Departmental Stock

The Victorian Railways had many wagons set aside for departmental duties. Most were old wagons which had outlived their original purpose and were cascaded into no-revenue service. Here are two very different wagons which came under the classification "HD":

This is a HD van which was a former U van with a 10ft wheelbase and lourves which dffered to later variants of U vans. The kit itself is a Steam Era Models HD plant truck but has been modified to represent wagon HD49 preserved at VGR. Windows have been fitted at both ends plus an extra side window on the side shown. The handbrake is on the opposite side to the brake cylinder (as on the real HD49). Round axlebox lids have been fitted and the standard spoked wheels supplied have been swapped out for disc wheels.

 

 

This HD van was a former Tommy Bent I wagon converted into a HD van by adding higher sides and a roof. This model will represent HD38 which is also at the VGR. The kit itself is a Steam Era Models Tommy Bent I wagon while the added roof section was produced by through this website (now sold-out). Bracing has been added with styrene strip below the wagon body as on the prototype.

 

Both wagons are ready for paint.



Guards van and Cattle Class Part 2

As it turned out I was able to finish off both projects with time to spare. Over the Easter weekend they completed many laps around the Bendigo Model Railroader's exhibition layout 'Elphinstone' without any problems:

After a couple of days recovery work has started on the next two projects. Both are non-revenue wagons.