Below is a list of crew and service stock that are housed at the National Railway Museum.
Travelling Post Office Van Willochra
Commonwealth Railways
Standard Gauge
Class operators: Commonwealth Railways
Condition: Good
Entered service: 2.8.1971
Entered the museum: 16.12.1996
Number in class: 23
Ownership: Port Dock Station Railway Trust
Provenance: Commonwealth Railways & Australian National
Withdrawn: 1996
This brake van was built by Comeng, of Granville, NSW for the Commonwealth Railways. It entered service as narrow gauge (1067mm) brake van NHRE85 on 2nd August 1971 at Darwin. In 1976, when the Darwin operation ceased, it was transferred to Marree.
These brake vans were used on the long haul runs where crews worked in relays, one set being on duty, while the other relaxed or slept. As well as the normal guard’s area it has a kitchen, shower, toilet and sleeping bunks for 8 staff.
Following the closure of the Marree operation it was converted to standard gauge.
South Australian Railways
Broad Gauge
Class operators: South Australian Railways
Condition: Excellent
Entered service: 23.12.1912
Entered the museum: 21.1.1966
Length (over coupling points): 62’ 10’’ (19.15 metres)
Number in class: 12
Ownership: History Trust of South Australia
Provenance: South Australian Railways
Withdrawn: 29.11.1965
Until the 1960s the standard brake van on both passenger and goods trains consisted of the familiar flat-roofed van with a raised cupola in the centre, which enabled the Guard to see over the top of the train. The earliest passenger vans were short vehicles of less than forty feet, but in 1910 construction began on what was to be a class of long vans on two six-wheel bogies. These eleven ‘twelve-wheel brake vans’ were to become the standard main line passenger vans.
They became well known on the main lines to Terowie, Port Pirie, Barmera, Serviceton, Pinnaroo and Mount Gambier, and during the Second World War even saw some service on Second Division Overland trains to Melbourne.
Early on in their lives the vans were fitted with side lights for platform illumination at wayside halts. Originally fitted with standard tail discs for day use and electric corner markers, the vans were refitted in the 1920s with kerosene marker lamps. In the late 1930s the vans had their hook couplers and side buffers replaced with automatic couplers, and a few years later their ends were again changed when substantial anti-collision beams were installed together with sliding doors.
The vans were originally painted maroon, but in 1936 van 276 was painted hawthorn green to match the Centenary Train, and the other vans were all to follow suit. All remained green for the rest of their lives, except for 307, which was painted regal red in November 1964 to match the new AD and BD cars just issued for use on the Port Pirie line.
The 11 vans were numbered 275 to 277 and 305 to 312, all built between 1910 and 1913. A twelfth van, 487, was built in December 1922 as a replacement for a condemned van. The first of the class to be scrapped was 305, which was damaged in a rear end collision at Port Pirie in March 1960. The rest of the class were all superseded by the new CD class in the mid-1960s, and were condemned by late 1966.
Commonwealth Railways
Standard Gauge
Class operators: Commonwealth Railways
Condition: Good
Entered service: 20.11.1944
Entered the museum: 2.8.1988
Number in class: 2
Ownership: Port Dock Station Railway Trust
Provenance: Commonwealth Railways
Withdrawn: 11.9.1982
The Tea and Sugar was the lifeline of the Nullarbor. It began life very early in the 20th century during the construction phase of the Trans-Australia Railway (TAR) which links Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie. Initially an ad-hoc service using a brake van to transport goods was implemented with the exact inauguration of the Tea and Sugar as a regular service being a bit of a mystery. Certainly by 1915 it had been formally recognised with the provision of dedicated vehicles for use as a travelling supply van, butcher shop and a fruit and vegetable van.
Whilst construction was taking place two sets of vehicles were provided, one for the Kalgoorlie construction crews and the other based at Port Augusta. The original butcher cars transported live sheep that were killed en route, as no suitable method of refrigeration was available to keep meat fresh for long periods.
In 1944 two new bodies were built for use as mobile Butcher cars. One of these was van FA640, which entered service on 20th November 1944. It was constructed on a 45 foot (13.71 metre) flat wagon that originally had been built in 1916.
