The first passenger carriages of the Victorian Railways (VR) were fixed-wheel, with a mixture of first- and second-class bodies on either four- or six-wheeled underframes. They were built to the British side-loading, swing-door, cross bench compartment (non-corridor) style; later a saloon style was used to a limited extent, featuring fewer doors per side and perimeter seating - which increased total capacity by allowing more standing passengers.

Initial designs had some common themes: A and B type carriages were for first- and second-class travellers; C indicated third-class initially, though later was re-allocated for flat wagons to transport horse-drawn carriages, and later still for hearse vans (the first three of which had been modified from E class mail vans); D was used for guards' vans, E for mail vans, and F for horse boxes. The first vehicles were built on four-wheeled underframes, with some later designs (mostly first-class) being built on six-wheel underframes. Some cars were built locally, while others were imported. Between 1860 and 1880 the Victorian Railways took-over a number of private railway operators, and their rollingstock was absorbed into the VR fleet, being renumbered to suit. This explains why records show some cars as being built in 1855, even though the Victorian Railways did not start operating until 1858.

At first, fleet numbers of each type of carriage were generally kept consecutive with no regard for differing capacities or axle loads. When a vehicle was scrapped, either a new one would be built with the same number, or another existing car would be renumbered to fill the gap.

Some later cars were built or re-coded with multiple letters, such as AB, AD, BD and ABD. Another category was introduced for older cars which allowed them to be used in restricted service; a superscript H added to the class to indicate Holiday traffic - BH. This H superscript was initially just a clerical note next to the code, although it later became an official part of the code. Initially only second-class carriages were marked as such.

When bogie carriages were added to the fleet, they initially were allocated vacant numbers in the appropriate class series, one of the first examples being 70 A. From 1886 the bogie cars were re-coded as AA, BB, or ABAB; it is thought that this was necessary due to mix-ups with carriage capacities. Twenty seven bogie carriages of the American end-loading saloon design had been built for the Victorian Railways between 1874 and 1887 (thereafter, so-called dog box bogie cars were built), along with at least one bogie double-saloon car inherited from the former private suburban railway company (those cars were re-classed about the same time). As bogie carriages displaced their fixed-wheel predecessors, the older cars were reassigned to other duties. In particular, with the majority of bogie carriages being first-class, first-class fixed-wheel vehicles were downgraded to second-class and re-coded as 'B'.

Cars still in service in the 1940s were converted to workmen's sleepers known as WS or W Class; three of the latter were placed on bogie underframes and became WW class.

First-Class Carriages A/X/XH This group ranged from numbers 1 to 274, although over 100 numbers were recycled at least once. Most of the cars were similar to each other; typically four or five compartments with doors either side and long bench seats across the width of the carriage, allowing for a total of forty or fifty passengers per car; with a curved roof and a four- or six-wheeled underframe.

The cars were built from the 1850s to the 1880s, with a handful built after that and a large number obtained from other railways: 17 A and 18 A came from the Geelong Railway; 117 A to 156 A were ex-English cash 22 to 65, though a handful had already been scrapped; and 105 A as well as the majority of 163 A to 255 A were ex-South Suburban and Hobsons Bay stock.

In the 1910 en-masse renumbering of all passenger stock found the letters A, B and D replaced with X, Y and Z respectively. So the A cars mostly became X class; two, numbers 43 and 44 (ex 54 A and 61 A) were converted to XH on account of their condition, and restricted to occasional traffic only. The resulting post-1910 fleet numbered 1 to 42 X and 45 to 82 X. Cars 1 to 41 had been built as A Class but re-coded to B class previously. In 1913, when the Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company was taken over, one of their first-class cars was renumbered to 43 A to recycle that number.

As older cars started to wear-out and new designs came into use (in particular the new bogie fleet), some were converted to other purposes. Many were downgraded to composite, second-class only, or second-class holiday cars, with codes AB, B, or BH (later XY, Y, or YH) respectively. Other cars became workmen's sleepers (W), with a handful of those lasting to 1980. There were no first class holiday traffic cars coded as AH, but two cars, 54 A and 61 A, became 43 XH and 44 XH.

