Re: V/line sleeper carriages

[David Langley <del@ancc.com.au>]

Craig Haber wrote:

> G'day,
>
> thalytgv@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> > I would like to know more about V/line's sleepers carriages that used to
> > operate on "Vinelander" train, they somehow look resembles "Overland"
> > carriages.
>
> Originally they were JTA and JRA 'Overland' cars.  The Victorian Railways
> purchased the cars outright and painted them blue (later orange in V/Line
> days) for use on the Vinelander, they were classified SJ (S for sleeper, I'd
> reckon J for 'Joint Stock').
>
> > How many were built and where are they now?
>
> 4 - two roomettes and two twinettes.  I think they are stored at Newport
> Workshops.
>
> Regards,
> Craig.
> --
> Craig Haber
> albatross@harnessnet.com.au
> http://www.harnessnet.com.au
> "It's hard to soar like an eagle when you're surrounded by turkeys"

The four sleeping cars are SJ 281, 282 (Roomettes) and 283 & 284 (Twinettes).
They were used to upgrade the sleeping accomodation on the Mildura line. The
former sleepers Nos 1-4 were not scrapped and were used to provide additional
accommodation during busy periods. At Easter even the non-airconditioned
sleepers Nos 5-10 were used on the third down Mildura train, those days are now
long gone.

The roomette SJ cars were formerly named Allambi and Tantini and the twinette
cars were formerly Dorai and Weroni. Replacement cars were built at Islington
Works in 1972 for the Overland and the original names were retained. They were
later classed JRB (with the 1950's build of roomettes becoming JRA) and JTB &
JTA respectively.

These were not the only sleepers built for the Overland after the initial trains
sets were built during the early 1950's. Two twinettes sleepers Tawarri and
Yankai were constructed at Islington Works in the 1970's to cater for expanding
traffic. These cars later became JTBs.

It should be noted that the provision of alpha-numeric classification came as a
result of computer data base systems. To us railfans the names were always used
when recording the train loads in our train logs.

David Langley.