VicRail N type carriage

The bogies for the new cars were a new design, specifically prepared by Vickers Ruwolt. The suspension was based on coil springs, with a secondary cast bolster with spring plank, supported on swing links and coil springs. Each bogie weighed 7000 kg, with a wheelbase of 2,445mm and a maximum axle load of 14 tonnes, and were designed for operation at up to 130 km/h. Tread brakes were fitted, operated by Westinghouse model 250WF brake cylinders. The axle boxes utilised spherical roller bearings, and all parts of the bogie, except the wheels and axles themselves, were designed for conversion to standard gauge. This latter function was finally used in 2009 when the Mangalore to Albury line was converted to standard gauge.

The diesel alternator sets for the carriages provided 3-phase 415-volt alternating current power. Only 1 phase was required for operation, so the other two phases were available for backup or for load-sharing across other carriages - useful because the ACN and BN cars required 28 kW to operate and the BRN, with its additional functions, 40 kW. To accommodate the extra load, the ACN and BN were upgraded midway through construction to a 35kVA supply, and the programming reworked so that the BRN would not power adjacent cars. If all alternators were off, then the cars was able to take power from an external 240vAC power supply. Around the same time as these modifications were made, the alternator set supports were modified to reduce vibration, and the radiator fan motors' thermal overload switches were moved to reduce unnecessary tripping. At the end of the modifications, the system was organised so that in event of a power failure, the batteries mounted under the carriages would automatically reroute all power to the lights at the ends of the train to protect from oncoming traffic. Those lights could function for over ten hours, at the expense of air-conditioning and other functions.[9] The first six cars had plastic fuel pipes near the alternator units, but that was changed from car 7 onwards.[10]

Carriage shell number 19 was delayed in construction as it was selected for the trial buffet module equipment. As a result, car 20 became BN19, and car 19 entered service as BRN20.[14] The car was also used to test alternative carriage side materials, such as corrugated stainless steel sheeting; this was eventually rejected and normal carriage side material was fitted in its place.[13] A sketch of the proposal is provided in Newsrail, June 1982, p. 113.

The buffet modules, developed by Smallwood & Leibert, were intended to fit through the carriage doorways and then be assembled in situ. The new carriage design was tested on daily return trips from Melbourne to Bendigo, with additional runs to Albury and Gippsland before it officially entered service.[15] In practice the module was too heavy for the carriage design and had to be modified, as the offset weight gave the body a lean of "almost three inches" - this was rectified by temporarily modifying the bogie spring layout.[16] BRN29, the next of the type to enter service, was reorganised with the buffet on the north side of the car (following east and west end convention), and at the end of the project BRN20 was modified to match the standard of the rest of the fleet.

As an experiment, BRN33 was fitted with scharfenberg coupler drawbars in lieu of normal automatic couplers during construction.[13]

The first N sets introduced, N1 and N2, entered service on the Melbourne-bound train from South Geelong, at 6:50am on Monday October 5, 1981. The train split at Spencer Street station, with set N1 running to then from Horsham before forming an evening Geelong run, and set N2 running to Ballarat and return, then to South Geelong in the evening and shunting back to Geelong yard. On Saturday 10th one set ran to Spencer Street then formed a return Horsham (same as weekdays, excluding South Geelong), while the other set ran four return Geelong trips. On Sunday 11th both sets were coupled, for a Geelong to Spencer St run, then a return Bendigo and Swan Hill run, then back to Geelong. Set N3 entered service on one of the five Warrnambool/Ballarat/Shepparton rosters, replacing a set of cars CE-AS-BEa/c-BW; those cars were split, with the AS to a Gippsland set and the BEac to a Numurkah set. Set N4 then became the first "spare" N roster, available for service form 19 May 1982 if one of the other three was unable to run for any reason.[19] The fifth set entered service on 19 June, running Tuesdays to Friday on the 7am from Ballarat to Spencer Street with the return departure at 5:58pm. The set also ran a Horsham 9:30am outbound, 4:15pm inbound on Saturdays, and joined the existing Horsham train for extra capacity on Sundays.

