Victorian Railways KF/KW car transporter wagons

The Victorian Railways (VR), had since their early days been carrying various types of vehicular traffic; e.g. horse drawn carriages, wagons etc, and then from the early days of self-propelled vehicles, motor cars etc.

Photo 2 shows a Car in the 1920s being craned into Victorian Railways’ four-wheel wagons in Melbourne Yard at Spencer Street.

The VR, being Government owned, was at times short of funds and also with some carry over from our British railway legacy, somewhat slow in committing to the potential of bogie wagons, e.g. double deck for transporting cars, if the North American railroads were anything to go by.

In Australia, there was a close relationship between the Railways and the various motor vehicle manufacturers, Ford and General Motors–Holden (GM-H) particularly. Chrysler and other manufacturers similarly all needed to transport their many motor car bodies and complete motor cars across Australia to and from their numerous plants generating much interstate traffic.

GM-H, for example, at its various plants manufactured numerous components and car bodies at one plant, whereas their other plants would manufacture different car bodies, parts etc. These would then be transported, mainly by rail. GM-H Adelaide transported many car bodies and, it is understood, some completed cars to Melbourne where they were finished. Similarly, GM-H Melbourne transported to Adelaide many parts and, it is understood, to a lesser extent car bodies. This was at the GM-H Fishermans Bend plant which had no rail connection, so the regular consignments of motor car bodies etc. were handled from the ‘Electric Crane’ area of Melbourne Goods yard, see photos 3, 4 and 5.

In 1956 GM-H opened