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The NZR RM class Wairarapa railcar (or Rimutaka railcar) was the first truly successful class of railcars to operate on New Zealand's national rail network. They entered service in 1936 and were classified RM like all other classes of railcars in New Zealand; they came to be known as the "Wairarapa" class (and sometimes as the "Rimutaka" class) as they were designed to operate over the famous Rimutaka Incline to the Wairarapa region on the Wairarapa Line. They also acquired the nickname of "tin hares" in New Zealand railfan jargon. The first two to be introduced re-used the numbers RM 4 and RM 5 that had previously been used by the withdrawn experimental Model T Ford railcars. The class consisted of six passenger railcars, and one passenger-freight railcar. It is often described incorrectly as a class of six railcars. == Background == The Rimutaka Incline over the Rimutaka Ranges posed a severe time delay to any service operating between Wellington and the Wairarapa region. At one end of the Incline, a train had to have its engine replaced by multiple members of the H class, as the H class locomotives were specially designed to work the steep and difficult Incline. Once they hauled the train the length of the Incline, they were then replaced by a single ordinary engine, and the procedure to attach and remove the H class locomotives as well as the actual trip along the Incline was tremendously slow. The Wairarapa railcars were designed as an answer to this problem. They were intended to operate along the length of the Incline and take over Wairarapa passenger services from regular carriage trains. In design, they resembled a bus, and unlike a usual single-unit railcar that has a driving compartment at each end, the Wairarapa railcars only had one driving end, necessitating that they be turned at the terminus of their journey. An additional characteristic of the Wairarapa railcars' design was that their body had to be built higher than an ordinary railcar to easily navigate the raised Fell centre rail on the Rimutaka Incline. The first six of the class (Rm 4 to Rm 9) were designed to carry 49 passengers with their baggage. Rm 10 was built as a mixed freight and passenger railcar with seating for 25 passengers 〔Stott, Bob. "The Rimutaka Incline: Yesterday and Today". Southern Press, 1984, p.26〕〔(The Arawa, a rail-car of a new type, taking its trial run over the Hutt Line on Saturday ). Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 39, 16 February 1937, p.9〕〔Beckett, Mike. ("The Tin Hares" ). Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust, 2005. Newsletter No.10.〕〔Albert Percy Godber (Rail motor No 10 "Arawa", 1937 ) Alexander Turnbull Library.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「NZR RM class (Wairarapa)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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