Class GC Steel-framed high-sided goods wagons

Class GC Steel-framed high-sided goods wagons

The original GC class open wagons built from 1907 onwards had a wooden underframe. By the late twenties some of the earliest wagons were becoming life expired and so in 1930 GC 7353 was rebuilt with a steel underframe. It retained the 9'-0" wheelbase of the wooden framed wagons and remained a one-off until withdrawn in 1979.

In 1931-1934 one hundred GC class wagons with a 9-'6" wheelbase were built to replace older GB and GC class wagons. One additional wagon (GC192) was built in 1932, which also had a steel floor and steel doors and effectively formed the prototype for the GS class built from 1935.

The steel-underframed GC's were built as follows:

1930	7353 (9' wheelbase) ex GC
1931	6389, 6744 replacement for GB 361, 6906, 6932, 7041, 7267, 7352, 7424, 7790, 8064, 8131, 8420, 8553, 8588, 8630, 8847, 9113, 9135, 9501, 9593, 9657, 9833, 9987 replacement for GC wooden underframe
1932	6364, 6409, 6411, 6719, 6753 replacement for GB 204, 336, 433, 442, 568, 2081, 7070, 7081, 7141, 7181, 7249, 7313, 7344/6, 7421, 7442, 7967, 8042, 8492, 8583, 8948, 9075, 9180, 9197, 9465, 9539, 9541, 9621, 9631, 9648, 9797, 9811, 9825, 9878 replacement for GC wooden underframe 196 (steel deck and doors) replacement for GC wooden underframe
1933	6447, 6588, 6590, 6600, 6627 replacement for GB 9114, 9258 replacement for GC wooden underframe
1934	6570 replacement for GB 329, 2084, 7155, 7350, 7555, 8002, 8096, 8336, 8487, 8508, 8525, 8765, 8994, 9006, 9100, 9140, 9156, 9167, 9202, 9262, 9286, 9296, 9320, 9573, 9644, 9787, 9854, 9889, 9896 replacement for GC wooden underframe

They were withdrawn from stock over a longer period of time and although they outlasted the majority of the wooden framed wagons the final group were withdrawn in the same year (1979) as the last of the wooden framed wagons.

1947 1952	6447 written off 336 written off	1973	361, 442, 2081, 6590, 7041, 7070, 7346, 7421, 7790, 8336, 8487, 8765, 9006, 9114, 9167, 9180, 9296, 9539, 9621, 9811, 9833, 9889, 9896 written off
1954	9156 converted to class J	1974	6753, 7313, 8420, 9501, 9657, 9787 written off
1955	336 written back	1975	2084, 7267, 7442, 8064, 8096, 8847, 9573 written off
1956	6744 written off	1976	568, 6719, 8994, 9797 written off
1962	8492 written off	1977	6411, 6906 written off
1965	7155 written off	1978	204, 9262 written off
1966 1968 1972	9593, 9631 written off 8131 written off 329, 6570, 6588, 7141, 7350, 8553, 9286, 9465, 9854, 9878 written off	1979	196 (steel floor), 336, 433, 6364, 6389, 6409, 6600, 6627, 6932, 7081, 7181, 7249, 7344, 7352, 7353 (9'-0"), 7424, 7555, 7967, 8002, 8042, 8508, 8525, 8583/8, 8630, 8948, 9075, 9100, 9113, 9135, 9140, 9197, 9202, 9258, 9320, 9644/8, 9825, 9987 written off 9541 unaccounted for but after 1974

From 1974 the following wagons were labelled "Bitumen Traffic Only":

433, 568, 6364, 6411, 7249, 7267, 7353(9'-0"), 7442, 8002, 8525, 8630, 8847, 9135, 9140, 9202, 9320, 9541, 9644, 9987