| Advertising vans |
|
From the 1920's (if not earlier) the WAGR rented out space on the sides of their vans as mobile advertising hoardings. The company whose wears were advertised did not own the van or have exclusive use of it for their products. Other Australian Railways also sold space in a similar way. The number of vans involved was small and official records are sparse so it is difficult to track down what actually happened and how long the colourful advertisements remained on the vans. Graham Watson, Rob Clark and others from Rail Heritage WA have compiled a list which is reproduced below. There may have been other vans which are as yet unrecorded. Hyperlinks in the tables below are to photos on the web. |
Pre WWII Era
The D class vans involved were of different types. N.Z.R. type D vans are shown in Purple. The 1905-1907 built 15' D vans are shown in blue. The 16'" standard D vans are shown in green. Those with unconfirmed configuration are left as black.
| Wagon Class/Number | Advertisement Company | Product | Weekly Notice Reference |
| D 8 | E Symonds | Plants, Seeds & Bulbs | |
| D 32 | Marshall Shoes | 952/32 | |
| D 582 | Whittaker Bros. | 952/32 | |
| D 582 | F W Wright & Co LTD | Produce Agents | |
| D 1187 | Ezywalkins | Shoes | 393/29 |
| D 1189 | Plaistowes | Triple Blend Cocoa | |
| D 1194 | Patterson & Co LTD | Gisco Poison | |
| D 1451 | Charlie Carter Ltd | 904/29 | |
 | |||
| D 4173 | Hoyles | Fabrics & Dress Materials | |
| D 4189 | Frank R Perrot | John Deere Tractors | |
| D 4381 | McFarlane & Co. | 441/29 | |
| D 5158 | H J Wigmore & Co LTD | Buncles Chaff Cutters | |
| D ???? | H J Wigmore & Co LTD | ||
| D 5163 | The State Government Savings Bank | ||
| D 5164 | Ezywalkins | Shoes | 393/29 |
| D 5165 | The State Government Savings Bank | ||
| D 5174 | Bairds | Furniture Suppliers | |
| D 6810 | Marshall Shoes | 952/32 | |
| D ???? (either a 15' or 16' van) | Buhler's Pianos | ||
|
Pickering Brook Heritage Group | |||
|
Post WWII Era
Painting of advertising vans resumed in the mid 1950s. All of the D class advertising vans for which numbers are recorded seem to be 16' vans rebodied/rebuilt in 1953 (indicated in red). This may have been because the older D class vans were expected to have short remaining lives. In this era other types of vans were used too. Classes DA, FD and V were all involved as well as the D vans. |
| Wagon Class/Number | Advertisement Company | Product | Weekly Notice Reference |
| D 25 | Plaistowe Confectionary | 1108/56 | |
| D 27 | McPhersons Ltd | Ajax Pumps | 483/73 |
| Engineering Supplies | |||
| D 31 | Ferguson Tractors | 967/58 | |
| D 59 (later DE 59) | Mayne Nickless | ||
| D 149 | Midland District Food Market Midland Junction | ||
| D 160 | Lynas Motors | 200/58 | |
| D 251 | Champion Vinegar | 200/58 | |
| D 559 | Tip Top Paint | Coloramic Paint | 926/58 |
| D 1184 | Flower Davies & Johnson LTD | ||
|
D1184 R. Bruce (RHWA collection) | |||
| D 1198 | Wrights LTD | ||
| D 1334 | Champion Vinegar | 200/58 | |
| D 4255 | Masse Batteries | 939/57 | |
| D 5151 | British General Electric | Refrigerators & Electrical Appliances | |
| D 5165 | Lynas Motors | Lynas Ford (in RH background) | |
| D ???? | Ian Bonnerup Roofing Services | 1168/62 | |
| D ???? | Boucher for Steel Framed Buildings | ||
| D ???? | Boucher for Steel Framed Buildings | ||
| D ???? | Excelsior "Lifting Tools" | ||
| D ???? | Walpamur Paints | Walpamur paint | |
|
WAGR official photo of D5151 (RHWA collection) | |||
| DA 10881 | Atlas Lamps | 266/57 | |
| DA 10942 | Champion Vinegar | WN No.10 - 15.03.1958 | |
| DA 10962 | McPhersons Ltd | Macson Lathes & Machine Tools | 1066/58 |
| DA 13307 | IXL-Jones | Canned Fruit - Apricots | |
| DA 13308 | Atlas Lamps | 266/57 | |
| DA 13313 | Champion Vinegar | 200/58 | |
|
DA13316 R. Bruce (RHWA collection) | |||
| DA 13316 | IXL-Jones | Quality Jams | |
| DA 13317 | Ferguson Tractors | 967/58 | |
| FD 13995 | Mayne Nickless or James Kiernan | 923/68 | |
| FD 14013 | Livestock travels best by Rail | ||
| V 1865 | Cast Alloy Cooking Utensils | 222/59 | |
| V 2220 | Tip Top Paint | SYNGLO Enamelised Paint | 965/56 |
| V 3290 | Boans | 1961 | |
| V 3308 | KLG Spark Plugs | 109/59 | |
| V 3308 | Coventry Motors | 1959 | |
| V 3388 | Coventry Motors | 1959 | |
|
There was at least one MRWA van with an advertising slogan carried during the Second World War. Also here and here. |
 |
 |
 |