| Class I Timber Trucks (class M before 1900) |
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The early history of W.A.G.R. single bolster and flat wagons is complicated by the number of rebuilds involved and the scarce documentation. It isn't helped by WAGR importing the ironwork for wagons and then sometimes building something different with the ironwork. There also appears to be confusion between wagons with a single bolster, two bolsters or no bolsters. Before 1900, single and twin bolster wagons were in two classes (M and L) and also two groups after 1900 (I and N). The problem is with the flat wagons which could appear in either group. The early annual reports give totals as shown in the table below. |
| Year | Total |
| 1882 | 2 plus 2 under construction |
| 1883 | 18 plus 2 under construction |
| 1884 | 28 (10 built during 1884) |
| 1885 | 23 plus 11 Timber Floats |
| 1886 | 36 |
| 1888 | 38 |
| 1891 | 35 |
| Orders after this time were for the NZR type timber trucks. An 1897 list gives these early Timber truck running numbers. | |
| 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 43-50, 64-75, 123-140, 199, 217 a total of 56 wagons
It should be noted that 36, 37 were classified B and 217 class N in 1900 so these are likely to be errors in this list. | |
| At the 1900 reclassification the following wagons were reclassified as class I. | |
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18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 39, 40, 41, 43-48, 65, 67, 68, 70-74, 123-139, 199, 2072, 4916 to class I (51 wagons) 140 to I then J 49, 50, 64, 66, 69, 75 were missing - probably written off 1899-1900 | |
| I think that the first two wagons, built in 1882 were 64 and 65 followed by 66-75 in 1883. I believe that 123-140 were built in 1886/7 having been ordered in 1884. It would seem that of the 20 wagons ordered, the last 2 (141, 142) were either built as or became tankers very quickly. The WAGR outline diagram for MRCWCo Order 400a is shown below. The diagram lists a total of 25 of these until 1902. I believe that these are the survivors of these two batches. By the 1900 renumbering 64, 66, 69 and 75 were gone and 140 became a J class water tank giving 65, 67, 68, 70-74, 123-139 as the 25 survivors.
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The last survivor from this group earning its keep at RHWA Bassendean. |
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This leaves the problem of the remaining wagons listed in 1900. In 1900 some more odd Timber Trucks appear which may have been on older chassis. 2072 and 4916 were replaced by new GCs in 1908 so are likely to have been older wagons. The second WAGR outline diagram is shown below. The diagram shows a total of 3 of this type.
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The third WAGR outline diagram is shown below. 29 wagons listed on this diagram. These would seem to have been converted from early G wagons, some possibly between 1900 and 1909. Obviously there are 32 wagons according to the diagrams but I only have 26 numbers and it isn't obvious which is which.
A jetty wagon at Fremantle c1905 blown up from State Library of WA image 5323B/1875. It is labelled "FOR USE ON JETTY ONLY". This may have been one of these I class wagons but could equally be an early G or H with the bodywork removed. There is no visible number. | |
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By 1909 all of these wagons were gone from the main stock listing but some may have survived as jetty wagons. By 1902 there were over 260 Jetty wagons and these must have been mostly early G, H, I and N wagons with the bodywork removed (about 300 older wagons were removed from stock just after the turn of the 20th century). The running numbers were all reused by new wagons in the first decade of the 20th century as follows: | |
| 1904 | FA 18-23 built |
| 1905 | GB 139 built |
| 1907 |
D 14, 24-36, 38-50, 63-70 built C 123-138, 140 built |
| 1908 |
E 71-75 built GC 199, 217, 2072, 4916 built |
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