O284

ID/Name: O284
Type:  Goods Wagon
Description: Open Hopper
Built: 1919
Status: Available for traffic

HISTORY

One hundred and eighty three 'O' wagons were constructed between 1915 and 1923 to transport brown coal 140km from Yallourn to the Newport where electricity was generated for the new electrified Melbourne suburban train services.

Between 1959 and 1961, seventy five O wagons were rebuilt for ballast discharge use and classified ON. The conversion altered the bottom discharge doors from butterfly "pin catch" type to wheel controlled discharge doors. These doors allowed the discharge rate to be controlled whilst spreading ballast on the move.

Between 1962 and 1968 the majority of the wagons were reclassed to O without alteration or were converted to OC for glass sand traffic.

In the 1970's ON wagons could be found in limestone traffic from Nowa Nowa to Maryvale Sidings.

O284 was allocated to the Newport Railway Museum and became surplus to their needs in 1995 at which time it was transferred to Daylesford Railway by road and is used on ballast trains as part of our track maintenance program.