A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar with an automotive engine. It shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels (2 axles) on a fixed base instead of on bogies . Originally designed and developed during the 1930s, railbuses have evolved into larger dimensions with characteristics similar in appearance to a light railcar , with the terms railcar and railbus often used interchangeably. Railbuses designed for use specifically on little-used railway lines were commonly employed in countries such as Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.
39-489: The Nanbu Jūkan Railway ( 南部縦貫鉄道線 , Nanbu Jūkan Tetsudō-sen ) was a railbus line in eastern Aomori Prefecture , Japan. Services on the railway began 1962 and ceased in 1997 due to financial hardship. It connected Noheji Station in the town of Noheji to Shichinohe Station in the town of Shichinohe . The Nanbu Jūkan Railway was operated by the Nanbu Jūkan Company, a privately owned company. The majority of
78-673: A DMU . Railbuses are used in various areas with little passenger demand, including from Kandy to the suburb of Peradeniya and the Kelani Valley line in Colombo . Services where railbuses are used are not indicated on the Sri Lankan Railways website. The route from Maho Junction to Polghawela in North Western Province is also serviced by Lanka Ashok Leyland railbuses. British Rail produced
117-470: A former ČSD M 152.0 diesel multiple unit , also known as ČD/ŽSR Class 810 . The Kaoham Shuttle utilizes DMU railbuses for its daily service between Lillooet and D'Arcy, British Columbia . In Germany, the Schienenbus was developed in the 1930s to fulfill the need for an inexpensive rail vehicle. It was built to standard specifications on Germany's Reichsbahn (the predecessor to DB ) to meet
156-683: A number of more modern light train concepts appeared. Few were successful, as many railroads cooperated with highway bus services to eliminate passenger trains from their branch lines. Some, like the American Car & Foundry Motorailer, blurred the line between railcar and railbus. Others, such as the Mack FCD, landed firmly in the railbus camp. Ten of the Macks were purchased by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad during 1951–1952. By
195-555: A predecessor of the modern diesel multiple units . In the late 1950s, Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR developed the single-engined class VT 2.09 with matching trailers and driving trailers, built by Waggonbau Bautzen. A number of serious accidents in Germany in the late 1970s involving railbuses resulted in the specification and development of larger, more robustly designed diesel railcars . Although these cars were more similar in size to
234-536: A prototype was built in 1955. However, JNR found railbuses less reliable in daily operation as compared to standard rail equipment and discontinued their use in the 1960s. Railbuses produced by Fuji Heavy Industries were operational on the Nanbu Jūkan Railway from 1962 until the line ceased operations in 1997, though the preserved units can still be seen at Shichinohe Station . Motorization soared in Japan from
273-764: A small number of full-time staff. It is administered by a voluntary Board and a Management Committee. The museum is accredited as a rail operator under the NSW Rail Safety Act 2002 meaning it has network access rights on the NSW main line rail network. It also has accreditation to operate in Victoria . In May 2013, the Minister for Transport announced Transport Heritage NSW , a new not-for-profit company, would be established to manage rail heritage in NSW following an independent review of rail heritage commissioned by
312-468: A variety of railbuses as a means both of building new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide services on lightly used lines economically. A variety of railbus known as Pacers , which were constructed in the 1980s, remained in service until 2021, they were phased out as a result of their failure to comply with accessibility requirements. There are records of bus bodies being fitted to special Mack Truck chassis built with small four-wheel bogie trucks under
351-539: Is railbus on the Kalka-Shimla route (train number 72451), Mathura to Vrindavan (train number 72175) and Merta Jn to Merta City (train number 74804), Khajjidoni - Bagalkot as well, among others. Railbuses in Indonesia are built locally by INKA and used in several local rail services operated by PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI). On August 5, 2012, the first railbus service in the country Batara Kresna railbus
