540 - MCE Composite sitting car

MCE Mainline sitting car

Built: 1929

Builder: Clyde Engineering

Current status: Static display – under restoration 

CE 540 was built in 1929 as a timber-bodied Composite First and Second class compartment sitting car.

The story of 540 starts in November 1911 when E.E. Lucy, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the NSW railway, laid out plans for new carriages for the NSWR’s most prestigious services, the Brisbane Express and the Melbourne Limited. These carriages would have 71’ (21.64m) long steel under-frames, with wooden bodies and 3 axle bogies, giving rise to them being known as the ‘12 wheelers’ or ‘72’ 6”’ [the overall length] carriages.

The original designs evolved by 1917 into three sitting cars: the MBX, MFX, and MCX providing first, second, and composite (mix of first and second) class seating, respectively, in a combination of compartments and open saloon areas. When delivered by Clyde Engineering in June 1929, 540 was one carriage in a fleet of over 150 ‘M’ class carriages being used on services all over NSW: from the Kempsey, Forbes, and Glenn Innes mail services to the 'Kosciusko Express' (which was something of a misnomer given it ran to Bombala, stopping at just about every station).

As built, 540 had a varnished exterior of cedar matchwood with crown lights above the main windows. It had an off-centre vestibule dividing the first and second class accommodation, providing first class seating for 17 in two compartments and a saloon with 5 seats. The second class accommodation provided seating for 41 in four compartments and saloon seating for 9. Second class passengers had access to a washroom and toilets were available at each end. In 1952, 540 was converted from an MCX to an MCE configuration; the saloon and second class washroom were removed and replaced by one additional compartment in first class and two in second class, increasing the seating capacity to 18 in first and 48 in second. The external appearance also changed over time with the exterior being painted, matchwood replaced by plywood panels, and the crown lights removed and replaced by a second letterboard. 540 was first painted when the MCX/MCE conversion was done and then several times through the rest of its life with the NSW railways culminating in the 'candy' colour scheme of the 1980s, but no record has been found as to when the crown lights and matchwood timber were replaced. This is likely to have been sometime between the early 50s and late 60s.

The exterior of the carriage was largely stripped several years ago and a pilot project is being undertaken to restore the external fabric. The interior of the carriage has survived remarkably well, particularly those areas not impacted by the MCE conversion in 1952, which retain the Wunderlich pressed steel paneling and French polished woodwork, though a lot of effort will be required to restore the interior to how it would have looked whilst in railway service.