IK - Flat Wagon

There have been two groups of IK wagons:

1. Type 1:From about 1894, 10 ton _I__ wagons were modified to flat wagons and later coded IK, numbers unchanged. By the 1930's these wagons were rebuilt back to _I__/_IB_ wagons, converted to _K__ trucks or scrapped.
2. Type 2: In the late 1960's, KCC_ wagons were chopped down to make safety wagons.

From the above list there were two types:

• Type 1

  These were standard 10 ton I wagons with sides, ends and doors removed. The wagons retained the I wagon number. There are scanty records about the conversions with the official 'Register' giving no indication of any code change. This is usually an indication of a temporary conversion for traffic requirements.

  It seems most of the conversions date from 1902 or even earlier. Wagons were used to assist during drought or line construction. Wagons were used with tanks mounted on the floor for water transport. In later years the same wagons were modified for weed spraying use.

  It was intended to rebuild these wagons back to standard I wagon form in the early 1920's but not much was done. By the late 1920's most of these wagons were recoded into the flat wagon group of _K__. Some were rebuilt and others scrapped in the mid 1930's.

  Research is incomplete, some of the IK numbers were:

  183, 1180, 1291, 1447, 1465, 1584, 1689, 1710, 2149, 2639, 2661, 2913, 3126, 3206, 3228, 3427, 3688, 3984

  4551, 4572, 4730, 4788, 5268, 6235, 6986

• Type 2

  The ends and sides of KCC_ wagons were removed and the wagons recoded to IK. In some cases the KCC container fittings were left in place.

  The wagons were involved in two main traffics:

  1. 1968/1969

     Safety wagons for 60' pipe transport for the natural gas pipeline project Gippsland to Melbourne

  2. 1970

     Because of a wagon shortage, they were placed into Explosives traffic as safety wagons. Metal plates were welded to each sides to indicate the stencilled traffic.

  This IK group retained the KCC numbers which were 1 - 170. Sixty wagons were converted however.

  Research is incomplete, some of the numbers were:
    
    2,      7,      9,     13,     15 -    17,     23,     28,     30
   39,     41,     43,     47,     50,     53,     56,     58,     61
   62,     70,     80,     85,     90,     91,     97,     98,    104
  105,    109,    111,    129 -   132,    134,    141 -   150,    152
  155,    158,    160 -   163,    166

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