AW first class wooden bodied passenger cars

 

32 AW in the consist of a charter to Ballarat.

By 1983 the majority of the AW's had been withdrawn from service. The Working Timetable Addenda issued on the 16th May 1983, lists 11 AW's in service: 3, 8, 13, 22, 25, 29, 30, 32, 35, 37 and 40. Of those all except 32 and 37 were for use on special trains only.  

I have recently undertaken repairs on an AW that came from my dads layout and chose to change its number to one of those that were in service in 1983. Many of the AW's had had their wood paneling covered over with sheetmetal. I therefore chose to change the number to 32 AW as it was one of the only ones to retain its original wood panelling on the sides.

40AW, one of two AW's with semi elliptical roofsvthat remained in service in 1983.

3 AW,  The AW that remained in service in 1983 were mostly in a filthy condition. 3AW has one compartment with clear windows.

AW's 3, 8, 32 and 40 were noted in service at Spencer Street at Easter (31/03/1983) on the following sets and services:

1605 and 2100 Seymour - 7CV-23AE-32AW-34BW-T362

1620 Bacchus Marsh - 4CW-3AW-89BPL-44BW-75BPL-H1

1635 Kyneton - 17CW-40AW-38BW-8BW-T351

2130 Bacchus Marsh - 5CW-28AE-2BW-39BE-8AW-B64

T367 departs Ballarat with a charter with 32AW in the consist. 

On the layout, 32AW will be used in one of the spare sets that existed in 1983 for use on short distance commuter runs or for specials. These were required due to the shortage of railmotors from the failure of DERM's and rebuilding of DRC's 43, 40 and 42. These spare sets were often used to other locations if the rostered set was running late and therefore wasn't back to Melbourne in time to form the service. I usually have a rake of cars like CW-AW-BW-BW to replicate one of these spare sets in the carriage shed at Ballarat. At other times 32AW will be used in one of the fixed sets used on Ballarat services replacing a failed carriage.  

32AW in 1984. 32AW was sold on 19/10/1984 to a buyer from Daylesford.