XPTs to be produced for Thailand, but these were later abandoned. The XPTs are presently operated under NSW TrainLink , running on long-distance regional and interstate North Coast , Main Western and Main Southern line services throughout New South Wales and interstate into Victoria and Queensland . The trains have been subject to refurbishments and overhauls to permit their use into
1380-568: The Burlington Route (and Burlington Northern after the merger), Rock Island , and Milwaukee Road lines during the 1960s and 1970s; most of these cars are still in service on today's Metra routes. The Santa Fe cars were the inspiration for the Amtrak Superliner and Superliner II which ply the rails on many different routes today, though they were not a product of Budd. Stainless steel Budd cars originally built for
1449-990: The Canadian Pacific Railway 's 1955 train The Canadian are still in service with Via Rail Canada . Since 1951, two formations of six Budd cars operated by Ferrobaires have run a weekly service called "El Marplatense" from Buenos Aires to the ocean-side city of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina ; they were originally built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway . Budd-patented processes and designs were also used in Brazil (by Mafersa ), France, and Belgium after World War II to construct SNCF electric-powered multiple-unit cars, push-pull suburban trainsets, Wagons-Lits [CIWL] sleeping cars and even SNCF Class CC 40100 ,
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#17327798259831518-623: The Canberra XPT was withdrawn and replaced by a locomotive hauled train and the Northern Tablelands Express was truncated to become a day return service to Tamworth . In June 1990, the government announced that it would purchase a fleet of Xplorers to reintroduce services to Armidale and Moree . When these were introduced in October 1993, the Northern Tablelands XPT ceased and the stock replaced
1587-781: The Mid North Coast XPT to Kempsey ceased, being replaced by the Holiday Coast XPT to Grafton . The Northern Tablelands XPT also was cut back to Armidale and only ran on alternate days with a HUB / RUB set operating on the other days. Initially, the XPT carried a fare surcharge compared to parallel locomotive hauled services; however this charge was abolished from May 1985. It was proposed to extend operations to Melbourne with costs to be shared with V/Line . A five-carriage promotional train ran to Melbourne on Sunday 17 February 1985, running four free return shuttles to Tullamarine Loop. Crew training commenced on
1656-742: The North East line between Albury and Benalla in July 1985 with services scheduled to commence on 3 August, however agreement could not be reached with the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Employees over crewing and the plan was shelved. Another promotional train ran to Melbourne in November 1990. Following the election of the Greiner government in March 1988, consultants Booz Allen Hamilton were commissioned to prepare
1725-829: The Prime Minister of Thailand to announce the agreement on television, however the Australian Department of Trade withdrew its support at the last moment and the deal fell through. [REDACTED] Media related to XPT at Wikimedia Commons Diesel locomotive Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 195420359 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:43:46 GMT Budd Company The Budd Company
1794-558: The Reading Railroad . The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad has three operating RDCs, with road numbers 9166, 9167 and 9168. A 1949 R11 (8013) and a 1964 R32 pair (3352-53) are in the New York Transit Museum fleet. Another R32 pair (3350-3351) is preserved by Railway Preservation Corp. The Indiana Transportation Museum maintains a fleet of fourteen closed-window Budd coaches built for
1863-611: The United States Navy using stainless steel in many places instead of aluminum. Only 25 were built but after the war, 14 found their way to the fledgling Flying Tiger Line . In 1962, Budd produced an operational concept car , the XR-400 , for the American Motors Corporation (AMC). It was designed to use AMC's existing chassis but ultimately did not enter production. Ironically, Budd tried to sell
1932-530: The Wallan derailment in 2020, UGL Rail was contracted to convert two XF economy sitting cars to an XAM sleeper and XBR first buffet. As at June 2023, the carriage fleet of 58 carriages comprised Initially, all services operated with five carriage sets. Following the purchase of extra carriages, this was increased to seven. In 1998, each set was reduced to six carriages. During 2001, all were reduced to five carriages outside of school holiday periods. Presently, XPTs operate with four carriages to Dubbo (formed from
