Victorian Railways fixed wheel passenger carriages

Victorian Railways fixed wheel passenger carriages
Manufacturer Victorian Railways
Built at Newport Workshops, others
Family name Fixed-wheel stock
Constructed From 1855
Entered service From 1858
Number built Around 2,000 total
Number in service 0
Number scrapped Most
Operator(s) Victorian Railways
Depot(s) All
Line(s) served All
Specifications
Doors Swing
Track gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)

All railways have to start somewhere.

The first passenger carriages of the Victorian Railways were fixed-wheel, with a mixture of first- and second-class bodies on either four- or six-wheeled underframes.

Initial designs had some common themes; the A and B type carriages were for first- and second-class travellers, with C reserved for third-class. D class was used for guards' vans. The first vehicles were placed on four-wheeled underframes, later designs having a middle axle added. Some cars were built by the Victorian Railways while others imported. Between 1860 and 1880 the Victorian Railways absorbed a number of private railway operators, and their rollingstock was absorbed into the fleet, renumbered to suit. This explains why records show some cars built in 1855, even though the Victorian Railways only started operating in 1858.

At first, numbers were generally kept consecutive with no regard for differing capacities or axle loads. When a carriage was scrapped, either a new one would be built with the same number, or a classmate would be renumbered to fill the gap.

Later recodings saw some cars reclassed with multiple letters, such as AB, AD, BD and ABD. Another category was used for older cars in restricted service, with a subscript H added to the class to indicate Holiday traffic - BH, for example. The H superscript was initially just a note next to the code, although it later became an official part of the code. Only second-class carriages were marked as such.

From the 1880s new first-class bogie carriages were added to the fleet. Initially these took spare numbers in the A series, the first example being 70A. In 1886 the cars were reclassed as AA, and it is thought that this occurred due to mix-ups with carriage capacities. Ten second-class bogie carriages were also built between 1879 and 1881, with an eleventh converted from a different class in 1888; these cars were reclassed to BB at the same time. The bogie carriages started to displace their fixed-wheel predecessors, with these being shifted into other duties. In particular, with the influx of bogie first-class carriages the majority of first-class fixed wheel vehicles were reclassed to Second and renumbered as B Class.

A/X/XH

This group ranged from numbers 1 through 274, although over 100 numbers were recycled at least once. The cars were all similar to each other; around four compartments with doors on each side and long seats across the walls of the compartments, with a curved roof over a four- or six-wheeled underframe. Notably, the first few bogie carriages took freed numbers in the A series, until they were separated out to avoid confusion with carriage capacities.

The cars were built from the 1850s through the 1880s, with a handful built after that and a large proportion were obtained from other railways.

When the cars started to wear out and as new designs came into use (in particular the new bogie fleet), the cars were altered for other purposes. A considerable proportion ended up as workmens sleepers, with a handful of those lasting to 1980. Other cars were converted to second class (and relettered B) or composite (lettered AB), instead of being called AH to follow the BH/etc patterns.

In the 1910 en-masse relettering of fixed-wheel stock found the letters A, B and D replaced with X, Y and Z respectively. So the A cars mostly became X class; two, numbers 43 and 44 (ex 54A and 61A) were converted to XH on account of their condition, and restricted to occasional traffic only. The resulting post-1910 fleet numbered 1-42X and 45-82X. Cars 1 through 41 had been built as A Class but renumbered to B class previously. In 1913, when the Deniliquin & Moama Railway was taken over, one of their first class cars was renumbered to 43A to recycle that number.

Cars still in service in the 1940s were converted to workmen sleepers known as WS or W Class; three of these later were placed on bogie underframes and became WW class.

Cars from other railways

AB/XY/XYH

These cars were mixed first- and second-class versions of the standard fixed wheel rollingstock. First Class compartments were slightly wider, allowing for more legroom.

AB cars were built between 1859 and 1887, and a further ten were converted from other classes in 1892. As a result, the total fleet was in the range 1AB to 157AB.

From 1888 to 1904 the class was converted to other uses, as patronage increased and so mixed-purpose carriages became less useful. Conversions were mainly to second class (and a small number to TBO, a second class van with a booking office installed), though a handful were converted to workmen sleepers. Car AB118 was relettered to 118ABH in about 1900, for holiday traffic.

The 1910 recoding saw the leftover cars converted from AB to XY; 118ABH became 15XYH, and was removed from service in 1913. Otherwise, the number range was 1-42XY, although about five cars were never converted and instead scrapped or given to other uses.

