ALF / ALX - Bogie Car Transport


ALF

In 1962/1963, eight bogie car transporters were built. They were coded ALF and were numbered 1 - 8. In 1963, the railways started to convert a lot of wagons for bogie exchange. This changed the last letter in the code from 'F' to 'X'.

For these vehicles, the change occurred midway through construction.

Additional vehicles were issued as ALX. Existing vehicles were reclassed to ALX between 1963 and 1965.

ALX

Fourteen vehicles were built during 1963. These were ALX 9 - 22.

These car transporters were roll on/roll off type with terminal facilities that allowed cars to drive up to the wagons on the ramp. 'Track connectors' were fitted to the ends of wagons. When these were folded down they allowed vehicles to drive from one wagon to another. These 'car trains' were loaded as complete train units.

Main traffic was between the car manufacturing plants in capital cities; one area was from the 'Ford' plant in Melbourne to Sydney where cars were then distributed to dealers.

In 1967, twenty car body transporters coded MLX_ were converted to roll on/roll off use. The MLX wagons were used to transport incompleted car bodies from Melbourne to Adelaide.

When modified, the vehicle became ALX 23 - 42. They were very noticable in that they featured open skeletal sides with twin parallel steel sheet strips down each side. ALX 1 - 22 were featured with full covered sides.

A further sixteeen car transports were built during 1969/1970. These were numbered 43 - 58. These were identical to the MLX type except there were no sheet steel strips along the skeletal frame.

ALX 26 was damaged in a derailment at Menangle, NSW in 1975 and written off in 1976.

For the 1979 recoding, remaining ALX vehicles were recoded to VMBX.

ALF ( Test bogies )

In 1978 high speed bogie trials were conducted. The vehicle was ALX 46. For testing at high speed, the car transporter was recoded to ALF_ for about two weeks. The conversions were for motor car transport (MotoRail service) on the "Overland" between Melbourne, Victoria and Adelaise, South Australia.

ALF 46 and ALX 58 were later reclassed to ALP_.

Vehicle history list