Swing Door (train)

Swing Door
A Restored Swing Door at the Steamrail Open day in March 2014. The carriage was destroyed by fire less than a year later.
Manufacturer	Victorian Railways
Built at	Newport Workshops
Replaced	Steam hauled carriages
Constructed	1887-1907 (built), converted 19
Entered service	1919 (as EMU cars)
Scrapped	last in 1984
Number built	144 motor cars, 32 driving trailers, 112 trailers
Fleet numbers	1-164M (motor cars, with gaps), 1-32D (driving trailers), 1-111T, 126T (trailers)
Specifications
Articulated sections	None
Maximum speed	83 km/h (52 mph)
Traction system	4 x 105 kW GE239
Electric system(s)	1500V DC overhead

Swing Door trains, commonly known as "Dogboxes" or "Doggies", were wooden-bodied electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that operated on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Swing Door cars had outward-opening doors. They were reasonably narrow, to ensure that two passing trains could not foul each other if doors were accidentally left open. At certain locations clearances were tight and there are stories of Swing Door cars losing doors that were not closed. The fleet could be seen running in any arrangement, from one car (using a double-ended M car), up to eight cars.

The Swing Door trains were originally 13.7-metre long (44 ft 11 in) steam-hauled bogie passenger cars, the majority of which had been built between 1887 and 1893. When converted to electric traction between 1917 and 1924, the cars were extended by two compartments to a total length of 17.4 metres (57 ft 1 in), and then fitted onto new under-frames and bogies. The conversion process was suddenly halted in 1924, with partially converted cars being patched up and returned to service with their original codes and numbers.

Converted Swing Door cars originally entered service with class codes such as 'ACM', 'BCM', and 'ABCD', indicating both class and type. In 1921 this was largely simplified to 'M' (Motor car), 'T' (Trailer car) and 'D' (Driving trailer), with the majority of trailers being made first class and motor cars second class. Some exceptions were the six AM motors (1, 8, 15, 46, 65 & 78), first-class carriages allowed to work at higher rates of acceleration. These six motors were used in E-Trains, where two electric motors would run with up to six regular passenger cars/vans; at Lilydale or Frankston the motor cars would cut off and be replaced with steam engines for running to Warburton/Healesville and Mornington/Stony Point respectively.

The maximum size of the Swing Door train fleet was:

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Motor cars 155 to 164 were originally intended to be built as single carriages for use on short or low-patronised lines, where it would not be worth rostering a steam locomotive and crew and providing overhead wiring would work out cheaper. Example routes were Hawthorn-Kew, Camberwell-Ashburton (later Alamein) and Eltham-Hurstbridge.

These ten vehicles were to be constructed to appear similar to the rest of the Swingdoor motor fleet, with a large guard/driver compartment at one end. However, at the opposite end a very small driver-only compartment was added, with a rounded end to fit within the loading gauge. These carriages had eight compartments with room for ten passengers each. From the van end, the layout was for two compartments of 1st-smoking, two 1st, two for 2nd and two for 2nd-smoking, then the smaller drivers’ compartment.