South Australian Railways Bluebird railcar

SAR 250 class Bluebird
Preserved 257 at the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide in April 2014
Manufacturer	Islington Railway Workshops
Constructed	1954–1959
Number built	21
Fleet numbers	100 to 106, 250 to 260, 280 to 282
Capacity	250 class: 56 (some reduced to 52) 100 class: 72 280 class 20 tonnes (20 long tons; 22 short tons)
Operator(s)	South Australian Railways
Specifications
Car length	100/250 class: 23.85 m (78 ft 3 in) 280 class: 20.42 m (67 ft 0 in)
Width	2.9718 m (9 ft 9 in)
Height	4.1656 m (13 ft 8 in)
Maximum speed	112 km/h (70 mph)
Weight	250/280 class: 60 tonnes (59.05 long tons; 66.14 short tons) 100 class: 42 tonnes (41.34 long tons; 46.30 short tons)
Prime mover(s)	2x Cummins NT-855 6-cylinder diesel
Auxiliaries	General Motors 3-71 cylinder diesel
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in), 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)

The Bluebird Railcars are a self-propelled railcar built at the Islington Railway Workshops for the South Australian Railways between 1954 and 1959.

The Bluebird Railcars were built to provide modern air-conditioned services on the country passenger rail system where the patronage did not warrant the use of locomotive hauled passenger trains, and to replace the ageing fleet of Brill railcars introduced in 1924.

21 Bluebirds were manufactured by the South Australian Railways' Islington Railway Workshops. The fleet consisted of 11 second class passenger power cars (250 class), 3 baggage power cars (280 class) and 7 first class passenger trailer cars (100 class). They were first introduced in October 1954 with the last unit entering service on 12 November 1959. The 100 and 250 class were named after birds; the 280 class were not named and only carried road numbers. They operated services on the broad gauge network from Adelaide to Burra, Gladstone, Moonta, Morgan, Mount Gambier, Nuriootpa and Victor Harbor. Three matching powered vans were also constructed.

The Bluebirds were initially powered by two Cummins NHHS-600 engines. These were replaced in the early 1960s by Cummins NHHRS engines and in the mid-1970s by Cummins NT 855s. A General Motors 3-71 provided auxiliary power, this was replaced by a Deutz unit.

In March 1978 all were included in the transfer of the South Australian Railways to Australian National. By 1985, 10 had been fitted with standard gauge bogies for use on services to Port Pirie, Whyalla and Broken Hill. In December 1989, the 100 class trailers began to be used as sitting carriages on the Indian Pacific and The Overland. They were also converted for use as crew carriages on Trans-Australian Railway services. The last were withdrawn in January 1993 and placed in store at Mile End and later Islington Railway Workshops. In May 1995, 257 was donated to the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide.