NPDF Cement Wagon

NPDF 3421 at Canberra. Mark Nethery

Two tankers were built by Commonwealth Engineering in 1963 for Blue Circle Southern Cement Ltd. They are believed to be the first purpose-built pneumatic discharge hoppers in NSW. They features a tear shaped, single compartment tank. Although privately owned, they still received a ROA coding. Little is known about their operation, but they mainly worked between Portland (near Wallerawang) and Rocklea in Qld.

They disappeared from Working Timetables and operational wagon lists around 1996, but they had been out-of-service quite some time before that. They are both preserved at Dorrigo

Length: 14.4m Tare: 24.7t Capacity: 51.3t Gross: 76t Equilivent Length: 1.8 Bogies: XCG

Running Numbers: 3421P and 3422.

Coding:

- Original coding is unconfirmed. Two possibilities are CPC and PDF.

- Recoded NPDF after 1979.

Colour Schemes:

- It is unsure what the hoppers looked like originally,

- But, the last livery they wore consisted of a white tank and underframe with a large BCSC logo on the sides. Bogies and lettering was black.

The NPDF’s at Dorrigo. Steven Pracy

The ‘B’ end of NPDF 3421P at Dorrigo. Steven Pracy