Apart from new refrigeration units fitted in 1963 both vans remained basically unaltered, apart from minor overhauls, until being written off on 11th September 1982. They were stored at Port Augusta and Stirling North for six years until FA640 was delivered to the museum on 2nd August 1988 and the other tendered for disposal. Prior to being obtained by the Museum FA640 was badly vandalised and many fittings stolen, but has since been fully restored.
South Australian Railways
Broad Gauge
Class operators: South Australian Railways
Condition: Excellent
Entered service: 1925
Entered the museum: 8.10.1968
Length (over coupling points): 37’ 10’’ (11.53 metres)
Ownership: History Trust of South Australia
Provenance: South Australian Railways
Withdrawn: 8th October 1968
The influence of American born South Australian Railways Commissioner, W. A. Webb, can be seen in the caboose style design chosen for 30 broad gauge (1600mm) brake vans introduced in 1925.
Each van was equipped with bunks, cooking facilities, food cupboards and a guard’s desk. The central cupola had elevated seats for four with clothes lockers beneath.
They saw regular service on the rear of goods trains until replaced by modern steel brake vans in the 1960s. Their last years were spent being used as employee sleepers on track gang work trains.
Number 4367 was retired to the museum on 8th October 1968.
Victorian and South Australian Railways
Broad Gauge
Class operators: South Australian Railways/Australian National Railways/Victorian and South Australian Railways
Condition: Good
Entered service: 1932
Entered the museum: 3.5.1995
Number in class: 1
Ownership: Port Dock Station Railway Trust
Provenance: V & SAR
Withdrawn: 3.5.1995
Salvaged parts from wooden Melbourne-Adelaide Express carriages, destroyed in an accident at Callington in 1929, were used by the South Australian Railways as the basis for the building of a modern Dynamometer car. The carriage entered service in 1932, with construction costs being shared with the Victorian Railways.
All buffing and pulling forces are transmitted through the centre coupler to the hydraulic dynamometer mounted below floor level. Hydraulic fluid then travels through a system of pipes and valves to the measuring apparatus on the instrument table. A paper tape can be used to make a permanent record of any tests. At one end of the car is a small vestibule, with wash basin, to protect the main instrument room from the entry of dirt and dust. Next is the instrument room containing the main table operator’s writing desk and a table for the examination of charts. Adjoining the instrument room is a conference room and workshop. A small kitchen and toilet make up the remainder of the carriage.
Original livery appears to have been a deep red, but it was repainted yellow in 1945 and used regularly up until the 1950s when it was stored except for occasional runs. Australian National obtained full ownership of the carriage, but loaned it to Victoria in the 1980s where it remained until arriving at the Railway Museum during April 1995.
Commonwealth Railways
Standard Gauge
Class operators: Commonwealth Railways
Condition: Excellent
Entered service: 24.3.1972
Entered the museum: 16.2.2006
Number in class: 3
Ownership: Port Dock Station Railway Trust
Provenance: Commonwealth Railways & Australian National
Withdrawn: approximately 1995
Pay car PA281 was one of three identical vehicles constructed by Commonwealth Engineering for the Commonwealth Railways. It entered service on 24th March 1972 on standard gauge bogies and was principally used on the Tea & Sugar service that operated out of Port Augusta across the Trans-Australian Railway line to Kalgoorlie. One of the other pay cars also operated on the Tea & Sugar in rotation with PA281, with the remaining vehicle being operated on the narrow gauge Central Australian Railway.
As built, the vehicle provided non-air conditioned accommodation for two people between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie. It has an open end platform at one end that leads into the customer service area. This is fitted with a security screen and counter that separates the pay master from the customer. The next compartment, which is separated from the customer service area by a wall containing a door, is the kitchen dining area which contains a stove, sink, table, seating and fridge. A corridor leads off one side of this compartment from which access to the two sleeping compartments is obtained. These compartments each contain a fixed bed, wash basin and clothes hanging space. Beyond the sleeping compartments, either side at the end of the corridor, is a shower compartment and a toilet compartment. The corridor ends at a centre mounted end door that allows for access to any vehicle coupled to the pay car.