390-647: The Stadler RS1 , the RegioSprinter of Siemens, or the successor Siemens Desiro , share the role and specifications with railbuses (albeit with improvements in noise, low floor design, fuel efficiency , speed, and other measures), but are usually not referred to by the term "railbus" any longer. Locally manufactured TecnoTren railbuses are in use around Argentina, most notably on the University train of La Plata . They are mostly used in rural parts of
429-530: The Tōhoku Main Line on 5 August 1968. The railway fell into financial trouble after many people chose to purchase and drive cars instead of riding the railbus; however the railway hoped that they could serve as connecting railway between the planned Shinkansen station at Shichinohe. Plans for the Tōhoku Shinkansen instead placed Shichinohe-Towada Station to the north of the existing station, away from
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#1732800969083468-429: The 1970s on, reducing consuming passenger numbers on local private railways. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. in 1982 began development of an "LE-Car" that incorporates significantly the structure of the bus, deficit local lines of JNR has been adopted by many of the railway company that local governments and private companies are operated by joint investment. The Ulaanbaatar Railbus is a railbus-based public transit system in
507-715: The 1980s and 1990s. Both the Uerdingen Schienenbus and the Bautzen railbuses have virtually disappeared from regular revenue service, but its diesel rail car successors are still widely used. DMUs of a third generation in succession after the Schienenbus are now being ordered by the hundreds in a variety of modular design combinations. The first railbuses appeared in Hungary in 1925, made by Ganz Works . From 1934, MÁV started to use railbuses called Árpád, which were also manufactured by Ganz. These vehicles ran on
546-502: The Budapest-Vienna line. In 1975, the last Árpád was scrapped. In 1986, due to the lack of ČD 810 trains, Ikarus converted an Ikarus 260 bus into a railbus on behalf of MÁV. This model was called Ikarus 725. Its variations 725.01, 722.01 and 723.01 were sent to Malaysia in 1988. Indian Railways operates many railbuses on its branch lines. These railbuses are being replaced by EMUs due to increase in passengers. There
585-780: The Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar . In the Netherlands, a Michelin car was trialled in 1932. Railbuses are used on PeruRail . Syrian railbuses are used in Damascus from Ma'adan to Sarouja , and in Saudi Arabia from Riyadh to Medina and Mecca . Railbuses entered service in Sri Lanka in 1995, using Tata Dimo buses, and later Lanka Ashok Leyland buses. The buses, originally built for road use, were modified to be used on rails and connected back-to-back like
624-772: The NSW Rail Museum is dedicated to displaying locomotives , passenger cars , and freight rolling stock formerly operated by the New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) and various private operators. The Blue Mountains division is located at the Valley Heights Locomotive Depot Heritage Museum . The NSWRTM was established in October 1962 with 62 members. A survey of potential sites around Sydney found Enfield Locomotive Depot to be
663-574: The NSWRTM's last tour to Taree in 1974. The PTC also decided it wanted nothing to do with maintaining the NSWRTM's collection and handed over the exhibits to the museum under a Deed of Gift. The PTC also wanted to demolish the Enfield roundhouses to make way for a container terminal and offered the museum a site at Thirlmere on the then lightly used Picton – Mittagong loop line . Site clearing began in late 1974 and works were sufficiently advanced for
702-633: The Nanbu Jūkan Railway. The private railway served the area until 5 May 1997 when railbus services stopped because of maintenance costs. The division of the company was officially closed on 1 August 2002. Shichinohe Station (now the headquarters of Nanbu Jūkan Company), some of the track and a railbus are preserved. The rest of the rail line has been removed or left in a state of decay. Railbus Today, railbuses are being replaced by modern, light DMU railcar designs. Modern diesel-electric railcars, which can be run coupled as multiple units, like
741-408: The U.S. produced diesel railcars, they would not have complied with current FRA requirements, and, like their North American cousin rail diesel cars, are largely railroad-derivative designs. The DB Class 628 exemplifies the contemporary German diesel railcar. This type of car replaced the Schienenbus and locomotive-hauled train consists where possible on branch-line and main-line assignments during
