A blow up from State Library of WA 3542B/15 shows us a pair of single bolster wagons (829 & 702) at Fremantle c1899. They still have their original M class letters displayed but the placing of the numbers on the two wagons is different.  A further two wagons can be seen to the upper right of this pair on the original photo.

This class consisted of 200 wagons built in 1893-1894 to a design which originated in New Zealand as their class N. They were 11'-0" long and originally had a single swivelling bolster.

They arrived in two batches. Numbers 583-683 arrived in 1893 followed by 695-794 in 1894 from Bristol Wagon and Carriage Co. They were intended and used in pairs for timber traffic.

In 1908/9 fifteen wagons were up-rated to carry 10 tons and may have been reclassified IX but the numbers of the wagons involved are not known.

The WAGR outline diagram is shown below.

A rather battered NS746 converted from I 746 to a flat wagon towards the end of its life.

Some of the class seem to have been sold to contractors, lost in accidents, or scrapped very early on with nine having gone before 1900. In 1900 some more odd Timber Trucks appear which may have been on this chassis. These were 2046, 2075 and 4559. 2046 appears in the middle of a run of H class wagons converted to N class twin bolsters so is likely to have been on an NZR 15' chassis. It became a class N in 1910 so it may have been class I in error or could have been converted from single to twin bolsters. 2075 was likely a standard I class as it was replaced by a new GC in 1924 along with a group of standard Is (it may have been sold to contractors and later repurchased to get the out of sequence number). 4559 became an N class in 1955 so it could have been on either the 11' or 15' NZR type chassis.

Many of the class were converted to IM class coal box wagons or replaced by new GC class open wagons in the years after the First World War. This may have been due to the construction of the QA class bogie bolster wagons just before the war and a fall in demand for timber trucks after the end of the conflict. The size of the class was gradually reduced during the thirties until only six were left in stock after 1937. However some of the written off wagons still existed as "Jetty stock" and these were reinstated from 1942 under new numbers.

585, 587, 593, 596, 598, 610, 628, 644, 674, 701, 703, 706, 707, 720, 722, 761, 766, 769, 775, 784, 794 to IM

669, 788 transferred to Railway Mill

607 replaced by new GC

680, 715 written off

594, 631, 638, 699 to JETTY 303, 158, 304, 155 respectively

671, 676, 757, 780 to Harbour and lights Dept, Hopetoun

(I 492 was JETTY 352 - others not identified)

I 274 as shunters' float. R. McMillan (RHWA collection)

From 1948 the bolsters were removed on the surviving wagons which were used as runners or shunter's flats. In recognition of this some were reclassified N and later NS. It is not absolutely clear whether all of the reinstated wagons were of the 11'-0" type or whether any ex type GSR wagons were reinstated. Therefore I have highlighted the "new" wagons in red in the list below which shows the fate of the class. Two of these ex jetty wagons re-used the numbers of written off I class wagons but it is not clear whether these were the same wagons reinstated under there old numbers. It seems unlikely. Disposal of the remaining wagons was as follows:

338 to NS

Shunters' float I-746. C.C. Singleton (RHWA collection)