Introduction

These notes briefly describe the various types of stock wagons used by NSWGR from the 1940s to the end of the "steam era", approximately 1974.  Stock wagons, are, of course, specialised vehicles used in the transport of (mainly) farm animals and this type of traffic has long been abandoned by the NSW railways.  Each type of stock wagon that was used in the post-war will be briefly described, including notes on modelling them in HO scale.
 

Overview

The movement of animals by rail was traditionally a very important source of traffic for the NSW railways, and much time and effort, by the standards of the times, was put into developing suitable rolling stock and utilising it in ways that gave a fast and convenient service.   The main animal traffic was in sheep and cattle, with lesser flows of pigs, calves and other small farm animals.   In the days when there was no real alternative to rail transport the system evolved by the railways served the state reasonably well, but as the convenience and speed of road transport, combined with the changing patterns of rural land use and city consumption, changed the demand for stock transportation services, the railways, as in many other areas, failed to compete, and stock transport by rail declined and finally ceased altogether in the early 1990s.

The oldest subclass was the few surviving members of the 1903 standard CW. This was the first of the modern 4 wheel wagons, and it is likely that this is the earliest wagon type that most modellers will find familiar. The wagons are quite distinctive with high diagonal braced sides to the same height as the door. They were hook coupled and had therefore had Turton buffers (the "bottle" shaped ones).   This design was built over a long period of time and there were several minor changes to details, and they were eventually superseded by the 1921 design.   While most were converted to the style of the 1921 wagons, or scrapped, some survived the war and there is photographic evidence of at least one at Nyngan as late as 1965.

However, the most common type of CW in use during this period was the 1921 diagonally braced timber underframed version.  This subclass is another example of a type of wagon that seems to have been all but forgotten, even though in the steam era, this version by far outnumbered the rest.  It was a development of the "1903" type, the main difference being differing height of the doors and the body sides, whereas the "1903" type had the doors and the sides at the same height.  The ends were also slightly different.  It was also decided to standardise on this design of cattle wagon, and most of the earlier versions were scrapped or converted to conform to the 1921 design by the war.  In 1950 there were approx 1100 CWs in service, of which about 850 were of this design.   With their diagonal bracing they are very easy to distinguish in photos. 

Then in 1948 came the 250 members of the steel underframed version, which like their steel underframed GSV counterparts, were the first CWs to be fitted with automatic couplings, all stock wagons up to this time being fitted with hook drawgear and screw couplings.  The major change, visually, apart from the underframe, was the alteration to the bracing of the sides.  Instead of diagonal bracing, some were fitted with short vertical braces in the middle of the side panels, and some had no bracing at all. 

I have seen one very distant photo, p117, Ron Preston's 50 class book, that indicates that originally, some had one diagonal brace in the middle panel, so some further research is indicated to sort the bracing question out.  However, for most of their life, they had the short bracing in the middle of the panels, but a significant number without bracing survived till at least the late 50s, early 60s.

Then in 1965 a further small batch of CWs appeared, converted from a number of surplus LVs and GSVs with the standard steel u/f, but having the diagonally braced bodystyle of the 1921 wagons.  Why they were built to the earlier body style, and indeed why they were built at all, is a total mystery.

There are a number of preserved 4 wheel cattle wagons, two each of the 1965 type at both Thirlmere and Dorrigo, while Dorrigo also has a 1948 version.

It is unfortunate that the least representative wagon type is the most commonly preserved.  There are also 2 other CWs in existence, both 1921 wooden U/F types.  These are the "Ned Kelly" cars at Thirlmere.  Beneath the plywood covering, much of the body is intact as most of the modifications were done around the "window" areas.

I have seen one very distant photo, p117, Ron Preston's 50 class book, that indicates that originally, some had one diagonal brace in the middle panel, so some further research is indicated to sort the bracing question out.  However, for most of their life, they had the short bracing in the middle of the panels, but a significant number without bracing survived till at least the late 50s, early 60s.

(Limited Availability)

The reason our sheep vans had such a distinctive appearance was due to the development of the grated floor.  While other Australian, and some overseas railways has double deck sheep vans, as far as I know, the NSW system was the only system that had a gated floor, and in the case of the top deck, a semi-self cleaning hopper, that prevented the buildup of sheepshit inside the vehicle.  This was a very significant development in the history of sheep transport as it  allowed the stock to travel in more hygienic conditions and enabled the more efficient cleaning of the wagons between assignments.  This development dated from about 1910 and is responsible for the letters used in the code for sheep vans, Grated Sheep Van; such was its significance.  A number of different designs were tried between 1910 and 1930.  However, by 1930 it had been decided to standardise on one design of GSV, and all earlier sheep wagon designs were either scrapped, or converted to the new standard, by 1940. 

While there was one class of 4 wheel sheep vans, coded GSV, after 1948 there were two sub types, the original, and by far the more common, timber underframed version and the 250 members of the steel underframe version, which is the one that Camco/Silvermaz etc, has attempted to model.  More on this hobby horse of mine later.

