The Bluebird Railcars are a self propelled railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

 originally used for country passenger operations in South Australia by the South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 to the incorporation of its non-urban railways into the Australian National Railways Commission in 1975, together with the former Commonwealth Railways and the former Tasmanian Government Railways...

. They were built to provide modern air-conditioned services on the country passenger rail system where the patronage did not warrant the use of locomotive hauled passenger trains, and to replace the ageing fleet of Brill railcars introduced in 1924.

Fleet details

Eighteen Bluebirds were manufactured by the South Australian Railways Islington Workshops in Adelaide. They were first introduced in October, 1954 with the last unit entering service on 12 November, 1959 although no longer in scheduled revenue service several are still operational on tourist railways, while others have been converted to service vehicles for various rail operators. The 18 units are divided into 11 power cars (250 class) and 7 trailer cars (100 class).

Three baggage carriages (road numbers 280, 281, and 282) of the same style as the Bluebirds power/trailer units were also constructed and these attached as required to the Bluebird services.

Destinations

Bluebirds operated on many country passenger services across South Australia including; Victor Harbour, Mt Gambier, Nurriootpa, Burra, Whyalla and Broken Hill.