The SX carriages were a type of passenger carriages constructed by

Commonwealth Engineering Commonwealth Engineering (often shortened to Com-Eng, later Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams. History Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth E ...

for the

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

ways in 1961-1962.

History

The SX carriage stainless steel bodyshells were constructed by

, Granville with the fitout undertaken at

Rocklea Rocklea is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,595 people. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The west of the suburb is bordered by the Oxley Creek. The ...

in 1961/62. They were built to operate suburban services on the Brisbane rail network. They shared many components with the New South Wales U set carriages. Initially hauled by steam and later diesel locomotives, provision was made for their conversion to

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

s once the network was electrified. Sixteen seven-carriage sets were completed. The conversion never occurred and they were gradually replaced from the 1980s as

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

s and SMUs entered service. The last was withdrawn on 2 December 1999. DBR_1254_at_Westfield

To allow extra services to be operated during the 1987 America's Cup yacht regatta in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, 14 were leased to

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

in October 1986. Initially intended as a short-term deal, they would remain in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

until returned to Queensland in 1991. Others were exported to the

Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The AR ...

Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia The Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia (British company name: Antofagasta (Chili) & Bolivia Railway or FCAB for short) is a private railway operating in the northern provinces of Chile. It is notable in that it was one of the earliest rail ...

and

State Railway of Thailand The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) ( th, การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย, abbrev. รฟท., ) is the state-owned rail operator under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport in Thailand. History The SRT was ...

Zig Zig Railway - Auckland set

Seven SX carriages were imported to New Zealand in the early 2000s. A set of six were overhauled for the Auckland Regional Council. These were overhauled by the Hillside Workshops in 2002/2003, further refurbished in 2008/2009 and retired in 2014/15 as the AM class EMUs were introduced. SXA1744 was sold by Auckland Transport in its imported condition to

Dunedin Railways Dunedin Railways (formerly the Taieri Gorge Railway) is the trading name of Dunedin Railways Limited, an operator of a railway line and tourist trains based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. The company is a council- ...

and was used for storage. It was later on sold and is now privately owned and located near Bluff as of 2021. The six carriages in MAXX livery were stored in Taumarunui in the central North Island until sold for a dollar each to the

Railway Enthusiasts Society The Railway Enthusiasts Society Incorporated (known by its acronym RES) is a New Zealand railway enthusiast society formed on 17 July 1958. RES formed the Glenbrook Vintage Railway (GVR) in 1968, with GVR now forming a separate charitable trust. ...

. Five of the number consisted of AT MAXX set of SXV1697, SXC1741, SXC1742, SXC1743 and SXV1746. After a detailed inspection, they did not fulfil their needs and were advertised to Australian and New Zealand preservations groups. One was sold to Taumarunui Rail Action Centre Trust. There was no further interest in the remaining five, so they were advertised on auction site

TradeMe Trade Me is New Zealand's largest online auction and classifieds website. Managed by Trade Me Ltd., the site was founded in 1999 by New Zealand entrepreneur Sam Morgan (entrepreneur), Sam Morgan, who sold it to John Fairfax Holdings, Fairfax in ...

and were sold to private owners around New Zealand with bogies in March 2021 and were removed from Taumarunui on 17 June 2021. SXC1743 was relocated to Whanganui, SXC1742 went to Hastings and the remaining three carriages went to a single owner in Taupo. One set (7 cars) has been retained by Queensland Rail's Heritage Division while others have been preserved including seven at the

DownsSteam Tourist Railway & Museum The DownsSteam Tourist Railway & Museum was founded in 2001 in the Toowoomba suburb of Drayton in Queensland. The station building on the complex was originally situated at Yuleba, between Roma and Miles servicing the town of Yuleba from ...

,SX Carriages
DownsSteam Tourist Railway & Museum another set in Cairns with Cairns Kuranda Steam Pty Ltd (stored in Cairns) and a set owned by Queensland University of Technology (stored at Ipswich).

References

{{Rail vehicles of New Zealand Railway coaches of New Zealand Railway coaches of Queensland