<kuid2:58843:152:1> Australian National RDC

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Budd RDC - After several less than stellar attempts at creating a self-propelled railcar, in 1950 The Budd Co. struck paydirt. They sold their first 90 seat coach RDC-1 to the New York Central on April 19th, and eventually sold 397 more after that. In an era where most railroads were looking to either drop passenger service completely, or at least reduce costs on lesser travelled routes, The Budd RDC was exactly what the doctor ordered. Capable of a top speed of 85 mph from its 275-300 hp engines, it could go from 0-60 in two minutes, start on grades as steep as 3%, and only needed a crew of 2. Its two engines were mounted beneath the car body, and could be changed in an hour if necessary. Eventually delivered in 5 versions (RDC-1 90 seat coach, RDC-2 coach & baggage, RDC-3 coach, baggage & RPO, RDC-4 baggage-RPO and the cabless RDC-9, which has only one engine and had to be operated with one of the other units). Budd delivered the last 12 RDC's to the Reading Company in 1962. Over 50 years from its debut, you can still find Budd RDC's working on Class 1, commuter and tourist railroads, and in several different countries.
Following World War II, the Commonwealth Railways upgraded its short haul passenger services by introducing railcars on the runs between Port Pirie, Port Augusta, and Tarcoola. In October 1950, an order was placed with The Budd Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A. for the delivery of three air-conditioned railcars. The railcars arrived in March 1951. They were the standard Budd RDC-1 design, and featured stainless steel bodies and air-conditioning. There were two compartments, with seating for forty-nine in one and forty-one in the other. After entering service buffet facilities were fitted and seating improvements made, reducing the capacity to seventy passengers. While in service, they ran between Port Pirie Junction and Pimba. In 1952 service was extended from Pimba to the Woomera township. From July 1952 the cars made regular runs to Tarcoola. Completion of the standard gauge line to Marree allowed Budd cars to run on that line, first to Brachina, and ultimately to Marree. Once the Port Augusta to Whyalla line was opened, they also ran on that.
The Budd car service to Tarcoola was discontinued on 25th January 1961, although the service was retained between Port Augusta and Woomera. The cars were removed from service in 1976, refurbished in 1985 for a new service between Adelaide and Whyalla, and were finally withdrawn from service December 31st, 1990. Railcar CB1 was donated to the National Railway Museum in Port Adelaide by Australian National in 1996. Railcars CB2 and CB3 are currently under private ownership.
To manually set running numbers for these (not neccessary, as it'll set them automatically), use 981, 982 or 983, as there were prototypically only 3 of these cars, and that will select the proper CB1, CB2 or CB3 designation. Script modified from ones created by Marinus and DavidT. See script for more details.