2001-471: The XPT Service Centre , a purpose built depot south of Sydenham station within the confines of the Meeks Road Triangle. All work is performed here except for wheel reprofiling which is performed on a wheel lathe at Flemington Maintenance Depot . On 3 May 1991, an XPT locomotive derailed at Henty , injuring the driver and six passengers. On 27 January 2001, an XPT collided with a car on
2070-454: The " shotweld " technique for joining pieces of stainless steel without damaging its anti-corrosion properties in the 1930s. Budd Company became part of Budd Thyssen in 1978, and in 1999 a part of ThyssenKrupp Budd . Body and chassis operations were sold to Martinrea International in 2006. No longer an operating company, Budd filed for bankruptcy in 2014. It currently exists to provide benefits to its retirees. Edward G. Budd developed
2139-596: The 1980 PATCO Series II cars, Metro-North M-2 Cosmopolitan , and the Arrow II/III/Silverliner IV MUs. Budd also issued a licence to Australian manufacturer Commonwealth Engineering in Sydney in the late 1950s and 1989 for a variety of projects including the monocoque self steer V set double-decker interurban electric multiple units considered by many to be one of the world's most advanced double-decker designs. Budd's extensive research into
New South Wales XPT - Misplaced Pages Continue
2208-526: The Budd Pioneer construction methods first used in 1956 on some of the later commuter cars, such as the Milwaukee Road gallery cars that operated out of Chicago and electric multiple unit (EMU) high-speed cars that operated between Washington, D.C. , and New York City . The final few RDC cars were built by Canadian Car & Foundry under license from Budd. In the late 1950s, Budd built
2277-535: The Budd Company and made its first flight in 1931. Built under Restricted License NR749, its design utilized concepts developed for the Savoia-Marchetti S-56 and was powered by a single 210 horsepower (160 kW) Kinner C-5 five-cylinder radial engine . The stainless steel construction process for the BB-1 was patented in 1942. At the time, stainless steel was not considered practical and only one
2346-544: The InterCity 125 was substantially modified. Testing commenced in August 1981 and the first set entered service under the State Rail Authority during January 1982. The XPT proved to be considerably faster than existing rolling stock, reducing the journey time between Sydney and Melbourne by up to two hours. Throughout the 1980s, additional XPT sets were procured, permitting the launch of services such as
2415-664: The NSW government announced the XPTs would be replaced as part of the Regional Train Project . Two months later, it was announced that several different train manufacturers had been shortlisted to supply the replacement trains. During February 2019, a contract with the Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) was signed for a new fleet of bi-mode Civity trains; these are to replace
2484-687: The Norristown line is standard gauge (4' 8½") while the Market-Frankford line is Pennsylvania trolley gauge (5' 2½"). Industrial historian Jonathan Feldman has concluded that Budd, along with other "old-line" suppliers of subway cars, "lacked advanced systems-integration know-how and the skills required to manage complex electrical systems and electronics. Each of these firms had built railroad and subway cars, but modern subway cars became increasingly complicated. Like aircraft and automobiles, they became platforms for electronics." In 1930,
2553-647: The PRR and Reading Company lines. Budd was contracted in 1966 by the PRR and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of High-Speed Ground Transportation (prior to the establishment of USDOT ) to build the original Metroliner multiple unit cars for luxury high-speed service on the Northeast Corridor . The 50 original cars were delivered in 1967–69. An additional 11 coaches were built for SEPTA but were not put into service until 1972 by Amtrak. The Metroliners have been either retired, rebuilt into coaches without
2622-596: The Santa Fe placed an order for two two-level prototypes, Budd's Lot 9679–129. Carrying the numbers 526 and 527, they were delivered in July 1954, at which time both were placed into service for evaluation. These prototypes had seating on both levels, stairs on one end to provide access to single-level cars, a stairway at the center of the car for access to toilets on the lower level, and a side door for passenger access. The lower floor also contained various mechanical and pneumatic equipment that otherwise would be mounted below
2691-518: The Santa Fe re-equipped the El Capitan , the only coach train operated between Chicago and Los Angeles , and assigned some to the Chicago – Galveston, Texas , Texas Chief line. An additional 12 step-down coaches, numbered 538 to 549, and 12 convertible coaches, numbered 725 to 736, were ordered in November 1962 and delivered between December 1963 and April 1964. Budd continued to build gallery passenger cars for Chicago -area commuter service on
