ADG/V
ADG/V 612
By the early 1950s the Perth suburban rail system was in need of revamping. Part of this overhaul of the system was the purchase of eighteen diesel mechanical railcars from the Cravens Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. of Sheffield in England. In 1954 deliveries of these cars began. They were capable of carrying 110 passengers (62 seated and 48 standing) and were powered by two AEC 9.6 litre 6 cylinder engines which developed 125 bhp at 1800 rpm. ADG/V 612 entered service as ADG 616 on 28 September, 1954. It was painted in an all over green livery with black & yellow chevrons on the ends. The ADG class proved to be a great success, largely displacing steam power from all but the peak hour suburban services. In the early 1960s the railcars were fitted with supercharges to improve their performance, followed later in the decade by Voith automatic transmissions, thus converting them into diesel hydraulic railcars. ADG 616 was so converted on 10 March, 1971.
Eventually, the class was reclassified ADG/V (V for Voith) in October, 1978. On 15 December, 1982, ADG/V 616 was outshopped after having had its body placed on the underframe of ADG/V 612, as part of a programme of placing the best ADG/V bodies on the best frames. The new composite unit was renumbered ADG/V 612. By the mid-1980s the ADG/Vs were becoming tired and had been superseded by more modern railcars. In order to maintain the faster schedules several of them, including ADG/V 612 were fitted with more powerful 11.3 litre AEC engines which had been removed from the withdrawn ADX class railcars. The ADG/Vs were finally replaced by the new electric railcars and ADG/V 612 was withdrawn from service in January, 1992 and written off the following month.