ABV - 'Arnott's Biscuits Van'

ABV ‘Arnott’s Biscuit Van’

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ABV 5481 at Clyde on 17/8/73. John Miller

Their code stood for ‘Arnott’s Biscuit Van’, and its legendary contents made the ABV a very famous class of railway vehicle. Their sole reason for being was to transport the products of ‘Arnott’s Biscuits’ from their Nth Strathfield factory to all over NSW.

The reason behind their introduction was due to a packaging change made by Arnott’s in 1962. Previously biscuits were bulk packed in metal tins and were sold in shops by weight, the waterproof tins would adequately protect the biscuits whilst being transported in general louvred vans. In the early 1962, Arnott’s began to pack their products in smaller quantities and in transparent packets, which were then packed into cardboard boxes, these boxes now needed to be kept dry, and this bought about the need for a weatherproof vehicle.

The vans were modified from CV covered vans, their interiors were lined with masonite and sealed from the elements. External diagonal bracing was added to strengthen the aging wagons. This bracing was an easy way to spot an ABV on a train.

These vans hold a special place in NSWGR history, they were the last class of 4-wheeled vehicles to be commissioned into service.

Conversion:

55 vans were converted between 1963 and 1966, with two other vans converted after that year (one in 1967 and 20365 in 1969). Of these vans –

- 50 were of the ‘standard’ design, which had tongue and groove body sheathing.

- 2 were ‘high roofed’ vans with a high semi-elliptical roof and external plywood sheeting. No’s 13767 &

- and 3 were ‘10 ton’ capacity vans with plywood body. No’s 997, 8797 and 7604.

Running Numbers: The vans retained their wagon numbers when converted. Some selected ABV numbers are – 4714, 7591, 9393, 13748, 14604, 14902, 20302, 20365, 20368, 20877.

Length: 18ft (5.5m) Tare: Capacity: Gross: Equiv Length: 1

Standard Van - 9t 12t 20.5t

High Roofed -

‘Light’ van - 8.5t 10t 18.5t

Coding:

- They were coded ABV upon conversion, which aptly described their duty and cargo.

- Even though they lasted into the ROA recoding period, they were not given a 4-letter code.

Colour Scheme:

- As introduced, they received the standard NSWR gunmetal grey livery with white lettering.

- Some vans received the PTC blue livery from 1974.

- A few vans were repainted into the SRA red livery with white lettering from 1981.

Similar Vehicles: A TRC refrigerated van was modified for Arnott’s traffic, the ABC.

Modifications:

As converted the vans were fitted with transition automatic coupler and buffers, the buffers were later removed. Most ‘tongue and groove’ sheathed wagon, later had their sides covered in plywood as they began to deteriorate.

Period of Service: 1963 - 1983.

Operation:

The van was allocated for exclusive use by ‘Arnott’s Biscuits’. It transported boxed biscuits from Arnott’s North Strathfield plant to many locations across NSW.

Remaining Examples:

- ABV 7604 at NSWRTM Thirlmere

- ABV ? at Yass Railway Museum.

- L267 (ex ABV) at Richmond Vale Railway Museum.

- ABV 13767 (high-roofed) at Cowra Railway Museum.

- ABV 20368 at Dorrigo Railway Museum.

- ABV? Under restoration at Glenreagh Mountain Railway.

Modelling: Outline PLAN

- ‘Protype’ had a HO scale kit, but it is no longer available.

- A N scale kit is available from N-Trains

- LMR produced a HO kit of the ABV and is available from AR Kits.

- In Front Models produced a HO scale kit is the ‘High-Roofed’ version in 2018