780-606: The collection of the State's rail heritage assets are maintained and conserved by dedicated volunteers and shared with the public for current and future generations to appreciate and enjoy. In 2007, RailCorp ’s Office of Rail Heritage commissioned the development of a concept design for the NSWRTM’s upgrade. This saw ownership in the NSWRTM vested in Trainworks Limited, a 100% subsidiary of RailCorp. A major redevelopment saw
819-486: The country where the tracks have not yet been repaired and so can't handle the weight of regular trains. In 1937, the NSW Department of Railways added six Waddington -built four-wheel streamlined FP Paybuses to serve on small branch lines out of Cowra and Harden that did not have enough passengers to justify a rail motor . Powered by a Ford V8 engine, they were given the designation FP1 to FP6. When
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#1732800969083858-575: The demand for cost-effective services on light railways or Kleinbahnen (the Wismar railbus was a pioneer in those days.) After the Second World War , the eventually ubiquitous Uerdingen railbuses were developed by Deutsche Bundesbahn in single-engined and double-engined versions. The latter were powerful enough to haul through coaches and freight cars . Matching trailers and driving trailers were developed as well. These railbuses were
897-502: The engine and hood, and larger flanged steel drive wheels, as early as 1903. Osgood Bradley Car Company built one of the more popular bodies during the 1920s. Fairbanks-Morse , later a locomotive builder, offered similar conversions fitted to Dodge truck chassis in the mid-1930s, preferring to fit the truck chassis with van bodies and supply a small matching passenger coach trailer. Some railroads built their own bodies on truck or large, powerful luxury passenger car chassis. Most continued
936-753: The locomotive depot relocated to a roundhouse built at the southern end of the site opening in November 2009. To create room for stage two of the development of the museum, some of the exhibits were moved to Broadmeadow and Goulburn in 2009. Work on stage two began in December 2009, which included demolition of the existing locomotive maintenance building, construction of a new major exhibits building and other works. The New South Wales Rail Transport Museum re-opened in April 2011. The museum has over 2,300 members, including an active volunteer workforce of over 400 and
975-479: The most suitable and in 1963 a successful submission was made to the Department of Railways. Under the arrangement the department would retain ownership of the locomotives and rolling stock and responsibility for their maintenance. As Enfield depot was still active, exhibits were sent to Enfield for storage but not able to be accessed. In 1967, the department made an area adjacent to Petersham station available to
1014-686: The museum concluded a lease for the 14-kilometre (8.7 mi) Picton – Buxton railway line following its closure by the State Rail Authority . The NSWRTM was removed as a board member of 3801 Limited in November 2006 after the 20-year lease of 3801 was not renewed. The locomotive was returned to the NSWRTM. In 2006, the Government of New South Wales endorsed the Sustainable Rail Heritage Asset Management Strategy to ensure
1053-409: The museum. The first locomotives outshopped were 3526 and 3609 painted blue and green respectively. In July 1969, the NSWRTM was able to move into Enfield Roundhouse Number 3 with all exhibits transferred by September. In 1970, the museum was able to relocate into the larger Roundhouse Number 1, allowing the majority of the collection to be stored undercover. In October 1972, the display at Enfield
1092-712: The now-closed Fox Chase to Newton section of the Fox Chase Line . NSW Rail Museum The NSW Rail Museum is the main railway museum in New South Wales , Australia. A division of Transport Heritage NSW , it was previously known as the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM), Rail Heritage Centre and Trainworks . Transport Heritage NSW has divisions located in Thirlmere, New South Wales , where
1131-798: The pattern of a small two axle truck in front, and a single drive axle in the rear. One example from the 1930s, built on a White Truck chassis, is preserved at the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri . The use of railbuses in the United States allowed railroads in the 1920s to run frequent and reliable passenger service on branch lines for a fraction of the cost of running steam locomotives, allowing some lines to directly compete with road transportation. The railbuses were well-liked by passengers and able to stop and start more easily than dedicated trains. After World War II
