History

XP 3193 was built in 1967, probably at the ill-fated East Town workshops as a fruit and general purpose ventilated boxcar. (A number of components are marked East Town although these may have been repairs.) It is of generally wooden construction featuring solid disk wheels, all steel under-frame, angle-iron body framing, welded ventilators and janney yoke drawgear. The sliding doors are larger than those of its predecessors and are hung on smooth running Henderson type door track.

However, it also features a number of archaic details that may have led to its relatively short service life, namely high maintenance timber cladding, lightweight body construction making it unsuitable for loading operations using forklifts, and a small, four wheel design, limiting severely its speed and capacity. It is perhaps these factors that led to it retaining the plain-bearing axle boxes while other vehicles of similar age were upgraded to roller bearings.

While it would be nice to assume Xp3193 was used on Central Otago fruit trains, it is impossible to say where it saw service. The provision of permanent ferry hooks suggests that inter-island traffic was envisaged. In 1982 it joined the ranks of the Way and Works fleet of non revenue service vehicles as a support vehicle for infrastructure repair. It carried the number E6082 and wore an appalling mustard-yellow livery.

Surprisingly, our example does not carry the usual scars from rough service and spills common to other vehicles in this service; most of the restoration required was to repair decay caused by exposure to the elements, and poor workmanship, although one section of wall framing had been damaged by a major load shift.

The vehicle ended its days in the Blenheim region with a sister Kc wagon. Clear photos of our boxcar appear on pages 103 and 112 of the "South Island Main Trunk" book. Mysteriously, the wagon was consigned to Dunedin and was immediately laid up, the protective roof covering damaged beyond repair by this stage.

After lengthy negotiations with New Zealand Rail and an injection of enthusiasm into our senior membership, it arrived at the Ocean Beach Railway in late January 1994 and entered three months of dry storage to stabilise the roof.

Restoration

Work started in earnest in early May 1994. It was soon discovered that a recent repair to the roof had been poorly fitted and virtually fell off when investigated. The steel backed timber roof beams had rotted out in this section. Installing proper stepped glue joints to the curved steel backed beams was very challenging, the wagon roof being above the workshop lights, meaning that much of the work was done in virtual darkness. The project had been strategically placed between shed roof leaks, meaning that it was in the direct line of steel chips from the lathe, making a tricky job that much more challenging. Hindsight would have seen the whole roof replaced.

It was soon discovered that due to flexing in the steel body framing, every single nail in the exterior cladding, interior and ceiling had sheered off, causing the latter to sag. Re-nailing, filling and sanding these areas was a thoroughly mindless task and never anticipated.

The wagon was originally clad with low grade rimu T & G, with very early Tanalised Pine (full of knots) used for repairs, and further repaired with high grade rimu. It had received a replacement A-side door from another Xp at some stage. We used plantation grown tanalised pine for exterior repairs and second-hand rimu for framing and roof repairs.

The vinyl roof covering was beyond salvage when the Xp joined our fleet. The merits of malthoid, fibreglass and canvas were considered as a replacement, before modified polyurethane was settled on as the most durable, affordable and authentic-looking option. We used Croda 600 paint for its durability and resistance to failure due to salt. The underframe also received the Croda treatment over a Corroless QD base, all components fully cleaned by wire buff first.

We sandblasted and spray painted the vents, often working outdoors well into the night. Sanding and painting the ceiling will also be remembered as a task to be given to someone else on the next project. This stage was done in winter, during which time paint took three days to dry and filler, a full week.

Of particular surprise was the number of cracks in the angle-iron body-framing and on the spring brackets, these all had to be welded before re-affixing the cladding and associated fittings.

When evaluating the project, one problem that we always thought would be challenging was the three broken corners on the doors. The damage was fairly massive. It proved far easier to fix than expected with some careful routing out and glue laminating. During this project, we discovered marine-type glues and fillers that made the task a lot easier.

The two door-track covers are fabricated from three Z-type covers skilfully welded and cut. Replacement roof vents were refurbished and installed. A number of steel fittings, such as the interior door linings, were dip-stripped by a motor refurbishing company.

The finished result is quite pleasing. The doors open and close smoothly, the interior is very liveable, but when unladen it rides hard and the long wheelbase produces flange-squeal on our tight curves. It tows well and brakes satisfactorily. The ventilators have not been able to dissipate the unique fish smell despite the years of disuse.