Externally all three pay cars were painted all over white with black bogies and underframe. Their classification and road numbers were displayed in raised white lettering on the right hand end of the underframe on each side of the vehicles.
In addition to the pay function, pay car PA281 also acted as a mobile agency for the Commonwealth Bank.
Few major changes were made to PA281 until 1986 when it was fitted with a split air-conditioning system, followed in 1988 by hot water being connected to the hand basins and kitchen sink. Modifications where also made to the running gear in 1989.
The withdrawal from service date is uncertain, but it is likely to have occurred in 1995 when the Tea & Sugar service ceased operation. The vehicle’s TIMS rolling stock record shows it last being service/repaired on 24th October 1995.
In 1995 the museum approached Australian National (AN) about selling the pay car. Unfortunately they declined the request and the vehicle remained in the open at Port Augusta, in the Spencer Junction yard. As part of the sale of AN, on 28th August 1997, the vehicle’s ownership passed to Australian Southern Railroad (ASR) who initially considered the possibility of returning it to service as a crew car. It remained at Port Augusta until August 2001 when, along with a number of other out of service vehicles that had been subject to vandalism, it was moved to the Islington Workshop for storage.
In February 2006 the museum purchased the vehicle. It was transferred by road to Port Adelaide on 16th February 2006.
Commonwealth Railways
Standard Gauge
Class operators: Commonwealth Railways
Condition: Good
Entered service: 14.12.1955
Entered the museum: 2.8.1988
Number in class: 2
Ownership: Port Dock Station Railway Trust
Provenance: Commonwealth Railways
Withdrawn: 3.5.1986
This van was used to service railway settlements weekly on the Tea & Sugar train from Port Augusta-Kalgoorlie on the Trans-Australian Railway. Groceries, hardware, etc. were supplied from the Provision store at Port Augusta.
In 1955 two purpose-built brand new all steel framed vehicles were constructed for use as Provision Vans on the Tea & Sugar. Entering service on 14.12.1955, VPA1340 provided a far superior service and facilities to that of the then existing vans.
Both vans were recoded from ‘VPA’ to ‘OPA’ on 30 November 1984 and officially written off on 3 May 1986 with VPA1340 being transported to the Museum on 2 August 1988. The vans had become surplus due to Pullman sleeping cars Macedon and Mount Lofty (the museum has Pullman dining car Adelaide) being converted to new provisions store cars. The Macedon and Mount Lofty cars had originally been imported from America in 1928 for use as sleeping cars on the Adelaide to Melbourne Express (later named ‘The Overland’).
Travelling Post Office Van Willochra
Victorian and South Australian Railways
Broad Gauge
Class operators: South Australian Railways/Victorian and South Australian Railways
Condition: Excellent
Entered service: January 1887
Entered the museum: 27.6.1991
Number in class: 3
Ownership: Port Dock Station Railway Trust
Provenance: V & SAR, SAR
Withdrawn: 1966
This small carriage was originally built as Post Office Van O18 for use on the Intercolonial Express that ran nightly between Adelaide and Melbourne. It was jointly owned by the Victorian and South Australian Railways, and was first used in January 1887.
When new Post Office vans were constructed for the Express in 1908 it become the exclusive property of the South Australian Railways who renumber it 258. Having little use for a mail van, it was converted in 1916 to Officers Inspection car Murray. When the new Commissioner’s car was named Murray in 1934, the old Murray was given the name Willochra, a name that had previously been used on, at that time, a recently condemned sleeping car.
After being condemned in 1966, it was used for accommodation on a farm at Jabuk and eventually ended up at Old Tailem Town Historic Village, in Tailem Bend. In June 1991 it was moved to the Museum.
South Australian Railways
Broad Gauge
Class operators: South Australian Railways
Provenance: South Australian Railways
Condition: Good
Ownership: Port Dock Station Railway Trust
Entered service: 1963
Used at country depots to accommodate workers on various railway projects on South Australia’s broad-gauge system.