The cars were progressively scrapped or converted to other uses (mainly workmen vehicles of the W-series) between 1911 and 1958, the last being 25XY on 29 July 1958.

It is thought that the carriage body in Werribee is a former XY carriage:[1] Another carriage body, from 5XY, is thought to be in Hampton, and was recorded as in good condition in 1996.

ABD/XYZ

As car designs were being mixed and matched to find a better balance between offering patronage and weight hauled, combination carriages became more common. The ABD type was an odd result of this experimentation, with nine cars built by 1886. These each had half the car as a guard's van and luggage area, and the other half split into a second- and first-class compartment of normal style. The final total was from 1ABD to 18ABD.

Between 1889 and 1891, three cars were transferred to other service. Car ABD 8 was most interesting. The car was altered to 380B in 1889. This suggests the car was originally a standard carriage with one compartment used as a van section or that the van was fitted with seating and the cupola section blanked off or removed. Twelve were built new during 1893/1894. Five cars were transferred to other service between 1898 and 1903. In the 1910 recoding the class was relettered to XYZ_. The numbers were altered to fill gaps when the cars were relettered. The railways ran a small group of guards vans that had 1st and 2nd class accommodation. The vans were used on mixed trains and smaller branchline trains. The carriages/vans were classed as ABD_ until 1910 when the lettering and numbers were altered and the car/vans became XYZ. By 1910 there were thirteen vehicles. The class numbers were 1 - 13. One XYZ car was scrapped in 1912. An extra vehicle was not converted until 1922 when 12YZ became 14XYZ. This class was gradually withdrawn from service between 1928 and 1939.

AD/XZ

These vehicles entered service between 1881 and 1886. They were built to a similar design to YZ vans but were for First Class. The number group is 1 to 58. However many cars are missing from the list. From the data it appears that the class was re-organised in 1886. Many vehicles in service prior to 1886 were scrapped and the numbers left vacant for replacements that were never built. Cars 3, 7, 17, 18, 24, 30, 37 - 44, 55 - 57 were never in service after 1886. Cars 1, 2 and 4 entered service about 1886 as replacements for earlier cars. Car 4AD is now 69YZ, preserved in running condition at Seymour. Between 1887 and 1904, the vehicles were converted to _BD_ at about the rate of about two or three per year with twelve conversions for 1891. In the 1910 recoding the sole remaining vehicle in the class, AD 4, was recoded to XZ, number 1. In February 1914, XZ 1 was relettered to YZ 69.

B/BH/Y/YH

The group of Second Class carriages were coded 'B'. They were placed in service from 1858 to 1886, with a sole Second Class carriage built in 1893. From 1886 onwards, First Class carriages coded A were downgraded to Second. The introduction of bogie carriages to country service cascaded stock allowing older vehicles to be scrapped or converted to works cars. In the mid to late 1890s, older stock was marked with a 'H' to indicate 'Holiday' traffic; stock stored for use until busy holiday times of the year. The cars were eventually coded _BH_. In the 1910 recoding these cars were recoded to YH. The B/BH group was numbered 1 - 479. In the 1910 recoding the 'B' class was recoded to Y. To remove gaps in the numbers caused by conversions and scrappings, the carriages were renumbered as they were recoded. The Y/YH group were in the 1 - 385 group. From the mid 1890s and possibly earlier, older carriages were stored and used infrequently. Their use was generally to provide more capacity on trains at holiday times or for the make up of special excursion trains. The addition of a letter 'H' next to the code, but not part of it, was the initial indicator with the 'H' later becoming part of the code from the 1900s. The H was not included in traffic reports. Carriages marked BH were downgraded from class B. For some carriages it is difficult to determine whether they were converted from carriages as B and came BH or whether the conversion was directly to BH. The BH cars were recoded and renumbered to YH in the 1910 recoding. The numbers were altered as well to remove gaps when cars in the 'B' group had been scrapped and not replaced. The numbers run 1 - 385. This number group is also shared by YH cars.

Two hundred and sixteen cars were relettered in the 1910 recoding with four cars converted into the class between 1913 and 1922. The cars were progressively removed from service between 1911 and 1935 by scrapping or conversions to W works sleepers. The remaining few cars, sited at loco depots, were removed and scrapped by 1956. One car survived to 1963 as a railmotor trailer on a distant branch line. The car Y 309, was restored and is now part of the 'Veteran train'. One hundred and sixty four cars were recoded in 1910. The number group is part of the Y group. Both form one number group 1 - 385. The YH numbers recorded by the author are: The 'H' grouping was all done by 1902. This is to say that no more cars were down rated from Y to YH after about 1902. Most of these cars were converted to W works sleepers between 1912 and 1956. Other cars were removed and scrapped.

