Generating Sets

The generating sets in one of the power vans at the Eveleigh Paint Shop sit inside the body of the carriage, accessed through service doors along the lower part of the side wall. Each set is a diesel engine coupled directly to an electrical generator on a common steel base frame, mounted to the floor of the van. The diesel is a heavy multi-cylinder engine in the standard industrial pattern of the period, with the exhaust manifold running up to a roof-mounted stack. The generator end carries the output terminals and the control gear. Two sets are typically fitted to a single van, side by side, with the auxiliary plant (fuel tank, oil cooler, batteries) shared between them. The compartment is steel-clad and lined with sound-absorbing panels.

Generating sets powered the electrical services of NSW Government Railways long-distance trains: lighting, heating, air-conditioning, kitchen equipment, public address. Each train consist carried one or more power vans between the locomotive and the passenger fleet, supplying current to the rest of the train through trunk cables that connected through each carriage. The generating sets in this photograph are the original equipment of the power van, retired from active service when the long-distance services were withdrawn. The van is held at the Eveleigh Paint Shop as part of the Historic Electric Traction heritage collection.