PL type cars

Infobox Train
background =
name = APL type carriage


imagesize =
caption =
interior

interiorcaption =
Manufacturer = Victorian Railways
Factory =
Family = PL-series
Built = From 1917
Refurbishment =
Replaced =
Formation =
Designation =
Operator = various heritage operators
Depots =
LinesServed =
yearconstruction =
yearservice =
yearscrapped =
numberconstruction =
numberbuilt =
numberservice =
numberscrapped =
CarBody =
CarLength = 58'
CarWidth = 9'6"
CarHeight =
floorheight =
platformheight =
entrylevelorstep =
art-sections =
doors =
MaxSpeed =
Weight =
Capacity = 82 passengers
Auxiliaries =
Power-supply =
Gauge = Broad
Brakes = Infobox Train
background =
name = BCPL type carriage


imagesize =
caption =
interior

interiorcaption =
Manufacturer = Victorian Railways
Factory =
Family = PL-series
Built = From 1917
Refurbishment =
Replaced =
Formation =
Designation =
Operator = various heritage operators
Depots =
LinesServed =
yearconstruction =
yearservice =
yearscrapped =
numberconstruction =
numberbuilt =
numberservice =
numberscrapped =
CarBody =
CarLength = 58'
CarWidth = 9'6"
CarHeight =
floorheight =
platformheight =
entrylevelorstep =
art-sections =
doors =
MaxSpeed =
Weight =
Capacity = 51 passengers
Auxiliaries =
Power-supply =
Gauge = Broad
Brakes =

The PL type carriages were a series of wooden passenger carriages used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. They consisted of the first class APL, second class BPL and combination first, second and guard's van, BCPL's.

Construction

When the Victorian Railways began to plan the electrification of the suburban rail network, they planned to include about 200 'excursion' cars, for use during special occasions or events, and when the main system required extra carriages to handle the load. When conversion of locomotive hauled cars into the "Swing Door" electric multiple unit trains occurred, the underframes were rendered surplus.

Instead of scrapping these, new bodies were fitted, and the carriages became first the APL series, then BPL's. Later, trials began for the BCPL series of passenger cars. In order to construct the carriages, the underframes had to be extended from 45 feet and 50 feet, to 58 feet.

Details

APL cars

The first ex-swing door conversion was APL 1. It is believed that the underframe came from BC 2, which became ABCM 2, in 1917. (The ABCM finished it's life as Parcels Van and Overhead Inspection Vehicle 10CM.)

Another 86 APL cars were built between 1918 and 1923, for a class total of 87 (though not all at once).

Cars APL 1 to APL 26, and APL 28 to APL 33, were all built with Sliding Doors, as per the Tait trains that were being built new for the suburban network at the time. These were found to cause draughts within the carriage compartments during high-speed running on country lines.

Because of the draught problem, APL 27 was built with trial hinged doors. This was a success, and so the original batch of APL's, fitted with sliding doors, were reclassed BPL. A new batch of APL's were built, to replace the lost APL 1 through APL 26 and APL 28 through APL 33. APL 27 retained it's identity. Then, APL's 34 through APL 54 were constructed.

In 1928 APL 20 (hinged-door) was converted to a railmotor trailer, coded MT 25.

In 1932 and 1933, fifteen APL cars were converted to BPL's. These were converted back in about 1950.

In 1960, all the remaining APL cars were converted to BPL's.

BPL cars

BPL stands for: B - second class, P - passageway (centre aisle), L - lavatory fitted.

There were fifty five BPL carriages built between 1919 and 1921. The number group was eventually 1 - 126. There were conversions from the first class cars.

When fifteen APL cars were converted to BPL, in 1932/33, their numbers followed on, starting from BPL 56. These cars were later recoded and renumbered back to APL. When the fleet of APL cars were reclassified to BPL in the mid 1960's, the APL cars previously coded BPL were not given their old "BPL" number back. This led to the same BPL number being occupied by different cars thirty years later.

The carriages, which were affectionately known as "Bouncing Passenger Lounges," were removed from service by the early 1980's.

BCPL cars

In 1928 APL 20 was converted to MT 25. In 1940, the car was recoded to BCPL 1. It was the only BCPL car until 1966.

The idea was to reduce the tonnage of short haul interurban trains by incorporating a guards van into a carriage rather than adding a dedicated guards van.

Between 1966 and 1973 another thirty cars were modified with van compartments and recoded to BCPL. Cars 2 through 14 were converted from APL class cars in 1966-67. Cars 15 through 32 were converted from BPL's from 1968 to 1973. Many of these BPL cars had previously been converted from APL cars anyway.

The class numbers totalled 1 to 32.

In the late 1970's BCPL 11 was converted to the 'Dance Car' for special train trips. The seats were removed allowing the car to become one large dance floor.

From 1978 to 1988 the cars were withdrawn from service and scrapped.

Demise

After World War II, the Victorian Railways were seriously run-down, with old rollingstock and lack of maintenance. As a result, patronage began to fall, and combined with motor car travel, the need for local train services fell very quickly.

This, combined with the age of the 'PL' series of passenger cars, caused scrapping to begin in 1978, which lasted until 1988.

Preservation

Both the Victorian Goldfields Railway and the Mornington Tourist Railway possess PL-series carriages.

The former has BPL 43 and BCPL's 25, 29 and 30. The latter has BCPL 6, ABL 3 and BPL's 78 and 86

References

* [http://www.pjv101.net/cd/pages/c285m.htm Peter J. Vincent: APL - First Class Excusion]
* [http://www.pjv101.net/cd/pages/c133m.htm Peter J. Vincent: BPL - Second Class Excursion]
* [http://www.pjv101.net/cd/pages/c325m.htm Peter J. Vincent: BCPL - First and Second Class Excursion, with Guard]