J cement hoppers

J 77 holds the distinction of being the last completely new 4 wheel wagon VR ever built, 1962. Photo at Arden St. 1978.

Number in Class	77
Number group	1 - 77
Construction period	1949 - 1962
In service (as cement wagons)	1963 - early 80's
Where built
Diagram of J 1 - 7 Diagram of J 8 - 27 Diagram of J 28 - 77 CK DIAGRAM
Modeling

The J's have a rather complicated history which I have summarised in the table below. 1 - 7 trace their roots to carrying pulverside brown coal for steam locos. When this traffic ended they went into flour traffic as X, FX and FJ. Later deliveries were built as X's for cement traffic. X was not a good code to use because after the SG reached Melbourne the letter X at the end of a code signified a wagon that could be bogie exchanged thus the recode to "J"

In later years (1980's) J's were restricted to 30 MPH when loaded. After their revenue days ended (mid 80's) yet another commodity was carried. At least one J saw service as "Dry Locomotive Sand" service where sand was transported to country loco depots.

late 70's #	BUILT CODE/#				FINAL CODE/#
J 1 - 7	CK 1 - 7 (1949 - 1952), pulverised brown coal traffic	to X 1 - 7 (1958 - 1959)	to FX 1 - 7 (1961 -1962) flour traffic	to FJ 1 - 7 (1963) flour traffic	to J 1 - 7 (1971 - 1972) cement traffic
J 8 - 40	as X 8 - 40 (1959 - 1962)				to J 8 - 40 (1963)
J 41 - 42	as X 41 -42 (1960)		to J 41 - 42 (1963)	to FJ 11 - 12 (1967)	to J 41 - 42 (1972)
J 43 - 44	as X 43 - 44 (1960)				to J 43 - 44 (1963)
FJ 8	as X 45 (1960)			to J 45 (1963)	to FJ 8 (1964)
J 46	as X 46 (1960)		to J 46 (1963)	to FJ 10 (1965)	to J 46 (1971)
FJ 9	as X 47 (1960)			to J 47 (1963)	to FJ 9 (1964)
J 48 - 77	as X 48 - 77 (1960/62)				to J 48 - 77 (1963)

ABOVE: CK 1 as built 1949. CK 1 eventually became J 1 shown below.
Official VR photo (Peter J. Vincent collection)

CK DIAGRAM

ABOVE & BELOW: After the pulverised brown coal traffic finished (1958) CK's 1-7 were recoded to X 1-7 and put into flour traffic, They were quickly recoded to FX in 1961

ABOVE: J 1 photographed in 1979, 30 years after the above photo of CK 1 was taken. Note the reduction in size of the hopper and the weld marks on the hopper. Old "BULK FLOUR" lettering can be seen under the grime.

ABOVE: CK 2 and an unidentified CK circa mid 1950s, the following two photos are of the same wagon. (photo courtesy Brian McClure)

ABOVE: The FX code was very shortlived (1961 - 1962) and only applied to 1 - 7. The FX code was re-used for 17 bogie hoppers built in 1966.
BELOW: The same wagon, in its final re-code is shown below in 1978. Like CK 1/J1 shown above, J 7 had its hoppers reduced in size for cement carrying.