Circular A156/83 issued on the 23rd August 1983 introduced check letter to wagon codes and numbers in Victoria.
Check letters had been in place for some time with Australian National, so was regularly being seen at Ballarat with AVAY guards vans (formerly 8300 class) and other AN wagons working through on Jets. Examples noted during August 1983 on yellow and green vans included AVAY17H, AVAY20D, AVAY71G and AVAY76F.
As wagons were shopped for repairs or repaint at Newport, North Bendigo or Ballarat North workshops from August 1983, they received the check letter. Newly built wagons such as the VHHF wheat hoppers under construction at Ballarat North entered traffic with the check letter after the wagon number.
The process to determine this letter was rather complicated. A description is included in the instructions for Steam Era VHGF hopper wagon. The wagon code and number occupies 9 spaces.
The check letter wasn't only applied to bogie wagons, 4 wheeled wagons also received the addition to the number. Early examples noted included G5683R and GH42-Y.
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| VHGY 344-C in Ballarat yard. |
The check letter was introduced to simplify the validation of the wagon details when it was input into the VELAS computer system. Check letters followed the last digit of the wagon number and was usually separated by a space.
Check letters had been in place for some time with Australian National, so was regularly being seen at Ballarat with AVAY guards vans (formerly 8300 class) and other AN wagons working through on Jets. Examples noted during August 1983 on yellow and green vans included AVAY17H, AVAY20D, AVAY71G and AVAY76F.
 |
| AHGX 109-M with grain from Western Australia awaiting unloading at Garden City Flour Mill. |
As wagons were shopped for repairs or repaint at Newport, North Bendigo or Ballarat North workshops from August 1983, they received the check letter. Newly built wagons such as the VHHF wheat hoppers under construction at Ballarat North entered traffic with the check letter after the wagon number.
The process to determine this letter was rather complicated. A description is included in the instructions for Steam Era VHGF hopper wagon. The wagon code and number occupies 9 spaces.
The check letter wasn't only applied to bogie wagons, 4 wheeled wagons also received the addition to the number. Early examples noted included G5683R and GH42-Y.
 |
| GH42-Y in Ballarat yard. |
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