Flat Roof Version WAGR (Small Logo)
WAGR (Large Logo)
West Rail
Curved Roof Version WAGR (Small Logo)
WAGR (Large Logo)
West Rail
VR (No Logo)
Manildra
WBAX LOUVERED VAN – PROTOTYPE INFORMATION In 1967 the WAGR started constructing various wagon types in preparation for the arrival of the standard gauge railway to Perth in 1970. The first type of louvered van originally coded WVX entered service in 1967 and ran on temporary narrow gauge bogies in WA until the standard gauge line was opened. These High Capacity wagons numbered 30701-30777 were built at WAGRs Midland workshops. They have a capacity of 115 c.u.m2 at 51 ton, a tare weight of 25 ton are 17.12 meters long and were rated for 100km/hr. The wagons have two large sliding doors per side for loading of palletised loads with forklifts In 1969 a further identical batch was constructed by Midland Workshops numbers 30778-30860. In 1970 a third batch was constructed by Mechanical Handling of WA numbered 30861-30995 bringing the fleet up to a total of 295 wagons. The 3rd batch differed from the first two batches in that they were fitted with a curved roof to enable easier access for forklifts. The first two batches had an American box car style low profile angular roof. These wagons have travelled over the entire standard gauge network and also been over many Broad Gauge lines when bogie exchanged. These wagons travelled from Perth to Kalgoorlie with general freight and goods for the Gold mining district of Kalgoorlie as well as bringing all kinds of goods from the eastern states to Perth. Regular traffics in NSW and Victoria for the wagons were Pet food from Bathurst or Wodonga and White Goods from Email factory at Orange which were dispatched all over the country. They were used for Fruit and Veg and canned foods from the Griffith district of NSW and Northern Victoria. The wagons have been recorded in locations as diverse as Brisbane, Ballina, Mount Gambier, South Dynon, Alice Springs, Sydney, Tamworth, Dubbo, Parkes, Geelong, Horsham, Ararat, Adelaide and Port Pirie and of course their home state of WA. The wagons were painted WAGR Golden Yellow with Black WAGR lettering, later wagons had larger WAGR lettering. In 1979 four letter coding wagons became WBAX. Some wagons were repainted during maintenance and had a Blue Westrail logo applied. In the late 1990s a major derailment in WA destroyed 3 VLEX wagons and to replace these WAGR supplied 3 WBAX wagons which were painted a dark red colour and recoded VLEX 873U,874G and 989U. Some wagons were pressed into service with Nation Rail in its infancy but these wagons were later returned to Westrail. When Westrail was sold to ARG these wagons went into the ownership of ARG. ARG secured a group of long term contracts with Manildra Group in NSW and one of these contracts required the use of 12 WBAX wagons for Manildra-Sydney (Clyde) bagged flour traffic. These wagons were painted a similar Yellow with Manildra logos and were coded MBAX. WBAX LOUVERED VAN – PROTOTYPE PHOTOS
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