Y numbers: 4, 7, 17, 20, 22, 30-31, 33, 38, 52, 54, 63, 65-69, 77, 89, 91, 93-96, 98, 100, 102-208, 212, 213, 217-224, 230-247, 250-251, 253, 257-258, 267, 270-272, 276-279, 288-289, 292, 294, 299, 300, 302-303, 306, 309, 315, 320-322, 325-326, 329, 330, 333, 336-337, 339, 342-344, 347-348, 350-351, 357-358, 360-361, 363, 366, 369, 371-378, 383 and 385. YH numbers: 1-3, 5-16, 18-19, 21, 23, 25-29, 32, 34-37, 39-51, 53, 55-62, 64, 70-76, 78-88, 90, 92, 97, 99, 101, 209-211, 214-216, 225-229, 248-249, 252, 254-256, 259-266, 268-269, 273, 275, 280-287, 290-293, 295-298, 301, 304-305, 307-308, 310-314, 316-319, 323-324, 327-328, 331-332, 334-335, 338, 340-341, 345-346, 349, 352-356, 359, 364-365, 367-368, 370, 379-382 and 384.

BD/BDH/YZ/YZH

Between 1883 and 1887 there were twenty six vehicles placed into service as BD. From 1887 to 1904 a further forty six vehicles were converted to BD from classes AD and ABD. The resulting number group was 1 to 68. About 1895, BD cars 43 and 67 became BDH 43 and 67. They were retained for holiday traffic and stored at other times. In the 1910 recoding they were relettered to YZH. The last car YZH 67 was removed from service in 1913. In the 1910 recoding the class BD was relettered to YZ with the same numbers retained. Some vans were converted into the class in the late 1900s. The number group was 1 - 69. In 1922, YZ 12 was converted to XYZ 14. By the 1930s, the only vans left were stationed at loco depots on 'Breakdown trains'. One van survived as a railmotor trailer in the Mallee district.

D/Z vans

See here: Victorian Railways Z vans

E mail vans

The railway records show twenty two fixed wheel mail vans in service. They were given the code E and were numbered 1 - 22.

They appear to have been attached to trains and used to transfer mail between centres. Port Melbourne is mentioned, mail transfer between Melbourne and ships most likely.

They were placed into service between 1858 and 1885. There are however anomalies as the records were rewritten in 1886 with most of the previous data lost. From the diagrams available, some of the class were converted from surplus carriage stock.

The vans were progressively removed from service from 1888. Three were converted to C Hearse vans.

Remaining cars were modified as sleeping vans for use by the then 'Existing Lines Branch'. Until 1910 they were recoded into the WS group, and W thereafter.

Most of the vans (as W) were scrapped in the late 1920s / early 1930s.

Three vans survived to the 1950s

   E 9 as W 116 - scrapped late 1970s, body at Elmhurst at 1999
   E 21 as W 114 - scrapped 1958
   E 22 as W 113 - scrapped 1960, earmarked for ARHS, no disposition information

W/WS/WW

The WS class evolved from a collection of old carriages and vans in railway service. At 1886 there was a list of carriages and their use as works sleepers. These carriages were later absorbed into the "WS" number group. It is difficult to determine when the class letters were first used, the data suggests 1887. These works sleepers were used throughout the state system. They were accommodation for supervisory and repair staff who were required to travel. These people included telegraph fitters, foreman, bridge repairers, track staff, signal fitters. Conversions of redundant stock progressed through the 1890s until April 1910. No doubt this stock was released by bogie the introduction of bogie carriages. This caused a cascading effect which left the oldest stock built up to the 1880s for railway use. By April 1910, the WS fleet numbered 1 - 120. In the 1910 recoding, the WS class letters became simply _W__. The vehicles were re-numbered in the process which makes research from the Diagram Books difficult. Construction and conversion into this group continued after April 1910 as the 'W' class and in that number group. Types The WS class includes conversions from: _AB_ First/Second class fixed wheel cars, _B__ / _BH_ Second class fixed wheel cars, _E__ mail vans and _D__ Guards Vans. 1-8WS became 2-9W; 10-12WS became 1-3WW; 13-118WS became 11-118W.

