Western Australian, Midland Railway Company, JV class, 1st
class Sleeping Car No. 31
The Midland Railway was a privately owned railway company in
WA operating between Midland and Walkaway (near Geraldton) commencing
operations in 1894 until being absorbed by the WAGR in 1964.
The JV class sleeping cars were the last carriages built for the Midland Railway Co. being built in 1927 by the WAGR workshops at Midland. Only 3 JV carriages were built numbering 31 -33. The WAGR later went on to use the design for their own AZ class cars.
The picture here below from the State Library of WA shows JV 31 freshly painted in 1955.
In a 1927 report in the West Australian Newspaper, General
Manager of the Midland Railway Mr J. J. Poynton proclaimed “They are the best
sleeping cars on a narrow-gauge railway in Australia and as far as knowledge
goes, not excelled anywhere in the world”.
Each carriage
provided sleeping accommodation for 60 persons in two berth compartments. The
interior lining of the carriages was of beautifully finished Teak. Light but
warm rugs made by the Albany Woolen Mills were provided for the sleeping berths
finished with MR initials perforated in the centre. The corridors, considered
“Remarkable”, were staggered, running half the length of the car on one side
then crossing over to the other side via a vestibule with entry and exit doors,
the advantages of the staggered corridors providing a better balance of weight
distribution to the cars, better access
for passengers, and control of the wind draft “which is apt to whistle through
a long corridor”.
Other innovations
included Enclosed Concertinas between cars and Water tanks under the floor with
electric pumps to raise the water when required. Automatic floodlights on the side of the cars
came on when the train stopped, to light up stations at night, and then would
turn off once a speed of 8 miles an hour was attained. Steps were provided at
each end of the cars to allow for us at unattended sidings, a trap door in the
floor of the corridor giving access to the steps when lifted and handrails
swing into place “ready for use”. There could be no doubt that these cars
costing approx. £7500 to build, fully equipped, would enhance the comfort of
passengers and the prestige of the Midland Railway!
The Model
The Decals have been
painstakingly and beautifully reproduced by local member Rob Clarke of
"Westland Models".
I would not normally model the MR, but I have built this
carriage to assist local member Stuart Mackay who has been working on a MR layout
of Watheroo for our annual exhibition for which rollingstock is a little hard
to come by.
I personally prefer the WAGR greens and Creams and have got
to say that after many attempts to photograph this model, Brown has to be the
worst colour to photograph and get a good result. Thanks go to Bill Gray for his photo above - I believe he agrees with me.
Midland Railway rollingstock did venture onto parts of the
WAGR, and so a bit of modelers license will allow my model of JV31 to fit into
my future modeling intentions.