1170-418: The railbus service wasn't popular, several of the buses became mobile pay cars used to pay railway employees at stations and working on tracks. In December 1941, one of these railbuses (FP 5) was destroyed when dynamite was placed on railway tracks near Yanderra . The three-man crew of the railbus were killed in the explosion. Though £2,000 of loose cash was taken, the safe in the railcar could not be opened by
1209-543: The railway facilities and tracks were owned by the company. The only exception to this was the section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Noheji Station and Nishichibiki Station that was shared between the company and the Japanese National Railways (later East Japan Railway Company (JR East)). The Nanbu Jūkan Railway originally shared the tracks free of charge, but the successor to Japanese National Railways began asking for compensation after that company
Nanbu Jūkan Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-613: The robbers. No one was prosecuted for the offence. The first railbus, FP1, has been restored where it is on display at the NSW Rail Museum in Thirlmere . Another seven were built by Comeng in the 1960s. In Queensland , " RailBus service " refers to road bus service running parallel to portions of some railway lines, substituting for commuter train. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia , railbuses are used on less frequented rural lines . Most railbuses are based on
1287-539: The time they were delivered, however, a new president was in charge, and he had little interest in serving branch lines. Only one saw regular service. All were sold to other entities such as Sperry Rail Service , or to overseas railroads. In 1967 and 1968, Red Arrow Lines tested a GM New Look bus converted to operate on rails on its interurban routes and the Norristown High Speed Line . In 1985, SEPTA tested an imported BRE-Leyland railbus on
1326-453: The transfer of stock to begin in June 1975. While some trains were hauled by diesel locomotives, most were worked by the museum's own steam locomotives. The NSWRTM opened at its current location in on 1 June 1976. Services on the loop line between Thirlmere and Buxton began on 13 June 1976. Initially uncovered, the first section of roofing was completed in 1979. It was over a decade before
1365-616: The whole site was covered. The PTC relaxed its ban on main line steam in October 1976. 3801 returned to the main line. By the early 1980s it was operating enthusiast journeys on a regular basis including a monthly service from Sydney Central to Thirlmere. In 1984, the NSWRTM became a founding member of the 3801 Limited managerial board that was created to oversee the operation of the locomotive 3801 . The famous British railway locomotive 4472 Flying Scotsman visited Thirlmere in March 1989 as part of its tour around Australia. In 1993,
1404-693: Was launched in West Sumatra to serve passengers from Kayu Tanam Station in Padang Pariaman to Minangkabau International Airport . The Great Northern Railway of Ireland produced railbuses at the Railway Works in Dundalk . The president of JNR visited West Germany in 1953 and was introduced to railbusses there. JNR subsequently drew up a plan for railbus introduction plan in JNR, and
1443-743: Was launched to accommodate parts of Prambanan Ekspres commuter rail passengers in Central Java from Purwosari Station in Solo to Wonogiri Station in Wonogiri and vice versa. In 2014, KAI launched Kertalaya railbus in South Sumatra between Kertapati Station in Palembang to Indralaya Station in Ogan Ilir and vice versa to ease road traffic. In 2016, Lembah Anai railbus
1482-486: Was officially opened by Commissioner for Railways, Neil McCusker. The NSWRTM had always maintained a good relationship with the Department of Railways, but in October 1972 it was replaced by the Public Transport Commission . The PTC under Commissioner Philip Shirley decided it wanted all steam locomotives, including those owned by preservation organisations, off the network with 3820 operating
1521-403: Was re-organized into the various JR companies. The Nanbu Jūkan Railway was established in 1962 as a private railway by the Nanbu Jūkan Company in 1962 between Shichinohe and Nishichibiki. At first, its construction was subsidized by the municipal governments it would pass through, but it was ultimately funded by a steel company based in the city of Mutsu . The railway was extended to Noheji via
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