This page outlines the history and evolution of Victorian Railways (Australia) bogie passenger carriages, constructed with steel underframes and timber bodies up to long, as well as a few other carriages from the era.
A total of 640 locomotive-hauled, wooden-bodied, bogie carriages were constructed between 1874 and 1903, mostly to variants of the basic design. All carriages were designed to fit within the Victorian Railways' loading gauge, and to run on rails spaced apart. All were fitted with buffers or, later, buffing plates, and all couplings were of the screw type.
In March 1903, the Victorian government announced that a Canadian, Thomas Tait, had been appointed as the new Chairman of Commissioners of the Victorian Railways. He immediately set out to introduce a new type of passenger carriage, inspired by the latest trends overseas. They would later be designated E type carriages, with the first being put into service in late 1906.
Liveries
All carriages began with the then-standard dark maroon livery over a black underframe, with yellow pin-striping and details. During and after World War I, the detailing was abolished and they were painted plain red, with white text on black rectangles for running information, such as class and identity.
1954 saw a change to a much brighter red livery. Not many cars survived to the 1972 change of class designation from "Second" to "Economy".
The first bogie carriage
The oldest wooden bogie passenger carriage owned by the Victorian Railways had been purchased from the Melbourne and Hobsons Bay United Railway Company as that company's carriage no.21. After purchase, it retained its number, with a note attached indicating that it was part of the South Suburban system. In 1879, it was re-classed 1AA and, in 1888, it was changed again to 11BB. The 1910 recoding saw it relabelled 11B. In 1940, the car was withdrawn from regular service and converted to workmen's sleeper 9WW. It was scrapped in 1957.
The body had two doors on either side for two compartments, each seating 26. The seats were installed against the walls, making for a sort of lounge arrangement.
American Saloon cars
When the Victorian Railways first started looking into bogie passenger carriage design, Britain didn't have many examples to follow, so the styles selected were copied from American railroads of the era.
Between 1874 and 1892, a total of 27 American saloon-style carriages were constructed, all bar two to a standard design.
Standard design
Special cars
44ft 6in car "Albert"
The car was built at the Phoenix Foundry in Ballarat, and entered service in 1887 as 3AA. It was originally the prized car of Solomon Mirls, the chief mechanical engineer of the Victorian Railways from 1878 to 1890. The car was slightly longer than the standard American saloon types then entering service, and the saloon was accessed from end platforms or by a centrally located door. The car was laid out with a centre aisle having two-seater benches either side, all facing towards the centre of the carriage, with a capacity of 48 first-class passengers. Each saloon had five benches on either side of the central aisle, with a further two opposite the lavatories behind each saloon section. The lavatory compartments did not have running water, and were placed diagonally opposite each other.
In 1894, the car was rebuilt. The two lavatory compartments were plumbed, and marked "W.C." on the construction diagram. All seats were removed from the men's end of the carriage, including the saloon, and the saloon was refitted with a central table, two long benches, and a small buffet counter. The car was renamed "Albert" in June 1896.
On 27 June 1902, the car returned to regular service as 129AA (the second vehicle to have that identity), and may have been restored to its original configuration. The function of the car was later taken over by State Cars 1, 2 and 3. On 18 May 1903, the car was further modified with one saloon reallocated to second class passengers, and the code changed to 83ABAB.
The car was modified again in 1908, becoming 5ABDABD. At that stage, it was fitted with a guard's compartment, and may have been used for ticket sales on minor branch lines. Aside from being re-classified to 5ABC in 1910, the car ran in that form until 1941. It was condemned and removed from the rollingstock register on 9 April 1941, then scrapped.
45ft car "Victoria"