2760-502: The XPTs. Originally scheduled to enter service sometime in 2023, the Civity fleet has been delayed, allegedly due to requested design changes. The government has not ruled out retaining XPTs after the introduction of the new trains. The XPT fleet is currently used on services from Sydney to Grafton , Casino , Brisbane , Dubbo and Melbourne . The Dubbo set is captive and operates a daily return service. The other seven sets rotate on
2829-568: The cabs, or de-powered and used as cab cars . The Silverliner II had a top speed of 90 mph (140 km/h) but ran at up to 100 mph (160 km/h) when the PRR used them on its Philadelphia-Harrisburg service. The Metroliner EMU cars operated at 110 to 125 mph (201 km/h), but every car was tested to at least 160 mph (260 km/h), although breakdowns in the system led Amtrak to derate them to 90 mph (140 km/h). Since their retirement from regular service, Amtrak has used them as cab-coaches. In 1960, Budd manufactured
New South Wales XPT - Misplaced Pages Continue
2898-455: The car converted from the high level on both ends to a step-down car as needed, coaches with both ends of the car having the end door at the upper level's height to provide access to adjoining passenger cars, and dining and lounge cars (with kitchens on the lower level) with partially glassed-in roofs similar to the Big Dome lounge cars that were also built by Budd and delivered around the time
2967-807: The closure of the Murwillumbah line , the XPT service was cut back to Casino from May 2004. During October 2013, using a set that had been isolated west of Lithgow by bushfires , it was deployed on the Outback Xplorer service to Broken Hill . A total of 19 XP power cars were built, originally powered by a Paxman Valenta 12RP200L engine with a single turbocharger. These were replaced from June 2000 by Paxman VP185 12-cylinder, diesel engines with four low-pressure turbochargers and two high-pressure turbochargers boasting 1,492 kW or 2,001 horsepower that had been successfully used by some British Rail High Speed Trains since 1994. Traction equipment
3036-484: The company made its first foray into the aviation industry by signing contracts to manufacture aircraft wheels and stainless steel wing ribs. Enea Bossi joined the company as the head of stainless steel research to supervise the design and construction of a four-seat biplane amphibian aircraft, the Budd BB-1 Pioneer . It was the first built with a stainless steel structure. This was the first aircraft for
3105-462: The country end as XL, XBR, XF and XFH), and five (formed from the country end as XAM, XL, XBR, XF and XFH) on the North Coast and Melbourne services, with six during peak times when an extra XF is added (formed from the country end as XAM, XL, XBR, XF, XF and XFH) The Dubbo set can operate with one power car if required, with the power car turned at its destination. The XPT fleet is maintained at
3174-514: The earlier stock was repainted in CountryLink livery. The power cars were repainted by Clyde Engineering at Kelso while the carriages were done in Breemar . In November 1993, XPTs replaced locomotive hauled stock on the overnight Sydney/Melbourne Express . In December 1994, an XPT daylight service to Melbourne was introduced by extending the Riverina XPT from Albury. The XPTs reduced
3243-790: The end of the 1950s, Budd had the following divisions and subsidiaries: Budd built two series of "L" cars for the Chicago Transit Authority , the 2200 series (1969–1970). and the 2600 series (1981–1987). They also built the New York City Subway R32 (1964–1965), the first PATCO Speedline cars (1968–1969) and the Long Island Rail Road / Metro-North Railroad M-1/M-3 (1968–1973,1984–1986). The Baltimore Metro and Miami Metrorail cars (1983) were built by Budd and marketed as Universal Transit Vehicles ;
3312-562: The first "safety" two-piece truck wheel, used extensively in World War II , and also built truck cargo bodies for the US military. Following the introduction of the " unibody " Citroën Traction Avant in 1934 using its technology, Budd developed North America's first mass-produced unibody automobile, the Nash 600 . In the mid-1980s, Budd's Plastics Division introduced sheet moulding compound ,
3381-677: The first all-steel automobile bodies. His first major supporters were the Dodge brothers. Following discussions which began in 1913, the brothers purchased from Budd 70,000 all-steel open touring bodies in 1916. They were soon followed by an all-steel Dodge sedan. Budd Company jointly founded , and from 1926 to 1936, held an interest in The Pressed Steel Company of Great Britain Limited ( Cowley , England), which built bodies for Morris Motors and others, and Ambi-Budd (Germany), which supplied Adler , Audi , BMW , NAG and Wanderer ; and earned royalties from Bliss (who built bodies for Citroën and Ford of Britain ). The Budd Company also created
