New South Wales U set

The New South Wales Government Railways began planning the electrification of the Main Western line over the Blue Mountains from 1949, and with that plan in full swing by the early 1950s, called tenders for 80 cars (40 motor, 20 trailer and 20 first with buffet trailer), with the contract being awarded to Commonwealth Engineering, Granville, in 1954. The cars were fitted with two lavatorial facilities and an Ice box that dispensed Iced water. The U sets were a bit different compared to the suburban single decked trains that were delivered at the same time. They were the first EMUs in NSW to feature stainless-steel construction using technology from the Budd Company, improving train acceleration and giving the trains lower maintenance costs and a longer usable life. Additionally, they were slightly thinner than their suburban counterparts and were fitted with single reflective headlights. The U Sets started to be delivered from June 1957, and the first sets made their first public appearances that same year. The first appearance took place on 22 June 1957 when they were hauled by electric locomotive 4612 as part of the first official electric train to travel on the newly electrified Blue Mountains line. Normal services began on 15 September 1958, and all were in service by March 1960. The cars were numbered as: ==In service==

The U sets initially entered revenue service on 15 September 1958 this being a Sydney Terminal to Mount Victoria service which was then known as "The Fish" which first served as a nine car set but eventually was increased to ten cars for future services. The U sets initially operated on the Main Western line as far as Bowenfels which was the limit of the electrified system at the time. This was cut back to Lithgow in 1974. As the electrified network expanded they began to operate to Gosford (23 January 1960), Wyong (April 1982), Newcastle (June 1984), Port Kembla (February 1986) and Dapto (January 1993). The U sets were supplemented by V set double deck sets from 1970. (left), Then-premier of New South Wales and Railway Commissioner Neil McCusker with a U Set at Sydney Central railway station for the inauguration of electric services to Gosford on 23 January 1960. First class travel was abolished on 1 September 1974. This saw the removal of the word "Second" on all carriages and also allowed non-first class passengers to enjoy the benefits of non-smoking carriages for the first time. The final revenue service performed by a U set was on Friday afternoon 1 November 1996 – a four car set operating a Newcastle to Sydney service. The final passenger service was on set "U3" (CF5008, TF6004, TF6020 and CF5022). The final U set to run under its own power was a Sydney Electric Train Society Farewell tour two days later on Sunday, 3 November, 1996, performed by an eight car set led by motor carriage CF5005. Many carriages would be scrapped following withdrawal. ==Preservation==

A number of U set carriages have been preserved. The Hunter Valley Railway Trust had five cars including class pioneer CF5001. The others were ETB6023, ETB6032, CF5011, and CF5005. All were scrapped in 2013, except CF5001 which was purchased by the Sydney Electric Train Society. Richmond Vale Railway lost cars TF6001, TF6002 and ETB6026 in a bushfire in 2017. However, they still have second class trailers TF6008, TF6009, TF6011, TF6012, and TF6019 in storage. The Sydney Electric Train Society owns six carriages. Aside from the aforementioned class leader, they own motor carriages CF5003, CF5021 and CF5022 with trailers TF6010 and ETB6037 which were purchased on 9 September 1998 from RailCorp. CF5003 and CF5021 remained at Hornsby until 2009 when they went on display at the Junee Roundhouse Museum before 17 June 2018, when along with locomotives 4615 and 8606 were transferred to Lithgow by Locomotive 8230. The rest of SETS U set fleet are stored on an unknown property. The Glenreagh Mountain Railway has cars ETB6031, ETB6035, TF6004, TF6005 and TF6014 which were all used as steam locomotive hauled carriage stock. The surviving carriages are as follows: In Popular Culture and Privately owned carriages • Some carriages were modified for usage in the 1999 SCI-FI film The Matrix where they are used by the protagonist Neo to run over his adversary Agent Smith. These carriages still retained their City Rail logo but the power carriage in the set, CF5025, was given lighting reminiscent of the Brown Line (CTA) used in Chicago, Illinois. • Trailer TF6011 was featured in numerous scenes of Like Minds (2005). • A preserved U set carriage appeared in Guy Sebastian's "Standing with You" music video in 2020. On 24 November 1998, five carriages were purchased by members of the Sydney Electric Train Society. All five cars are stored at Molong. These were motor cars CF5006, CF5010 and CF5027 with trailers TF6006 and ETB6038. The latter is the only carriage to retain its original lift up windows. 31 other cars including ETB6034 have been purchased for private usage. Motor carriages CF5004 and CF5024 remain coupled together and stored at the Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum. ==References==