Commonwealth Railways Special Car no. 1, referred to as the ‘Prince of Wales Car’, was built at Port Augusta in 1920.


Just wondering where this carriage is located now.

Comrails Claims GSR lease(d) it from someone. I'm doubtful that they still use it. EDIT After doing some digging on farceblock, it was stored undercover by GSR since at least 2010 in Adelaide needing an inspection or something.

http://www.comrails.com/cr_carriages/r_ss.html

You are lucky that the car still exists actually it was in a prang at Broken Hill with two people on board as well. It was going to be used by the SAR on the opening of the through standard gauge as at the time they did not have a special car on SG. So it was loaned to them for it. It was taken to Broken Hill and stored there on a siding. Now at the time the hand brake was inside the car locked up and the NSWGR shunters there did not chock the wheels on the car either, so it sat there with just the air in the brake system on it holding it there. Unfortunately the car rolled away once the air bled off and the car rolled downhill into a siding where a ore train stood and smashed into it at a great speed. The car was split down the middle almost and had to be tarped up and the sides roped onto the underframe of it to get it back to Port Augusta. The two occupants of the car did not die though but suffered severe cuts and abrasions etc.

When it was returned to Port Augusta it sat for a little while out of sight at the workshops until one day a decision had to be made on its fate, so the CR Commissioner at the time K.A.Smith had to yay or nay it. He said in one of his books he mulled over the situation in his mind for a good few days before making the decision to rebuild the car. It was rebuilt as near as possible to the original though and the famed carvings in the dining room or lounge which had been smashed, they got a woodcarver to replicate them all and a fine job he did as well on them. The only major change from original was providing a outside hand brake and air conditioning the car.

Parts of the car that were not smashed beyond recognition were reused in the rebuilding of it though. But it still exists and is stored under cover by GSR or whatever they now call themselves.

The car can only be used on some lines though as it is too high and wide for most places. It can run on any ex Commonwealth Railways tracks, and only on other tracks that permit double stacking to used on containers, otherwise it is foul of most states loading gauges. It stands higher than an IP/Ghan car actually and is a bit wider as well.

Thanks for the information Dangersdan707 and DJPeters.

Since Great Southern Rail is now Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions, I presume the Prince of Wales car is now in the custody of Journey Beyond.

Just wondering if anyone can confirm that it remains stored in Adelaide.

Thanks for the information Dangersdan707 and DJPeters.

Since Great Southern Rail is now Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions, I presume the Prince of Wales car is now in the custody of Journey Beyond.

Just wondering if anyone can confirm that it remains stored in Adelaide.

The 2 early CR Car's I'm thinking are still undercover in Adelaide, they were using them fairly regularly on the Ghan till about 2010 to my surprise! I think its still leased to them from whoever GSR sold the Rolling stock too in '03 iirc. Interestingly, there were murmurs on facebook earlier this year that GSR was interested in reactivating them for use a a super deluxe like class on the Ghan. I think that just need an inspection and some maintenance after all, AN and GSR were towing them in Ghan Consists at 115km/h! Special service car 2 is stored with it I think (it looks like it from the photos on facebook) but special service car 260 'The Chairmans Car' is still in use with GSR/JBRE what ever they are now called.

special service car 260 'The Chairmans Car' is still in use with GSR/JBRE what ever they are now called.

While the car is indeed still in use it has been rebuilt internally as a Platinum class sleeping car with (I think) eight sleeping places in four compartments. Some of the compartments have double beds. A small lounge is located at one end. It is unrecognisable as the original car since it has full length dark glass windows, and the intermediate access door has been removed and the fluting filled in  over the door space. All the other Platinum cars have ten sleeping places, and a few more are being converted from BRJ class cars.

The Prince of Wales car is number SS 44.
The only external body change since it was built was the enclosing of the end platform, which occurred before the accident in Broken Hill. It currently has Budd RDC bogies with disc brakes,

Peter

Prince of Wales is stored in the narrow shed at the southern end of the Keswick yard. It’s still available for hire POA on the Ghan service, which when I enquired in the first quarter of 2017 to travel in the third quarter of 2017 was $15k each way, preferably booked return.

Prince of Wales is stored in the narrow shed at the southern end of the Keswick yard. It’s still available for hire POA on the Ghan service, which when I enquired in the first quarter of 2017 to travel in the third quarter of 2017 was $15k each way, preferably booked return.

I suspect it doesn't get a huge amount of use but I have been told that collectively, the fares are not much more than equivalent in Gold or Platinum. It is however not promoted on GSR's website, only the Chairman's car. For the later, would be interesting to know for how much it costs and how much its used. Again if you were in a group of 8 and can afford Platinum, why not dig a tad deeper and get your own carriage.

Thanks for the information. Very useful. The carriage will be 100 years old next year.

special service car 260 'The Chairmans Car' is still in use with GSR/JBRE what ever they are now called.

While the car is indeed still in use it has been rebuilt internally as a Platinum class sleeping car with (I think) eight sleeping places in four compartments. Some of the compartments have double beds. A small lounge is located at one end. It is unrecognisable as the original car since it has full length dark glass windows, and the intermediate access door has been removed and the fluting filled in  over the door space. All the other Platinum cars have ten sleeping places, and a few more are being converted from BRJ class cars.

The Prince of Wales car is number SS 44.
The only external body change since it was built was the enclosing of the end platform, which occurred before the accident in Broken Hill. It currently has Budd RDC bogies with disc brakes,

Peter

The bogies on this and some other cars as well are not Budd car bogies but homemade CR copies of Budd car type bogies they are extremely similar though and indeed do have disc type brakes on them. As you can see in this photo they are a bit heavier construction than actual Budd car bogies. Photo is from the Comrails web site and is by John Beckhaus.

The bogies on this and some other cars as well are not Budd car bogies but homemade CR copies of Budd car type bogies they are extremely similar though and indeed do have disc type brakes on them. As you can see in this photo they are a bit heavier construction than actual Budd car bogies. Photo is from the Comrails web site and is by John Beckhaus.

Significantly, John's photo is from March 1969, so before the opening of the SAR standard gauge and before the accident in Broken Hill. I remember seeing it in 1969. The car looks no different today, apart from the paint scheme. I agree the bogies are copies of RDC bogies.


Peter