Victorian Railways Short W type carriage

AW cars

Built from 1911, 29 AW cars were built. They were numbered 1AW to 29AW, and had the then-standard clerestory roofs. Over the years these were found to be insufficient for the traffic, and so numbers 30AW–35AW were built in 1922, the last to have the clerestory roof style. They seated six people in each of the 6 compartments (one reserved for ladies and two reserved for Smoking), plus two more people at each end for a total of 40 passengers. As patronage grew and older cars were retired, construction resumed in 1925. This batch consisted of 36AW through 40AW, but these cars were fitted with the new style of curved roofs.

Of the first 23 cars, when looking from the Ladies end towards the Smoking end, the corridor was on the right-hand side for cars with even numbers, but on the left-hand side for cars with odd numbers. It is not known whether this pattern extended across the rest of the shorter carriage fleet.

ABW cars

52 58ft-body ABW cars were built between 1911 and 1925. The earlier Clerestory-roof stock was initially numbered 1ABW to 42ABW and released to service between 1911 and 1914. In 1918-19, cars 43-47ABW were added to the fleet. Then, in early 1925 cars 48ABW through 52ABW were constructed, with the new design of a curved roof, but still retaining all other dimensions of the earlier group.

The carriages were able to seat 44 passengers across six compartments; 19 in First Class and 25 in Second. This breakup was achieved by the two seats at either end, two full and one partial-compartment provided for each class. The two outer-end compartments were classed as Smoking, while the centre two part-compartments (seven seats each) were for Ladies. The fourth seat against the centre-side wall was removed to make way for a door to the ladies' lavatory, while the gentlemen's lavatories were held at either end of the carriage, opposite to the two spare seats and adjacent to the interconnecting diaphragm. The Smoking sections of each car were segregated from the middle by way of a hinged door, and each class section had its own drinking fountain inset into the corridor wall.

Odd-numbered cars from 1 to 42 had the corridor on the left when looking from the first-class end, while the even-numbered cars in this range were built reversed. It is unknown what style was adopted for cars 43-52; however photographs indicate that 44ABW matched the even-number style while 50, 51 and 52ABW matched the odd-number style. Taking into account batch build dates, it is likely that 43 through 47ABW matched the odd/even alterations, while 48-52, the curved-roof batch, were built to the even-number style. Externally, this could be determined by the length of timber panels between windows; the first-class seats were 0 feet 6 inches (0.15 m) deeper, thus the first class compartments were 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 m) each versus 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) for the second class compartments; and this is reflected in the window spacing, on both the compartment and corridor side.

From 1961 to 1970, the original, clerestory ABW cars were recoded to ABU to separate them from the larger capacity 64-foot cars. 1ABW was scrapped in 1951 and thus was not converted. The cars that still remained in the 1970s were converted to BU classification, thus becoming second class only.

The cars ran until the late 1980s when replaced by the then-new 'N' sets.

BW cars

Built from 1911 to 1918 were cars 1BW to 39BW. They were designed to match the AW cars, but were second class and seated 56 people across 7 compartments, plus two at each end. They were almost exactly the same as the AW cars in every other way.

In 1925, cars 40BW through 44BW were built, with the new style of curved roofing. They were otherwise identical to the previous batch.

1BW and 35BW (along with 62BW) appeared in the season one episode "The Copy" of Round the Twist, and were used for filming of scenes between Healesville and Yarra Glen.^[18]

10BW and 27BW were destroyed in a collision at Seymour in 1935, 24BW and 29BW was destroyed by fire at Ballarat Car Sheds, 1977 and BW 30 was scrapped in 1970.

CW cars

CW vans
Clerestory roofed 14CW as preserved by Steamrail Victoria
Manufacturer	Victorian Railways
Built at	Newport Workshops
Constructed	1913-1935
Entered service	1913-1984
Number built	20
Number preserved	1, 2, 14, 15 & 17[19][20]
Number scrapped	15
Design code	CW
Fleet numbers	1-20
Capacity	10 LT 0 cwt 0 qtr (10.16 t)
Operator(s)	various heritage operators
Specifications
Car body construction	Timber
Car length	50 ft 2 in (15.29 m) over body; 53 ft 3 1⁄4 in (16.24 m) over pulling lines
Width	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Height	13 ft 8 5⁄8 in (4.18 m)
Maximum speed	70 mph (113 km/h)
Weight	25 LT 2 cwt 0 qtr (25.50 t) unloaded (1-15) 28 LT 19 cwt 0 qtr (29.41 t) unloaded (16-20)
Axle load	6 LT 5 cwt 2 qtr (6.38 t) unloaded (1-15) 7 LT 4 cwt 3 qtr (7.35 t) unloaded (16-20)
Bogies	W type at 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m) centres
Braking system(s)	Westinghouse air brakes
Coupling system	Autocoupler
Track gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)

To supplement the W-series passenger cars, fifteen vans were built in 1913–1914 with clerestory roof outlines and numbered CW 1–15. The vans were nearly identical to the earlier CV vans numbered 3 to 7, with a slightly wider body to take advantage of the E type advances in design, but the same capacity and length.

An additional five vans were built in 1935, numbered 16–20. These vans were built with the arched roof style introduced from 1925.

