TP ice vans

TP1 and TP3 trail the guards van on an Up Fruit Flyer express goods through Ballarat North.

The TP vans were a regular feature with the Fruit Flyer express goods between Mildura and Melbourne. Due to their rough riding the TP ice vans were attached to the rear of the train behind the guards van.

There were 5 TP vans, converted from 4 wheeled T vans. TP 1-3 had three compartments and three sideloading doors per side and were converted in 1958-59, while TP 4-5 were the same as the T vans only having one compartment and one door per side and were converted in 1967. The P on the side and ends indicated that they could run on passenger trains and were equipped with lamp brackets and a taildisc. Like the T vans they were refrigrated by ice placed in three hatches situated in the roof which dropped into troughs suspended in the ceilings of the vans. All the TPs were painted passenger car red.

The TPs were removed off the Fruity in the late 70s and replaced with refrigerated shipping containers on flat wagons. They remained in service joining the general pool of ice vans.

In the late 1970s the wagons received Food Transport Vehicle signage to conform with food handling regulations. I decided to replicate this on the vans. As I couldn't find any appropriate decals I reproduced the signage by resizing the sign in Photoshop and then printing it on clear adhesive label.

The 1979,national 4 letter code for these vans was VRPY. Although the 1983 Working Timetable refers to these vans as VRPY there isn't any photographic evidence that they were ever recorded. TP 1-3 were withdrawn by 1983 while 4 and 5 remained in service until the follow year.

TPs trailing the Fruity through Ballarat North.

On the layout I still run the TPs attached to the rear of the Fruity even though they had stopped being used on this service a few years earlier. Usually one or two will be detached each week from the train at Ballarat and transferred to the freezer sidings at Redan by the local pilot working.

TP 4 awaiting unloading at Redan. TP 4 and 5 only had one loading door per side.