The AI Class passenger carriages were a class of four-wheel composite coaches with compartments operated by the Western Australian Government Railways.

History

The first two carriages of this class were ordered from the Metropolitan Railway Carriage & Wagon Company of Birmingham, England. They arrived in Geraldton on board the barque Fitzroy on 7 November 1875 and had finished being assembled in April 1876WA Times 21 April 1876 and entering service in 1877 on the Northern Railway. The underframes and bodies of the coaches were made of teak on the exterior and red pine in the interior of the carriages.

They had three compartments, the centre compartment for first class passenger and the outer two for second class regular passengers. Each coach had a capacity of twenty-two passengers with sixteen second class and six first class. First class seats were padded while second class seats were just wooden benches made of varnished wood. The coaches were lit by oil lamps of which two were needed to light the entire three compartments.

The coaches were not popular as they were described by Civil Engineer of the Public Works Department James Thomas as "reduced models of old english stock, and totally unsuited for this climate, and not of the class generally employed on successfully worked narrow gauge lines."Report on the Works in Progress on Geraldton & Northampton Railway, Parliamentary Paper No.5 of 1876. The two coaches at that time were numbered NR 1 and NR 2.

On 1 March in 1881 three more almost identical four-wheeled coaches entered service on the new Eastern railway line with the criticisms of the first two coaches met with the addition of sunshades over the windows to suit local climate with the coaches being numbered 1, 2 and 3. In 1885 Coach No.1 had a clerestory roof fitted to become WA's first State Saloon.The Morning Herald 18 June 1885 On 13 June in 1885 the Delcomyn arrived with a new four-wheeler which became No.13 to replace No.1. In July 1885 all these four-wheelers were classed 'AB' with No.1 classified 'A' due to its role.

In March 1886 five more of the class entered traffic on the Eastern line the reason that they had been purchased was because of their apparent light weight which made it easy to shunt another coach to a train to accommodate more passengers if needed. On 29 April 1891 two more of the class were delivered on board the Flinders becoming NR No.3 and No.4 entering traffic on 14 May 1891.Victorian Express 2 & 16 May 1891. The last of the class was NR No.5 which formerly worked on the Bunbury Tramway. As the coaches were in traffic during 1890's the passengers did not favour them as newer, larger and more comfortable coaches began appearing on the WAGR such as the AB/ABA carriages (AG after 1900). The capacity of the coaches was reduced to eighteen with six in both second class compartments and still six in the first class compartments.Conference Minutes, 1899, Australian Railway Historical Society (WA Division) Archives.

In 1899 AB No.21 and No.23 were converted to louvred meat vans but this design proved to be expensive to maintain and a 'non-standard design'.Item 917, Locomotive Engineers Conference, 21 September 1899. Also in 1899 the Northern Railway coaches were put into the AB classification and Numbered from 258 to 262. In September 1900 the WAGR reclassified its rolling stock and the AB small coaches became AI class four-wheelers. In 1901 AI No.3 was converted to a P class travelling workmen's van with AI No.259 also being converted the next year. In 1902 AI No.262 was sold to the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to be used on the Kalamunda Zig Zag line and it is not known what happened to it afterwards. Four coaches of the class were then sold of in 1904 and 1905.

The first ER coach AI No.1 was broken up around 1960 at Jarrahdale in ownership of Millars. And at the start of 1905 just four of the AI class remained. AI No.260 and No.258 both left and went to Mundaring with AI No.13 being sold and its current disposition is unknown. In March 1912 AI No.258 was sold to the Public Works Department and converted to a 'Tramcar' for use on the Carnarvon Jetty and Tramway Railway. In 1914 AI No.2 and No.260 were sent for work at the WAGR's Banksiadale Saw Mill both met their fates there. AI No.22 was converted to a 'tramcar' for Carnarvon after being sold in 1925.

Preservation AI No.258 was still intact at Carnarvon until it was separated from its frames and placed in a nursery with Steam Locomotive Kimberly for company. The frame of AI No.258 and other flat wagons and frames were put in a recreation ground where they were used as seats! AI No.22 was later destroyed and the relics at Carnarvon were forgotten about until 1988, when they were rediscovered and the body of AI No.258 was put into the care of the Gascoyne Historical Society

in May 1988, it sustained some vandalism while it was placed on a H Class wagon and on 20 October 1989 both the frame and body were sent to Midland Railway Workshops for restoration. The coach was restored to running condition by Westrail in June 1990. AI No.258 is on display on the Public Transport Centre.East Perth Railway Station InHerit

Class list

Road numberIn serviceWithdrawnNotes11 March 18811903Broken-Up at Jarrahdale in the 1960s21 March 188124 June 1914Burnt at Banksiadale in 191431 March 18811901Converted to P class workmen's van13July 18851907Disposition unknown19March 18851903/1904Condemned 190420March 18851903/1904Condemned 190421March 18851899Converted to louvred meat van22March 18851925Sold to the Public Work Department, destroyed in the 1960s23March 18851899Converted to louvred meat van2581877March 1912Originally NR No.1, sold to Public Works Department, preserved at Public Transport Centre25918771902Converted to P class workmen's van26014 May 18911914/UnknownScrapped at Banksiadale26114 May 18911898/1899Condemned in 189926218911902Formerly Bunbury Tramway carriage, disposition unknown

Incidents On 15 August 1898 a four-wheeled coach caught fire at Mingenew and despite the locomotive crews Trying to put the blaze out it burnt the entire body of the coachThe Morning Herald, 18 August 1898. which isn't identified in the report but likely to be AI Class No.261. On 24 June 1914 No.2 caught fire at Banksiadale and was likely broken up as a result.

References

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