W.A.G.R. reclassification of 1900.

The great stocktake and reclassification of 1900.

During the gold rush years WAGR management had been so stretched that they did not produce an annual report between 1893 and 1895. The overwhelming priority had been to get stock onto the rails and running to cope with the massive expansion of both the system and traffic on it.

By 1900 the numbering and classification of carriages and wagons had got into rather a mess. There were wagons running with the same numbers. There were also identical wagons given different classifications for no obvious reason and the same class letter used for completely different types. There were wagons displaying the wrong class altogether. Some classes, which existed in theory, do not seem to have been used on the wagons.

For efficient management this needed to be sorted out. Between 18/8/00 and 7/3/01 all of the wagon stock was reclassified. Most were done in September and October 1900 with just over 300 stragglers keeping their old classes after that. During this process some wagons were either identified incorrectly or rebuilt (mostly conversions to J class tanks for summer 1900/1) so that the class letter changed twice. In addition wagons were also taken over from the contractors "Smith & Timms" and "Baxter & Prince". The "Baxter & Prince" wagons were either sold or burnt but the ballast hoppers from "Smith & Timms" got new permanent WAGR numbers. The table below shows how this reclassification worked.

Type	W.A.G.R. Pre 1900 class	W.A.G.R. Post 1900 Class
First Class and special Carriages	A	Several
Agricultural bank manager's van	A	Later BC
Composite Carriages	AB	Several
Cleminson Composite Carriages	ABC	AH
A few Open wagons	B	G
Passenger Brake Van	C	P
6 wheel Passenger Brake Van	C	P
Bogie Passenger Brake Van	C	Z
Goods Brake Van	D	P
Ballast Brake Van	DB (not used by 1900)	P
Breakdown Van	Unclassified and DD	Z, later VC
Horse Box	E	A
End Tipper wagon	E	M
Some Brake vans	EE	P, P (6 wheel), Z
Water tanks	F	J
Bogie Water tanks	FB	J
Covered goods van	G	D
Louvre van	G	F
Workmen's van	G	DW
Bogie Van	GB	V
Gunpowder Van	H	O
Bogie Gunpowder van	HB	Y
Open wagon	I	G
Bogie Open wagon	IB	R
Iron Lined Open wagon	II	G
Open wagon	IW	G
Low-sided wagon	J	H
Iron lined Low-sided wagon	JI	H
Low-sided wagon	JW	H
Bogie platform wagon	K	U
Bogie platform wagon	KB	U
Timber float (Twin bolster wagon)	L	N
Bogie Bolster wagon	LB	Q
Timber Truck (Single bolster wagon)	M	I
Sheep wagon	N	C
Bogie Sheep wagon	NB	S
Cattle wagon	O	B
Bogie Cold Storage vans	O	W
Bogie Cattle wagon	OB	T
Ballast wagon	P	K
Some Gunpowder Vans?	P	O, V, Y
Steam crane	Q (not used by 1900)	Cranes
Cool storage wagon	Q	E
Bogie cool storage wagon	QB	W
Lime wagon	R	G
Louvre van	S (not used by 1900)	F
Brakevan for explosives traffic	S	P
6 wheel mail van	T	AS
Low-sided wagon (ex NZR)	T	H
Bogie Mail van	TB	AK
Ballast Hopper wagon	U	L
Bogie Hopper wagon	UB	X
Ballast wagon	V	H, K
Ballast ploughs	VP	LX
Tipper wagon	VT	M later LB
Ballast Brake van	VV	P
Seabrook mineral/tank wagon	W	G
Some bogie vans	X	V

The complete listing of the reclassification (and in some cases renumbering) is long (over 4800 wagons are involved). There is a link here to my version of the list which is a .xlsx spreadsheet. This is transcribed from a photocopy of the original document which is in the RHWA collection. There are some obvious errors in the document itself but any transcription errors are mine. The highest number issued at the time was 5177 but the list includes unfilled gaps where wagons had been written off and also where new wagons in classes GA and R were on order but not yet in service.