3450-434: The first stainless steel production subway cars for Philadelphia 's Market–Frankford Line . 270 M-3 cars were jointly owned by the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Transportation Company , (later known as SEPTA). Some rail enthusiasts nicknamed the cars "Almond Joys" because the four hump-shaped ventilators on the roof evoked the candy bar's shape. There were 46 single units and 112 "married" pairs. The pairs were
3519-439: The floors of single-level cars. With the two Hi-Level prototypes in service proving to not only meet the needs of line but also being popular with passengers, the Santa Fe again approached Budd with the idea of building additional two-level cars. Budd developed another generation of cars for Santa Fe in five different configurations: step-down coaches like the two prototype cars, convertible coaches which could have one end of
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#17327798259833588-631: The last railcars to be built by Budd/Transit America. In the mid-1980s, Budd reorganized its rail operations under the name Transit America. Nonetheless, on April 3, 1987, Budd ended all railcar production at its Red Lion plant in Philadelphia and sold its rail designs to Bombardier Transportation . Many of its engineers joined the staff of Louis T. Klauder and Associates, a local railway vehicles and systems engineering consulting firm. When Thyssen merged with Krupp in 1999, Budd Thyssen became ThyssenKrupp Budd Co. in North America and ThyssenKrupp Automotive Systems GmbH in Europe. In 2006, ThyssenKrupp sold
3657-564: The majority of Budd's operations. Its body and chassis operations were sold to Martinrea International Inc. The plastics manufacturing and molding operations were sold to Continental Structural Plastics and the aluminum casing company Stahl was sold to Speyside Equity. Its last remaining operation was sold in 2012. Numerous Budd railcars are preserved either by museums or private owners, many of which run them in charter service. Their quality of construction and elegant design have made them highly prized. The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has
3726-415: The name “2 Dads”. Both XP2011 and XP2008 display their names as decals under the side cab windows. XP2000–XP2014 were built by Comeng , Granville while XP2015–XP2018 were built by ABB , Dandenong . The XPT carriages were refurbished between 1992 and 1993, which included their repainting in CountryLink livery. All were refurbished again between 2005 and 2008. After two carriages were written off after
3795-532: The prototype Hi-Level cars were built. The order for additional cars was placed in March 1955 for 10 68-seat step-down coaches (delivered between December 1955 and January 1956 and numbered 528 to 537), 25 72-seat Hi-Level coaches (delivered between January and April 1956 numbered 700 to 724), six 60-seat bar/lounge/news-stand coaches with 26-seat lower-level lounges (delivered between May and June 1956), and six 80-seat dining cars (delivered between June and August 1956 numbered 650 to 655). With these cars delivered,
3864-429: The prototype Pioneer III . When re-designed and outfitted with electrical propulsion and end cabs as EMU coaches, six were purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad for medium-distance use in its electrified territory. In 1963, they became known as Silverliner I cars when their use was supplemented by the Silverliner II, which used an improved Pioneer III body. They were placed into Philadelphia-area commuter rail service on
3933-423: The travel time to Melbourne by up to two hours. During 1995, CountryLink trialled three Swedish Railways X2000 tilting train carriages. After conducting a statewide tour in March, they were used on Canberra services from 23 April until 18 June 1995 with modified XPT power cars XP2000 and XP2009. Starting in 2003, an XPT has operated a service each January to Parkes for the Parkes Elvis Festival . Following
4002-452: The twenty-first century. During October 2016, the NSW government announced the XPT fleet would be entirely replaced as part of the Regional Train Project. The replacement fleet , originally set to enter service in 2023, has encountered delays (now scheduled for around 2025–2027), thus the XPT will operate longer than originally anticipated with the potential for them to be retained after the new trains enter service. Improving public transport