In the most cases the WS cars that became W were the 2nd or 3rd vehicle of the number.

From 1906, a number of older vehicles were scrapped and were rebuilt to a new sleeping van design built in 1901. This van eventually became _W__ 1.

Significant cars

Other conversions

Travelling Booking Office (TBO)

As a result of the 1890s economic depression the railways, like all other businesses, were required to cut costs in any way possible. One method of achieving this was to remove staff members from a lot of small stations; to compensate, ticket sales were made on the train. To achieve this, a handful of carriages were fitted with a booking office area, with a small sales window.

The South Gippsland Line had a special carriage provided; first class car 173A was modified to become 1TBO in 1892. The car had been acquired from the Hobson's Bay & United Railway Company in the 1870s. The car was converted to full-passenger traffic as second class holiday car 68BH in 1900. In the 1910 recoding this became 57YH; 1913 saw the car altered again to a Workmans sleeper 156W, which was finally scrapped in 1938.

A second car, 2TBO, was converted from 77AB in 1900 as a replacement for 1TBO. 77AB had been built in 1882. This car ran in service until 1909 when it became 117WS, then 115W in the 1910 recoding. It was marked "off register" in 1911.

Weight Machine Adjuster (WMA)

These three vans were assigned to weighbridge fitters, who travelled around the state maintaining weighbridges. They were probably outfitted as sleepers.

In 1888 carriage 247B (ex Hobsons Bay) was relettered as 1WMA. The vehicle was four compartments long, each with a door on either side; the body was 20 ft long. This was scrapped in 1903.

A further two cars were converted to 2WMA and 3WMA in 1898, coming from 45AB and the first 376B (ex 172A, Hobsons Bay stock) respectively. 2WMA was scrapped in 1906 and replaced with a new-build workmans sleeper, 23WS. That van was recoded to 21W and lasted in service to the late 1970s. 3WMA became the second 82WS in 19078, then in the 1910 recoding it became 80W. It was scrapped in 1928.

References to a 5WMA exist, but there are no records indicating that the van was ever built or in service. This is thought to be a case of 'pre-empting' uncompleted work, or else a mis-lettering of the 45AB/2WMA diagram.

1910 recoding and later

In the 1910 mass recoding, the cars kept their then-current designations but with A replaced by X, B replaced by Y and D replaced by Z. There were no passenger C cars in service at this time, and the letter had been recycled in 1893 for hearse vehicles. H, where appropriate, was retained.

Cars that had been built between 1850 and 1880 were largely scrapped by 1930. Later-built stock was recycled for other uses, being used up to the 1980s and ending their days as workmen sleepers.

The final number range was from 1A to 274A excluding 129, although not all numbers were in use at the same time and the majority were recycled at least once. In fact, 117 numbers were used twice, and of those 13 were used three times. After 1886 a total of 276 cars were classed A at some point or another. Before the 1910 recoding there were B/BH cars in the range 1-479; after the recoding, with renumberings to fill the gaps, the range shrunk to 1-385.

Z vans

The guards vans were reclassed Z, and as a design lasted much longer than any other 1800's fixed-wheel rollingstock. About 750 of the vans were eventually built, not counting the duplicates. Additionally, the body design was placed back-to-back with a single central guard's compartment, and placed on a bogie underframe to give the DD, later C class bogie guards' van.

The D/Z page is Victorian Railways Z vans. The DD/C page is Victorian Railways bogie guards vans#C vans

Preservation

The Veteran Train

Carriage set 40X-309Y-69YZ was first restored to operating condition in the early 1950s as a display piece for the 1954 Victorian Railways Centenary. Since that time the cars have been kept in fairly good condition.

Current deployment

Photograph of the body of Victorian Railways carriage 136AB at ARHS Museum, Newport.
Photograph of the body of Victorian Railways carriage 12AB at ARHS Museum, Newport.

Photos of the last move the Seymour set were involved in; 40X-309Y-69YZ

Model Railways

Z vans can be built using the kit by Steam Era Models; could be backdated to D vans, or postdated to ZB, ZD, BL, ZP, ZZ.

Other cars can be modelled using a mixture of parts from the Steam Era Z Van kit, plus Steamandthings's carriage side etchings.

References

  1. ↑ XY carriage
  2. ↑ http://www.vgr.com.au/timechart/timechart2015.php
  3. ↑ http://srhcblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/23rd-may-2013.html

External links

Pre-1910

Post-1910

Z van modifications

Speecial & Other Cars

Workmen vehicles

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