| |
SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance] | Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 has a high level of historical significance. The car belongs to a group of 203 all-steel single-deck electric rail carriages built by Tulloch limited from 1940 to 1957 which operated on the Sydney suburban electric rail system until 1993. Most of the car’s fittings were manufactured and assembled locally. From 1960 to 1964, the single-deck fleet of the Sydney electric system totalled over 1,100 cars, all of which have been withdrawn from traffic apart from those selected to represent the heritage of that period. At the time of its building, the single-deck Sydney electric train fleet of cars represented about 45% of the total fleet of passenger carriages on the NSW Railways. |
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance] | Based on current knowledge, Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 is not known to have any special associations with people or events of significance in a local or state context. It does not have significance under this criterion. |
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance] | Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 has a moderate level of aesthetic significance. The cars were built for economy and utility and not aesthetic appeal in high-volume suburban service. A new colour scheme was introduced with these deliveries which was appropriate for the time. Their original external appearance in Indian-red with two parallel buff lines had considerable appeal when the car was built. The carriage is visibly distinctive from other single-deck electric carriages on the system by the very visible large ventilators on the roof and pairs of double entrance doors.
Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 has a moderate level of technical significance. This car displays a shift in carriage design for the Sydney suburban services. Rather than offering as many seats as possible, standing room was given priority particularly in the end saloons. The car is almost totally built of steel in contrast to the locomotive-hauled fleet of carriages of the time where most cars were built with wooden bodies on steel and wooden underframes. |
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance] | The Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 is likely to have a degree of social value for the community-based associations who have demonstrated an ongoing interest in its conservation and management. This item may also have a degree of social significance to a broader section of the community linked to its historic, aesthetic and associative values. |
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential] | Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 has a moderate level of research significance. The car has the potential to reveal information regarding the development of both the use of all-steel construction cars on the NSW Railways, and the introduction of electrification to the Sydney suburban network. |
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity] | Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 has rarity significance. At the time of this car's construction in 1940, the single-deck fleet of electric carriages totalled 900. From 1940 until 1957, the Tulloch Phoenix Foundry built 203 cars, which then comprised 18% of the total fleet. Of these 203 cars, only car T 4554 and another, C 7485 have been retained. |
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness] | Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 is a good representative example of a steel trailer car. It represents a typical trailer car from an eight-car set, and is one of 883 single deck steel cars that formed the backbone of the Sydney Suburban fleet from 1926 until the late 1980s. The construction of this car heralded a subtle shift in accommodating the increasing loads of passengers on the Sydney suburban electric system, by increasing accommodation for standing passengers. This car and its 202 companions reflect this change to the design of electric carriages built from 1926 to 1930 while maintaining a likeness to the original fleet. The layout of longitudinal seats was to be extended to almost every carriage on the Sydney system after 1940. |
Integrity/Intactness: | Suburban Trailer Car T 4554 has a high level of integrity and intactness. |
Assessment criteria: | Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection. |