Australian Railway Historical Society (ACT Division)

TDS First Class Sitting Cars

The Society's popular TDS 2247 sitting car has 40 reclinable seats in an open saloon, arranged in groups of four seats flanking a removable tables, plus a compartment for six, again with a removable table. It was originally part of new rolling stock introduced into NSW after World War Two, one of a fleet of 17 all-steel first class air-conditioned saloon cars. TDS 2247 entered service in December 1952 as a 37-passenger SBS first class sitting car. During the 1960s and 1970s, the three-abreast seating in the saloons of these cars was progressively replaced by four-abreast seating of various types. TDS 2247 has the most modern type, known as day / nighter seating, and its coding was changed to TDS in 1985 to reflect this. It accommodated 48 passengers and operated for several years on the Intercapital Daylight between Sydney and Melbourne until that train running ceased in 1991. ARHS (ACT) purchased this car in 1994. After an overhaul, it re-entered service in July 1995. As with some other saloon cars operated by ARHS, the seats are now arranged in groups of four, with tables available for restaurant and dinner / dance services. The Society's second TDS car, TDS 2242, was built by Commonwealth Engineering in Sydney in 1950. It entered service in November of that year in RUB set 142 under the SBS code. Such sets saw service on the Brisbane Limited, the North Coast Daylight Express, the Riverina Express and Intercapital Daylight, and - from 1952 - on the Central West Express. The car has vestibules and toilets at both ends. In May 1985, it also was recoded TDS and used as a day / nighter car for first and economy class passengers as the need dictated. In February 1964, the open saloon seating was increased to 42 with the installation of 2+2 seating. It was withdrawn from service late in 1995 and placed in storage at Goulburn on 16 December 1995. The Society purchased the car in November 1999 and is progressively restoring the car to service.

Click on picture for larger image    TDS 2247 awaiting passengers    TDS 2247, Canberra

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