Early plans indicated a build of at least six four-carriage sets for high speed services on the Albury, Bairnsdale, Mildura and Swan Hill lines.
[1] Alan Reiher, the newly minted Chairman of the Victorian Railways Board, had in mind the Spanish Talgo cars, which featured a very low centre of gravity.
The international tour looked at the Talgo vehicles, as well as the British Rail Mark 3 coaches and the French SNCF Corail cars, which all had features of interest.
[1] Due to the projected delay, in early 1983 Comeng's plant in Dandenong was awarded a contract from VicRail to develop concepts for the proposed country carriages.
To ensure the minimum possible weight the cars were to be constructed with low-grade 3CR12 stainless steel, which used chromium in place of nickel and molybdenum, and is created with very fine particles making for better welding properties.
Also to save weight, the cars were to use head end power in lieu of fitting underfloor diesel alternator sets or belt-driven generators, as had been applied to earlier vehicles.
[1] Early artwork for the cars reflected the low-slung body, mostly unpainted stainless steel with orange bands on the roof and below platform level, and doors in all four corners.
[1] A full-size mockup of a section of the carriage design was constructed at Newport Workshops, to show the concept to VicRail staff, unions and politicians; along with a 1:20 scale model measuring 1.2m over ends.
[citation needed] The economy carriages, and the sitting area of the restaurant car, were to be organised with sets of four fixed seats and a table either side of the central aisle.
As the project evolved through 1982, the requirements changed; more new locomotives were ordered and the railcars were mostly left alone, on account of patronage spikes rendering their capacity insufficient.