Class K (Class V before 1900)

In 1895 the W.A.G.R. took delivery of a total of 62 drop-side wagons with bottom doors. They were given the class V but in all respects apart from the bottom doors they were identical to the JW (later H) class drop-side wagons. They were specifically intended for use as ballast wagons and in 1900 became Class K . Originally the ballast hoppers were also included in this group and it was 1906-7 before these were all reclassified as L. Most K class wagons appear to have been converted to other classes and the code was vacant by 1908. However in 1918 some ballast wagons were acquired from the P.W.D.

The next use of this group was in 1927 when the K class steel high-side wagons were introduced. It is unclear why these wagons were not given a code in the G group. A total of 375 of this class was built for the W.A.G.R. in 1927-1928. A total of 45 wagons of this design was also produced for the M.R.W.A. as their PA class. One hundred and twenty of the K class wagons were converted to produce the KW class bulk wheat wagon in 1931-2. This conversion was similar to that applied to the RB class bogie opens to produce the RBW class. In 1935 a group of nine K class wagons was converted to carry bulk cement containers and reclassified KC. They were returned to standard in 1941. In later years they would probably have been classified in the N group.

Another conversion in 1936 involved sealing up the doors and fitting a wooden roof to produce the JK class 3000 gallon water tankers. These had all reverted to one variant of the K class or other by 1959. A further batch of 20 K class wagons were converted to class KL to carry lime sand to Wiluna gold mines in 1937. Later these wagons were used with the KW's on bulk wheat traffic. They were eliminated by 1979. In the 1938-1940 period due to a shortage of sheep wagons some K's were fitted with temporary grating floors and reclassified KS. They were all reconverted by 1942.

The final variant of the K class all steel open was the KC (again). The KC class coal wagons were intended for the Collie to South Fremantle coal traffic. They were created between 1951 and 1959 by conversion of JK class tankers and like the JK's had no side doors. The last of this group was also written off in 1979.

Meanwhile in 1939 a new class of wooden bodied open on an 18-0" underframe was introduced as class KA . Again it is unclear why a code in the G group was not used as these wagons were more or less a replacement for the old GA type. A total of 114 had been built by 1941. Production of 200 more of these wagons started again in 1959 and by 1960 all were in service. One hundred similar wagons were built in 1962 for the M.R.W.A. as their class PB. All of the post-war KA's including the M.R.W.A. wagons had end doors whereas the pre-war ones did not. Some KA's survived to be amongst the last four-wheeled wagons on the W.A.G.R. in the 1990's.

The final class in this group comprised the thirty P class wagons built for the M.R.W.A. in 1930 and absorbed by the W.A.G.R. as class KB in 1964. They had all gone by 1979.

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