The New South Wales Sputnik suburban carriage stock is a type of electric multiple unit that was operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors between 1957 and 1993 and served on the

Sydney rail network Sydney, the largest city in Australia, has an extensive network of passenger and freight railways. The passenger system includes an extensive suburban railway network, operated by Sydney Trains, a metro network and a light rail network. A d ...

. These trains, as well as other types of single-deck suburban electrics that were first manufactured in the 1920s, are known by Sydneysiders as "Red Rattlers".

History

Between 1956 and 1960, 40 power cars and 40 trailer cars were built by Commonwealth Engineering for the New South Wales Government Railways. Broadly similar to the Tulloch built carriages, built earlier in the 1950s, they differed in having motors on all four (as opposed to two) bogies and power operated doors. They operated as eight carriage sets and were targeted as S sets, gaining the nickname ''Sputniks'' after the Russian satellite that was launched at the same time as their entry into service."Rolling Stock" ''

Railway Digest ''Railway Digest'' is a monthly magazine, published in Sydney, covering contemporary railways of Australia. Overview The magazine's publisher is the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS), NSW Division. The first issue was published in M ...

'' October 1991 page 374"Sydney's Electric Trains from 1926 to 1960" '' ARHS Bulletin'' issue 761 March 2001 pages 90-93The Sputnik Cars
Sydney Electric Traction Society Ostensibly built to provide rolling stock for the newly electrified Parramatta to Penrith section of the Main Western line, they operated across the Sydney suburban network. Following the delivery of the Tulloch double deck trailers from 1964, these replaced the original trailers in the S sets. The displaced carriages had their power door equipment disconnected, were fitted with manually operated door equipment and pooled with the

Suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

and

Tulloch Tulloch may refer to: People with the surname *Alexander Bruce Tulloch (1838–1920), Major-general in the British Army, author *Bert Tulloch, English footballer *Bitsie Tulloch, American actress *Francis Tulloch (born 1940), Jamaican politician ...

stock. These were renumbered upwards by 50, e.g. T4701 became T4751. Originally painted Tuscan red, from 1973 they were repainted in the

Public Transport Commission The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsib ...

blue and white livery before the livery was replaced with indian red in 1976. The interiors were originally painted brown and cream with the later repaints being in two-tone green. Overhauls of the stock continued up until 1988, with some receiving sliding aluminium Beclawat windows to alleviate rust problems. Most of the trailer cars remained in service until the end of single deck operation in January 1992. The last power cars were withdrawn in November 1993. Several have been preserved.C3708 - Comeng 1955 Suburban Motor Car
NSW Environment & Heritage Eveleigh1

Sydney Trains has three Commonwealth Engineering Sputnik cars in the care of Historic Electric Traction. *C3702 - Commonwealth Engineering (4 motor) Power Car - Under Restoration at Redfern Carriageworks *C3708 - Commonwealth Engineering (4 motor) Power Car - Under Restoration at Redfern Carriageworks *T4790 - Commonwealth Engineering Trailer Car (ex T4740) - Stored at Redfern Carriageworks On 8 May 2019, C3704 (Commonwealth Engineering (4 motor) Power Car) was removed from the

Australian Technology Park South Eveleigh, previously known as Australian Technology Park is a retail, business centre and technology park south of the Sydney central business district and north of Sydney Airport. South Eveleigh borders Alexandria and Eveleigh. Eveleig ...

and relocated to Taree to a private buyer. It was previously owned by

3801 Limited East Coast Heritage Rail is a not for profit company limited by guarantee formed in June 1985 as 3801 Limited to operate steam locomotive 3801 and its associated rolling stock. The company operated heritage train tours from 1986 until 2017, with ...

(now East Coast Heritage Rail) and was used as a site office.

References

{{NSWLocos, state=collapsed Electric multiple units of New South Wales Train-related introductions in 1957 1500 V DC multiple units of New South Wales