| Class GC Steel-framed high-sided goods wagons |
|
|
|
The original GC class open wagons built from 1907 onwards had a wooden underframe. By the late twenties some of the earliest wagons were becoming life expired and so in 1930 GC 7353 was rebuilt with a steel underframe. It retained the 9'-0" wheelbase of the wooden framed wagons and remained a one-off until withdrawn in 1979. In 1931-1934 one hundred GC class wagons with a 9-'6" wheelbase were built to replace older GB and GC class wagons. One additional wagon (GC196) was built in 1932, which also had a steel floor and steel doors and effectively formed the prototype for the GS class built from 1935. The WAGR outline diagram is shown below. |
|
|
| The steel-underframed GC's were built as follows: |
| 1930 | 7353 (9' wheelbase) ex GC |
| 1931 | 6389, 6744 replacement for GB
361, 6906, 6932, 7041, 7267, 7352, 7424, 7790, 8064, 8131, 8420, 8553, 8588, 8630, 8847, 9113, 9135, 9501, 9593, 9657, 9833, 9987 replacement for GC wooden underframe |
| 1932 | 6364, 6409, 6411, 6719, 6753 replacement for GB
204, 336, 433, 442, 568, 2081, 7070, 7081, 7141, 7181, 7249, 7313, 7344/6, 7421, 7442, 7967, 8042, 8492, 8583, 8948, 9075, 9180, 9197, 9465, 9539, 9541, 9621, 9631, 9648, 9797, 9811, 9825, 9878 replacement for GC wooden underframe 196 (steel deck and doors) replacement for GC wooden underframe |
| 1933 | 6447, 6588, 6590, 6600, 6627 replacement for GB
9114, 9258 replacement for GC wooden underframe |
| 1934 | 6570 replacement for GB
329, 2084, 7155, 7350, 7555, 8002, 8096, 8336, 8487, 8508, 8525, 8765, 8994, 9006, 9100, 9140, 9156, 9167, 9202, 9262, 9286, 9296, 9320, 9573, 9644, 9787, 9854, 9889, 9896 replacement for GC wooden underframe |
|
They were withdrawn from stock over a longer period of time and although they outlasted the majority of the wooden framed wagons the final group were withdrawn in the same year (1979) as the last of the wooden framed wagons. |
| 1947 | 6447 written off |
| 1952 | 336 written off |
| 1954 | 9156 converted to class J |
| 1955 | 336 written back |
| 1956 | 6744 written off |
| 1962 | 8492 written off |
| 1965 | 7155 written off |
| 1966 | 9593, 9631 written off |
| 1968 | 8131 written off |
| 1972 | 329, 6570, 6588, 7141, 7350, 8553, 9286, 9465, 9854, 9878 written off |
| 1973 | 361, 442, 2081, 6590, 7041, 7070, 7346, 7421, 7790, 8336, 8487, 8765, 9006, 9114, 9167, 9180, 9296, 9539, 9621, 9811, 9833, 9889, 9896 written off |
| 1974 | 6753, 7313, 8420, 9501, 9541, 9657, 9787 written off |
| 1975 | 2084, 7267, 7442, 8064, 8096, 8847, 9573 written off |
| 1976 | 568, 6719, 8994, 9797 written off |
| 1977 | 6411, 6906 written off |
| 1978 | 204, 9262 written off |
| 1979 | 196 (steel floor), 336, 433, 6364, 6389, 6409, 6600, 6627, 6932, 7081, 7181, 7249, 7344, 7352, 7353(9'-0"), 7424, 7555, 7967, 8002, 8042, 8508, 8525, 8583/8, 8630, 8948, 9075, 9100, 9113, 9135, 9140, 9197, 9202, 9258, 9320, 9644/8, 9825, 9987 written off |
|
From 1974 the following wagons were labelled "Bitumen Traffic Only": 433, 568, 6364, 6411, 7249, 7267, 7353(9'-0"), 7442, 8002, 8525, 8630, 8847, 9135, 9140, 9202, 9320, 9541, 9644, 9987 |
|
GC6364 photo J Joyce (RHWA collection) |
 |
 |