Re: Steam heating and low voltage hep

[Bob <gioia@fastlink.com.au>]

David Bromage wrote:

> Does anybody have details of the low voltage (DC?) head end power used in
> NSW? I'm pretty sure the low voltage hep was used only on the Cooma Mail,
> and only a few Goulburn locomotives were equipped for it. From memory it
> was 4820-4829.
>
> Also, details of steam heating.
>

I'll have to find my notes on this but from memory there were also some 44
class fitted with this feature for the Cooma Mail. It was not considered a
great success however they persevered with it for many years. It probably
would not be considered as head end power as the source of the power was the
locomotives main generator unlike a proper head end powered loco that has a
separate MG set. The cars were ones with an X prefix to the code. These being
XAM (TAM), XCM (MCE), XFS (FS) and XBS (BS). The other electric heated cars
were the E prefix cars that had power supplied by a power van. Although I
never saw it myself I believe there was a train of these cars ran to Cooma
during the snow season. As a matter of interest the electric heaters in the X
and E cars were identical except for the way they were connected ie series or
parallel.          As for the steam heated cars they did not change their
code and were not easy to identify especially in latter years when the steam
equipment was still there but not in use. The only clue was to find the steam
unit under the seats and a control knob on the side wall below the window at
floor lever. There was an even earlier form of  ' head end power' on the
NSWGR as used on the Yass Tramway where the 13 class supplied power to the
CCA car via a jumper cable. The 13s power came from the steam driven
generator that supplies power to locomotive headlights. On the Yass line
because the speed was so slow and the cars batteries were not able to be
charged by a stone under slung generator this method of power supply had to
be used.
Bob