Batteries

A set of lead-acid batteries sits in a battery box on the underside of one of the heritage carriages at the Eveleigh Paint Shop. The box is steel, mounted to the underframe of the body between the bogies, accessed through a hinged door on the side. Inside, a row of cells is held in a wooden frame, each cell topped with a vented cap and connected to the next by a heavy copper link. The terminals are coated in grease against corrosion. Cabling runs from the battery box back into the carriage body through a sealed gland in the underframe. The cells in the photograph are showing the discoloration of long disuse: the lead plates are sulfated, the electrolyte has evaporated below working level.

Lead-acid batteries on NSW Government Railways passenger carriages supplied the lighting, the control circuits, and the auxiliary services when the carriage was disconnected from a powered set or a locomotive's auxiliary supply. The batteries were charged in service from the locomotive or from the trunk supply along the consist. The battery box in this photograph is the original installation, untouched since the carriage was retired from regular service. Replacing the cells for working operation would be a part of any return-to-service plan. For static display at the Paint Shop, the discharged cells stay in place as part of the carriage's original equipment.