Over time these vans had their wooden sides replaced with steel.

Dynamometer Car

A crash at Callington SA in 1929 claimed three E type carriages, 5AE, 9BE and 2D. The surviving parts from those cars were recycled in the construction of the shared V&SAR Dynamometer car, for the purpose of evaluating locomotive performance. This had previously been achieved with the Dynagraph car, but that did not have the capacity or strength to handle the power output from more modern locomotives. The new car entered service in 1932 for use on both the Victorian and South Australian Railways, and was initially used to test rolling resistance differences between four-wheeled wagons against bogie wagons. Following that, the car was used to test the strength of the S Class locomotives, particularly with loaded freight trains between Wallan and Seymour, and the efficiency of Pulverised Brown Coal (PBC) with engines X32 and later R707. It was also used in tests comparing the performance of Tait and Harris electric trains. Over the life of the vehicle, nearly 1,000 tests were performed.

The end of the carriage which was intended for testing purposes was called the Leading end. From there, the car had a specially designed coupler connected to various instruments within the carriage for testing purposes. From that testing end, there was a 4 ft 4 in (1.32 m) vestibule with a wash basin, followed by an 18 ft 8 ¹⁄₄ in (5.70 m) measurements room with instruments mounted on a central table, then a six-seater compartment with dining table (10 ft (3.05 m)), a 4 ft 1 ¹⁄₂ in (1.26 m) wash room, and a 6 ft (1.83 m) kitchen. From there the corridor shifted to the centre of the carriage, with a 6 ft (1.83 m) bathroom on one side and a 4 ft 4 in (1.32 m) lavatory on the other. The trailing end of the carriage was fitted with a diaphragm allowing staff to walk through to adjacent carriages.^[21]

The last use of the vehicle was to test radio reception for the "train to base" system, necessary in the operation of a new "alternative safe working" method of train operation where train drivers were given operational authority by radio.^[22]

First delivery phase, 1911–1914

1AW-29AW, 1ABW-42ABW, 1BW-35BW

Second delivery phase, 1918–1919

30AW-35AW, 43ABW-47ABW, 36BW-39BW

Third delivery phase, 1925

36AW-40AW, 48ABW-52ABW, 40BW-44BW

Fourth delivery phase, 1935

16CW-20CW

Standard Gauge service – VBW

VBW 1 is at Dorrigo Steam Railway

New Deal, the abolition of wooden rollingstock and preservation

The W type carriages were slowly phased out of service from 1981 as part of the 'New Deal' reforms of passenger rail operations, with twenty going into preservation.

At Healesville's Yarra Valley Railway, cars 1BW, 32BW, 35BW are currently either stored or being restored. 43BW's underframe is stored on site; the timber body had rotted beyond repair and required demolition in recent years.

The Mornington Railway looks after 24AW and 27BU, both fitted with a silver stripe down the side.

As of 2013, Steamrail's business plan recorded 32ABU, 40ABU and 14CW as serviceable along with 25AW and 15CW stored. The two ABU cars, formerly utilised as transition-carriages for coupling to the V type carriages because of the screw-couplings fitted, were transferred to the South Gippsland Railway. 14CW is occasionally used in heritage trains not as a guards van, but with fencing installed over the sliding doors as a sort of enthusiasts' observation carriage.

Elliptical roofed 17CW as preserved at the South Gippsland Railway

Korumburra's South Gippsland Railway had possession of the operational 17CW, and had leased 32ABU and 40ABU from Steamrail. When the railway folded in 2016, van 17CW was reallocated to the Yarra Valley Railway.^[23]

The Victorian Goldfields Railway controls 23AW, 39AW, 41BU, 42BU and 25ABU, all kept at Maldon station.

31BW was also sold, and it now functions as a restaurant in Tyabb's antique village, near Tyabb Station on the Stony Point Line. 16BW and 38BW have been sold for housing and are now situated north of Ballan. 1CW is stationary at Coal Creek. On Peter J. Vincent's site it is noted that 9CW was sold to what is now 707 operations, but it does not appear on their website and was last seen in the late 1990s near Trentham. 13CW now resides at Turtons creek in South Gippsland Victoria alongside Tait carriage 220.

Around 2008–2012 a number of stored carriages had to be moved around Newport to make way for new suburban stabling. When this was attempted it was found that a number of carriages had been left in the open for too long, and were beyond repair. As a result, 4CW, which had been in storage at the "Tarp Shop" yard, was scrapped sometime between 28-Sept-2008 and 01-Oct-2008.

HO Scale

Kits are produced by Steam Era Models for the short, clerestory-roofed AW and BW carriages; these can be kitbashed into an ABW. Resin-cast curved roofs are available for purchase separately, from either Blue and Gold models^[24] or End of the Line Hobbies in Adelaide. The latter company also offers kit construction services, so it is possible to have a carriage built and posted.^[25]

Trainbuilder has released brass models of the short W series, at a price of $575+P/H per carriage with lighting included. 35 variants are available, including some each of the AW, BW, ABW, ABU and BU classes; some with arch, some clerestory roofs, some with plate, others timber sides and for the ABW, ABU, BW, BU variants, some marked "Second" and others marked "Economy". 1VBW in blue and gold is also available.^[26]