NRS-15268 | Carrying capacity books

This series consists of printed booklets produced by the successive government agencies which controlled railways for the use of their employees. For each vehicle type the permissible carrying is tabulated. Information is arranged according to wagon class. In addition to listing the maximum load for wagons, the series provides body and inside measurements of goods wagons; details about wagon doors, including whether doors are sealed and width of door openings; average tare; permissible overload; and other details specific to wagon class. Later booklets provide this information for standard gauge freight stock from other Australian states and the Commonwealth.New editions of the booklets were published periodically. Between editions the tables were updated by circulars advising the purchase or disposal of wagons. Extracts from the circulars were pasted into the booklets to keep them current. Prior to 1974, the series described the rolling stock as ‘goods wagons, coal hoppers, horse boxes, and motor trucks’. After 1974, the rolling stock was described as ‘freight wagons and other Australian System’s standard gauge wagons’. Some books contain hand written notations.Custody HistoryFrom 1955 until 2000 the State Rail Authority of New South Wales maintained an ‘in house archives’ consisting of the archival records of the Authority, its predecessor agencies and the private railway companies taken over by the government. The date ranges of the records were from 1849 until 2000. When the decision was made to close the ‘State Rail Archives’ the parts of the collection that were required as State archives were transferred to the State Records Authority of NSW. Those record series were incorporated into the State Records series system of archives control and were re-numbered.This series was formerly part of the State Rail Archives collection where it was identified as series R48. It may have been viewed in the State Rail Archives as series R48 and could have been previously cited as such in notes by researchers at State Rail Archives or in publications or unpublished works.