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S Cars - BS205-212-215 and BRS224

BS 205 - ECONOMY CLASS COMPARTMENT CARRIAGE

BS 205 was built at Newport Workshops as one of a batch of eleven additional first class compartment carriages (AS 6 to 16) constructed between 1940 and 1952 for the Spirit of Progress. It was completed in May 1950 and numbered AS 14. The carriage had eight compartments of six seating positions (total 48 seats). In December 1983 it was modified and re-classified as economy class with eight seats per compartment (total 64 seats). It became BS 205.

During 2014 Seven-0-Seven Operations undertook a full repaint and refurbishment of BS 205. The carraige now joins out fleet in Victorian Railways red livery with grey roof.

The carriage was withdrawn from traffic in March 2021 and entered the workshops for a full repaint and heavy overhaul, returning to traffic at the end of 2021.

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BS 212 - ECONOMY CLASS COMPARTMENT CARRIAGE

BS212 at Newport. 10/11/2007BS 212 also started life as one of the additional eleven Spirit of Progress first class compartment carriages built between 1940 and 1952. It was completed in May 1949 and numbered AS 13. In July 1953 it was modified to have four first and four economy Class compartments and re-number ABS 2. It was one of two such carriages attached to the overnight Overland between Melbourne and Adelaide with the purpose of conveying passengers to intermediate Victorian country towns of Stawell and Horsham.

It November 1972 the first Class accommodation was converted to economy class and the carriage re-numbered BS 15. In June 1983 it was re-numbered to BS 12. The final re-numbering to BS 212 occurred in May 1984.

In service with Seven-0-Seven Operations, the carriage retained it's West Coast Railway livery until overhaul and repaint was completed in January 2021. It has since been outshopped in the Victorian Railways Blue and Gold livery.

BS 215 - ECONOMY CLASS COMPARTMENT CARRIAGE

BS 215 entered service in 1955 as 9BS, as one of seven new second class sitting carriages. The carriage has 8 compartments, with 8 seats in each as well as seperate washrooms and W.C at each end. BS 215 features timber veneer panelling interiors like the original S cars, which differes from the wartime built cars, which contained a plain cream wall coating.

In 1962 the carriage was transferred to Standard Gauge to help form the new 'Spirit of Progress' running from Melbourne to Sydney each night. In line with NSW stock, the car was recoded to 4VFS.

Due to overcrowding in the buffet car, the second compartment from the men's end was converted to a supplimentary food servery in 1964 and the car was recoded to 2VFR. The change can be noticed by the type of luggage rack in this compartment as it is different from the other seven.

Under the 'New Deal', the car was recoded to VFR 215 and continued to operate on Standard Gague until 1990, when it was recoded again to BS 212 and operated with a 'Z type' car set.

In 2007, BS 215 formed SN7 with the remaining 'S type' cars in V/Line service until it was withdrawn in 2010.

The carriage was sold to Seven-O-Seven Inc. in 2017 and underwent a full restoration which was carried out over a number of years. New doors were built to replace the power doors installed by V/Line, the carriage was stripped back to bare metal and repained into V.R Blue and Gold. BS 215 re-entered service in early 2022.

BRS 224 - ECONOMY CLASS COMPARTMENT CARRIAGE WITH BUFFET

BRS 224 was built in September 1940 as an economy class compartment carriage number BS 7. It had eight compartments each with eight seating positions.

It was one of ten carriages modified at the Ballarat and Bendigo North Workshops to add a refreshment buffet. Conversion was completed in November 1983 and the carriage was re-numbered BRS 224.

The conversion eliminated two compartments reducing the accommodation from 64 to 48 seats.

The carriage has been repainted into Victorian Railways red livery, and the buffet is now fitted with a very popular espresso coffee machine and snack bar.

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Last Updated: 19 June 2022