Redhen railcar

300 / 400 Class Redhen
Two 400 class Redhens working a Belair line service in 1990
Interior of Redhen 400
Manufacturer	South Australian Railways
Built at	Islington Railway Workshops
Replaced	South Australian Railways Brill railcar
Entered service	1955–1971
Number built	111
Number preserved	6
Fleet numbers	300–373, 400–436
Operator(s)	South Australian Railways State Transport Authority TransAdelaide
Specifications
Car length	20.0 m (65 ft 7 in)
Width	3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)
Height	4.27 m (14 ft 0 in)
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)

The Redhen Railcars were a self-propelled railcar built at the Islington Railway Workshops for the South Australian Railways between 1955 and 1971.

The Redhen railcars were the backbone of Adelaide’s metropolitan rail system between the late 1950s and the early 1990s. They operated on all the State Transport Authority routes, including several lines which are now closed to local trains (for example Bridgewater, Port Dock, Hendon and Wingfield).

The first Redhens were introduced by the South Australian Railways in October 1955 to replace ageing suburban steam locomotive hauled trains in Adelaide. Construction of Redhen vehicles continued until 1971, when the latest examples were built to supersede 1920s-era diesel railcars.

TransAdelaide withdrew the last Redhens from regular service in October 1996, following delivery of a new fleet of 3000 class railcars. A number of Redhens have been preserved and are now operated by heritage and tourist railways.

The Redhens comprised two designs:-

In addition, there were a number of unpowered trailer cars, the 820 and 860 classes. These had been modified from steam-era suburban carriages and were used with the Redhens between 1955 and 1987.

The Redhens were built in three batches. The overall design of the railcars was very similar, but there were differences in detail between the batches. Several railcars in the 300 class were re-numbered later in life, taking on the numbers of written-off or modified units.

The exterior of the units was always painted red, with variations in the colour of roofs and bogies over the years. The interior design and layout remained largely unchanged throughout their life. Some 300 class units were modified to provide guard’s accommodation or space for bikes when the 860 class trailers were withdrawn in 1987. This slightly reduced the seating capacity of these modified cars.