The bodies of the two versions were virtually identical, though some of the pre-war vehicles still retained the older style of door sliders, the main differences being in the underframe.  The post 1930 timber underframed GSVs, had, of course, timber underframes, and were hook coupled and fitted with Turton "bottle" shaped buffers and had the end pillars extending to the bottom of the underframe, whereas the 1948 steel underframed GSV had the standard post-war 10ft steel u/f, the "S" truck underframe.

They were auto coupled, had parallel sided freight buffers and the end pillars ended at the top of the underframe.  This difference in the height of the end pillars makes them very easy to distinguish in photos, and on the layout! The 1948 versions were really quite rare in real life, despite the number of models built, as while there were 1793 GSVs on the books in 1949, and only 45 of the 1948 version had entered service by then, and as I mentioned above, only 250 of them were built.

The older class was introduced in 1895, and had all disappeared by 1957, a couple of years before the 1959 introduction of the modern BSVs, the appearance of which most NSWR modellers should be familiar with.

The 1895 BSVs were a very interesting and distinctive class, another of those "invisible" classes that seem to have disappeared from the collective memory of modellers.  The 60 members of the class were introduced in December of 1895, after a number of short lived early experiments with bogie sheep vans. They were 36 feet long and carried 200 sheep, twice the capacity of a 4 wheeler, and were the last class of non grated sheep van to remain in service.  As can be seen from the photos below they had no gap between the top and bottom decks, as they were introduced before the adoption of the grated deck.  Unlike all other sheep vans before or since, they had only one set of doors on each deck, and while this design was not repeated, they must have been reasonably successful, as the last of them was not scrapped until 1957.

The NSW system was without bogie sheep vans for only 2 years, however, as a new type was introduced in 1959.  Also coded BSV and consisting of two GSV style bodies mounted on a steel underframe, these were the ultimate development of the sheep wagon in NSW.  They quickly replaced the 4 wheelers, and by about 1965, the number of GSVs on the system was quite small.  They are a tribute to the designers of the original grated and drained sheep van body, as they carried this design, perfected in the early years of the century, right through to the demise of stock transport in the early 1990s.

The 1948 GSV is also available from Camco, but, unfortunately, the Camco model seems to have lost about a scale foot in height, and to my eyes, looks nothing like a GSV.  However, since I have defected to Large Scale it seems that it is unlikely that I will finish the masters I had been working on for a GSV , so unless someone else comes up with a good GSV it would seem that HO NSWR modellers are stuck with the Camco version .

A comparison of a standard Camco GSV (albeit superdetailed) and a correctly dimensioned post
     1930 GSV made from Camco parts showing how the kit is too low, despite the overscale height of the Camco underframe.

The bars are quite nice, however, and I have kit-bashed a number of sheep vans using them.

The basic technique is as follows, the bar sections of the side are carefully separated and trimmed, and a new framework is constructed from timber, the bars are then inserted into the framework and the rest of the vehicle constructed from timber and styrene.  The 4 wheeler underframe is constructed from scratch and the detailing bits available from ILM and Stephen Johnson Models make construction a lot quicker and easier.

A selection of stock wagons converted from Camco bits.  Standard 1948 CW upgrade on the left and sheep van parts used to produce the OSV in the middle and the post 1930 timber framed GSV on the right.

The OSV complete and in service. 
I have since learnt that the number and code on these vehicles was not placed on a plate on the door like the post 1930 and 1948 GSVs, but was instead painted on the underframe.

The completed post 1930 GSV.

A 1948 steel under framed GSV made from SJM BSV parts. 
 
 
 
 

Operation of Stock Wagons on the Layout.

Local movement of stock can be represented by the inclusion of any number of stock wagons in a “pick-up” goods while block loads of stock wagons can be used to represent the stock specials that ran from country centers to Flemington, Hanbury Jnt and Telarah saleyards on stock sale days and the “cross-country” stock specials that ran between various rural centers.

A cross-country stock special crossing the viaduct near Forbes, early 1960s.             Photo by Peter Neve.

Stock specials normally ran as ¾ Goods loads for the locomotive class rostered and if insufficient stock loading was available the load was made up with perishable and other urgent traffic as can be seen in this official NSWGR view from the early 1950s.

Empty wagons were normally returned on any available goods train and while a blocks of stock wagons often appeared in the consist of the goods train it was not a dedicated stock train as such, and also conveyed any other type of loading available.

Another important aspect of modelling stock trains is the brake van.  The "Coaching and Goods Instructions" book clearly states that bogie brake vans provided with passenger and lavatory accommodation must be provided for the accommodation of the drovers and other persons accompanying stock on all stock trains.  This was most often an SHG, as these vans were built specifically with stock train operation in mind, which is why they have two passenger compartments and only a small goods area in the Guard's compartment. 

Standing at Young during the late '40s/early '50s this fine example of an SHG may well be looking for a stocktrain to trail.

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James McInerney