U (561 - 1466)
ABOVE: U 960 was built with narrow doors which were later converted to wide doors in 1972 - 1974 also note the roller bearings which were quite rare on VR 4 wheel wagons.
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This was the largest U van group and came in several distinct designs.
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1st Group
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The first group were numbered 561 - 991, they featured smooth roofs and narrow doors. They were built with 3 axles and lever handbrakes as shown in the builders photo below. In 1936 they were autocoupled at which time the centre axle was removed and a much heavier leaf spring/W guard installed, a wheel handbrake was also installed at this time. Between 1972 and 1974 128 U's in this group were fitted with wide doors, a small verticle join seam on either side of the doorway is the giveaway. A further modification was the installation of a gutter above the doors, it is not known when this occured.
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ABOVE: circa 1908 builders photo of U 565, compare it with the photo below of the same wagon taken 70 years later (Feb 1978 at Dandenong)
ABOVE: U 576 at Williamstown Pier. April 15 1978.
ABOVE: U 586 at Nth Geelong yard, Feb 6 1978. Photo courtesy Geoff Winkler
ABOVE: U 640 at Dandenong Feb 1978
ABOVE: U 695 at Nth Geelong yard July 7 1978. Photo courtesy Geoff Winkler
ABOVE: U 707 at Nth Geelong, Feb 2 1978. Photo courtesy Geoff Winkler
BELOW: U 717 at Dandenong Feb 1978
By the mid 1970's many wide U van doors had been blanked at the bottom to avoid forklift damage. Door blanking didn't seem to be as common on the narrow doors. BELOW: U 778 at Tottenham Jan 1978, note only one door with the blanked door section.
U 857 at West Footscray. Feb. 1978
ABOVE: U 858 showing the original door configuration, photo at Dandenong, Feb 1978.
ABOVE: U 926 at Traralgon March 1978
BELOW: U 946 at Dandenong Feb 1978
BELOW: U 960 photographed in 1978. In 1959 a small number of U's were fitted with roller bearings
ABOVE: U 961 was unique, apparently it was a test for a new type of powder/explosives van, it entered Newport shops March 15 1963 and emerged in this configuration on Oct 1 1964.Photo at Redcliffs Aug. 18 1976, Photo courtesy Peter J. Vincent
BELOW: U 991 was the last plain roof U built. Photo at Dandenong April 1978.
2nd Group
This group of 75 wagons were numbered from 992 - 1066 and were built at Newport in 1925. They were built with corrugated roofs, 7 foot doors and wheel handbrakes, they were the first U's built with wide doors. Most of the UB wagons were converted from this group.
ABOVE: U 1016 at Melb yard Nov. 1976. It was one of the very last advertising U's. Photo courtesy Rob O'Regan
ABOVE: U 1038 at Woodend March 1978. Note that only one door has been blanked at the bottom.
ABOVE: U 1047, circa 1928
ABOVE: U 1051 circa 1928
3rd Group
This group numbered 150 wagons (1067 - 1216) and were built at Newport and Bendigo between 1934 and 1938) They were the last group built with wheel handbrakes and were identical to the 3rd group.
ABOVE: U 1115 circa 1961
ABOVE: U1156 at Newport workshops, Dec. 19 1977. Photo courtesy Geoff Winkler
BELOW: U 1156 at West Footscray March 1978
BELOW: U 1205 at Dandenong Feb 1978. Note the blanking around the shunters grab irons.
Final Group
The final group numbered 1217 - 1466 (250 wagons) and were built at Bendigo and Newport between 1938 and 1952 They are identified by having lever handbrakes, otherwise they were identical to the previous group.
ABOVE: U 1220 at Dandenong Feb. 1978
ABOVE: U 1226 (fitted with roller bearings) at Dandenong Feb 1978.
ABOVE: U 1236 circa 1960.
ABOVE: U 1303 at Dandenong 1978
BELOW: U 1315 at Ranglea, weeks away from being scrapped, March 1978.
BELOW: U 1356 (off reg) at Williamstown Pier Feb 1978.
ABOVE: U 1351 would have been built with a corrugated roof but received this plain roof at some stage, probably as a result of an accident repair. Unlike other plain roof U vans it does not have the tell tale signs of having its door widened. Photo at Melb yard, Dec. 1976 Photo courtesy Rob O'Regan
ABOVE: U 1466 was built at Newport in 1952 and was the last U van built to this design.
ABOVE: VR diagram showing how to load a U van with eggs! (PROV photo)