The plan as at early 1982 was for all 54 carriages (not yet 57) to be in service by the end of 1983, running services to Warrnambool, Horsham, Shepparton, Geelong and some Bendigo services. All other services were to be provided by the existing S, Z and airconditioned E carriages, plus interurban Comeng type trains running to Traralgon. All carriages were to be formed into semi-fixed 3 or 4-car sets, with schedules built around standard consists to keep runs fast and simple. Additionally, all sets were to include only one conductor/guard van, rather than one each end, to maximise capacity for length and weight of each train set. The roster at the time worked with fourteen interurban trains (plus four on the electrified eastern region), so that would allow enough N sets spare and in rostered maintenance.[20]

As of June 1982, the roster included four N sets in service, N3 through N6, with one spare and one undergoing modifications. At the time, set N7 was due to be introduced on the Gippslander run to Bairnsdale on the week beginning 31 May; N8 and N9 had already entered service, and were stabled at Ballarat and Bendigo respectively, and had replaced CE-AS-BEac-BWL sets. The AS cars went to Ballarat Workshops for rebuilding, and the airconditioned BE cars replaced non-airconditioned cars in other sets. Further rebalancing of stock allowed the N sets to run on Dimboola trains, as accelerated schedules made return trips practical.[21] The fleet roster at the time was expected to last at least until the end of October, at which point half of the N cars would have been delivered.

An excerpt of the roster "N9" (i.e. the 9th roster post New Deal) as printed in the September 1982 Newsrail is provided below (amended November 1982 p. 283), showing the N car runs. Aside from these seven entries, a further 30 runs were scheduled, most including at least one airconditioned carriage. "SSS" is shorthand for Spencer Street station, meaning the platforms and not indicating the shunt in or out of yards.

Roster N10 started 31 October 1982 with ten N sets in service, two with BRN buffet cars and eight all-sitting sets; of the latter, two were rostered as spares and six were in service. The buffet sets (N7 and N10) were rostered on the Warrnambool (1255 ex Spencer Street, returning 1600 in lieu of 1700 as above) and Horsham day return schedules, plus the 0835 and 1825 Saturday Warrnambool runs.

The additional ACN-BN-BN set ran the 0615 (formerly 0620) from South Geelong, going on to form the 0755 to Horsham; after returning to Melbourne it replaced the former 1315 railcar and trailer to Shepparton, as the new 1255 departure running parallel to the outbound Warrnambool. On Saturdays it ran the 0700 city to South Geelong, and on Sunday it ran to Numurkah.[22] The 1740 to Geelong was downgraded to a non-airconditioned timber set, but the 1645 to South Geelong was increased to the 1605 from Bendigo (as above), plus the 1600 N set arrival from Warrnambool.[22] While previously the 0824 double N set formed the Warrnambool and Shepparton services, these were retimed to 0835 and 0855 respectively and formed by the 0800 (retimed to 0758) arrival. Instead, the 0824 double set arrival from Geelong was shunted to Spencer Street yard until the afternoon, leaving other sets to take the Ballarat and Horsham services.[23]

Around the same time, the proposals for Comeng interurban trains for the Traralgon line were dropped, as they would not have been available until 1986; and so concepts for further carriages following the delivery of the 54 N cars were being prepared.[21] In practice the further order never developed.

By late 1983, roster N18 had fifteen of the eighteen N sets in service and the remaining three under rostered maintenance. This included regularly running on the Gippsland line in lieu of the proposed interurban services. Under that roster, N sets ran return trips:[24]

• 1 per week to Albury (Friday night outbound, Sunday morning return)
• 34 per week to Ballarat
• 9 per week to Bendigo
• 7 per week to Cobram
• 6 per week to Dimboola (Sunday excluded)
• 38 per week to Geelong (including one double set, Sunday to Thursday)
• 7 per week to Horsham (including one double set on Sunday)
• 10 per week to Kyneton
• 6 per week to Shepparton (Sunday excluded)
• 17 per week to South Geelong (including one double set, Monday to Friday)
• 1 per week to Swan Hill (double set, Sunday only)
• 26 per week to Traralgon (including one double set on Sunday)
• 17 per week to Warrnambool (including one double set on Saturday)

All N type carriages were transferred across to V/Line Passenger when the country rail operator was split between freight and passenger divisions in 1995.

Since then various complete sets have been released from refurbishment (VN4, FN6, VN12, FN13, FN14, VN17).

Note: Colours are representative only, and do not directly correlate to liveries worn in the era. Also, the zero prefix in sets 1-9 below are incorrect but useful for sorting and searching purposes.

As of July 2013, only HO scale plastic models of the N-series carriages are available produced by Auscision Models[92] (although there have been brass models released in the past). Each set contains one each of the ACN, BRN and BN cars, plus a D boxvan van thought to have run on occasion with that consist. No Z type cars, spare N cars or PCJ power vans have been made available in ready-to-run plastic. The same sets were rerun in 2016.

As at 2019, no ready-to-run N scale models of the N type carriages are available.