Designs produced in 1903 for a series of coaches based largely on contempory Canadian Pacific Practice. Borne on 6 wheel bogies, its wooden body, the exterior of which consisted of 3 inch wide verticle strips of wood grooved in the middle, giving a groove every 1½ inch along the sides of each coach, was built on a steel underframe with paired truss rods. The design was of a side corridor coach, with vestibule ends and a clerestory roof, the ends of which curved down.
As built this stock was lavishly decorated with elaborate gilt lettering, scroll work and decorative bevel edged mirrors above each window. Painted Victorian Railways red-brown with VICTORIAN RAILWAYS or VICTORIAN AND SOUTH AUSTRALIAN RAILWAYS centrally on the letterboards above each window. FIRST CLASS or SECOND CLASS flanked the doors at each end and the coach classification centrally beneath the windows e.g. No 1 AVE. The exterior finished off with polished door knobs and hand rails. The lower half of each window section was provided with two horizontal bars externally and the door windows with one. Each of which were latter removed. Originally the cars were lit by Pintsch gas, and latter converted to electrical, retaining the original light fittings.
These cars were built between 1907 and 1910 (although a further batch of V&SAR Joint Stock cars were built in 1923).
The "V" was dropped in 1914 as part of a major reclassification system introduced by the Victorian Railways.
Travelling Post Office (TPO) cars were originally coded "EBSV", but later recoded "BDSE", and after being rebuilt became "BE" and "BCE" in configuration.
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