#6482
South Australian Railways Bluebird railcar
🇦🇺 Australia ·built by South Australian Railways· self-propelled rail vehicle of the South Australian Railways
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_4_Jun_1969_(NRM_97-1262-g028-0890).jpg)
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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR 257 Kestrel, NRM, 2014: Bahnfrend· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Bluebird 250 class railcar-SAR: John Masson· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Bluebird 257 Jacketts siding National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide 16 May 2021: Redhen334· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. Bluebird 257 National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide 16 May 2021: Redhen334· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. Bluebird Railcar-Peterborough SA- 1976: Steve· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 6. Bluebird railcar no. 256 'Kookaburra' and 3 others at Telford, South Australia, 9 May 1987: Chris Drymalik (photographer).· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. Locomotive-hauled car BM259 (former SAR Bluebird railcar) at Islington Workshops 13 July 2023: Redhen334· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. South Australian Railways Bluebird railcar 260 at Ellen Street railway station, Port Pirie, 1962 (ANIB photo): Employee of the Australian News and Information Bureau· Public domain
- 9. Burra station with Peterborough-bound Bluebird railcar (103 & 260) 4 Jun 1969 (NRM 97-1262-g028-0890): Barry Marshall· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 10. South Australian Railways Bluebird railcar no 252 at Pallamana (Sedan line), Jan 1957 (NRM): Unknown author Unknown author· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The Bluebird railcars were a class of self-propelled diesel-hydraulic railcar built by the South Australian Railways' Islington Railway Workshops between 1954 and 1959.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- Weighs about as much as 10 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 23.9 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 250: 5 full city buses (~50 seats each).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- —
- number built
- 21
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- builders
- South Australian Railways
- operators
- South Australian Railways, Australian National Railways Commission
- top speed
- 112 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- length
- 23.9 m
- weight
- 60 t
- capacity
- 250 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7566149, Wikipedia: South Australian Railways Bluebird railcar (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.