4071-494: The upper level was designed with its center portion open so that the conductor could reach the tickets from upper-level passengers. Rows of individual seats on each side of the car provided the increase in seating capacity. The unique design of the upper level's open center section led to the cars being called Gallery Cars . Burlington approved the design and ordered 30 cars. These cars, built as Budd lot 9679–041, were delivered between August 1950 and January 1951 and not only marked
4140-444: The use of disc brakes on railroad passenger cars. Budd built thousands of streamlined lightweight stainless steel passenger cars for new trains in the US in the 1930s through the 1980s. In 1949, Budd built ten prototype stainless steel R11 subway cars for the New York City Board of Transportation ; these were intended for the Second Avenue Subway . In the late 1940s, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad sought
4209-510: The use of stainless steel carries on today in consulting businesses like Bay Rail. In 1949, Budd introduced the Rail Diesel Car (RDC), a stainless steel self-propelled "train in one car" which expanded rail service on lightly populated railway lines and provided an adaptable car for suburban service. More than 300 RDCs were built, and some are still in service in Canada , the United States , Cuba , and Saudi Arabia . Similar but shorter cars were built under license by Mafersa in Brazil using
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#17327798259834278-418: Was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars , airframes , missile and space vehicles, and various defense products. Budd was founded in 1912 in Philadelphia by Edward G. Budd , whose fame came from his development of the first all-steel automobile bodies in 1913, and his company's invention of
4347-488: Was a major issue in the 1976 New South Wales state election . One of the commitments of the incoming Wran government was to buy new rolling stock for country rail services. During January 1978, the Public Transport Commission invited tenders for 25 high-speed railcars , which were to be broadly similar to Western Australia's Prospector railcars delivered by Comeng in 1971. The tender allowed bidders to suggest alternative types of high-speed train. Comeng submitted
4416-419: Was broken by Queensland Rail 's Electric Tilt Train in May 1999. In January 1982, the first full test XPT set started running. The first four sets entered service on the Central West XPT to Dubbo during April 1982, the Mid North Coast XPT to Kempsey in May 1982 and the Riverina XPT to Albury in August 1982. The XPT cut one hour and 54 minutes off the travel time from Sydney to Dubbo. In 1983,
4485-426: Was built. It logged about 1,000 flying hours while touring the United States and Europe . In 1934, this plane was stripped of its fabric covering and lower wing, and mounted outside the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia . The plane was memorialized in the children's book Spirited Philadelphia Adventure by Deirdre Cimino. During World War II , Budd designed and built the RB-1 Conestoga transport airplane for
4554-505: Was manufactured in England by Brush Traction of Loughborough . Power cars comprise five main compartments at the platform level. At the front is the drivers' cab, followed by the clean air compartment, engine room, cooling group, and compressor room at the rear of the locomotive. The XP power cars were named after cities and towns that the XPT served: In November 2022, power car XP2011 was named "Kimbo" in honour of retiring driver Kim Andronicus. During late 2023, power car XP2008 received
4623-435: Was reached to build a fleet of XPTs for the State Railway of Thailand . To allow the train to be built to the narrower 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge while retaining the same fuel capacity, it was proposed to extend the power cars by 2.7 to 20 metres (8 ft 10 in to 65 ft 7 in) and mount them on Bo′Bo′Bo′ bogies. The negotiations were sufficiently advanced for
4692-470: Was red, black and orange with InterCity XPT signwriting on the power cars. On a demonstration run to Albury on 6 September 1981, the XPT set a new Australian rail speed record of 183 km/h between Table Top and Gerogery in southern NSW, breaking that set by the Western Australian Government Railways' Prospector railcar in 1971. On a test run to Albury on 18 September 1992, the XPT reached 193 km/h between Table Top and Yerong Creek . This record
4761-429: Was significantly modified, with the power cars being 50 cm (19.7 in) shorter, the Paxman Valenta engine downrated from 2250 to 2000 bhp (1680 to 1490 kW), gearing lowered for a top operating speed of 160 km/h (100 mph), suspension modified to operate on inferior track, and air filters and a cooling system modified to cater for hotter, dustier Australian conditions. The passenger cars, built to
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