Significant cars Exhibition Car - 1 A. Survives as a workman's sleeper WW 128. The body is located in a paddock at Raywood, near the 25 km post north of Bendigo. Vision Test Car - 4 A. Number kept as an identity for tracking purposes only. 67 A and 68 A later became State/Ministerial cars, and 69 A became the Dynagraph car. 43 XH was previously 54 A; became 146 W in 1913, then scrapped 1931. 44 XH was previously 61 A; became 382 YH in late 1910, then scrapped 1929.

Ministerial Cars

Cars 67 A and 68 A, built at Williamstown Workshops in 1880, were rebuilt as Ministerial Cars 2 and 1 respectively in 1894. The two cars were externally identical, but Ministerial No.2 was reversed against No.1 so the two end platforms met in the middle, and the two cars had slightly different interiors. Each car had nine window-panels per side, plus the end platform section. Ministerial No.1 had its access door at the second panel; the diagram shows that section as the Lavatory, but it was not connected to the water closet and apparently acted more as a vestibule. There was an adjacent WC and then a large saloon, with a table, four seats and a three-seater bench, then the end platform. Ministerial No.2 was something of a mirror image internally, with its end platform then saloon with a smaller table, two long benches for five each, a WC on the same side as Ministerial No.1, and another lavatory/vestibule with access doors.

At some point each car had one axle removed and replaced with a short bogie. Ministerial No.1 had the bogie placed at the platform end, while Ministerial No.2 had the bogie placed under the lavatory/vestibule end. The bogies had a wheelbase of

In 1899 the two cars were lifted from their underframes and placed on a single bogie underframe, and the new combined carriage was called Edinburgh. In this form the car had three saloons, separated by a unisex lavatory and a kitchen, and flanked by compartments. The outer two saloons were with up to 8 seats, while the central saloon was with four seats, a bench and the buffet counter.

The car was renamed Mitta Mitta on 3 December 1910, with a complete internal rebuild. The central compartment was converted to a kitchen, and the other two saloons were each split into two dining tables for six, with a total capacity of 24 diners.

In July 1924 the car was modified again and renamed the Vision Test Car. It was once again cleared out, and this time there was no remnant of the earlier three-compartment design. From one end platform, there was a compartment that served as the doctor's living quarters while the car was touring the state. The majority of the car was devoted to the testing room, as a single compartment with various tables and chairs for different tests and a dark room separated by a curtain. The remainder of the car was split into three waiting rooms with folding seats; these rooms were and respectively.

The car was scrapped on 29 May 1939, and replaced with the former dining car Wimmera as the new Medical and Test Vision Car.

First-Class Carriages with a Guard's Van AD/YZ These vehicles entered service between 1881 and 1886, numbered between 1 and 58, however many cars are missing from the list. From the data it appears that the class was re-organised in 1886, with many vehicles in service prior to 1886 being scrapped and their numbers left vacant for replacements that were never built.

Cars 3, 7, 17, 18, 24, 30, 37 to 44, 55 to 57 were never in service after 1886. Cars 1, 2 and 4 entered service about 1886 as replacements for earlier cars; car 4 AD is now 69 YZ, preserved in running condition at Castlemaine. Between 1887 and 1904, these vehicles were converted to BD, at about the rate of about two or three per year, with twelve conversions for 1891. In the 1910 recoding the sole remaining vehicle in the class, 4 AD, was recoded to 1 XZ. In February 1914, 1 XZ was relettered to 69 YZ.

Composite First- & Second-Class Carriages AB/ABH/XY/XYH These cars were mixed first- and second-class versions of the standard fixed wheel rollingstock. First-class compartments were usually slightly wider, allowing for more legroom.

AB type carriages were built between 1859 and 1887, with a further ten converted from other classes in 1892. As a result, the total fleet was in the range 1 AB to 157 AB.

From 1888 to 1904, as patronage increased and mixed-purpose carriages became less useful, the class was converted, mainly to second-class-only (and a small number to TBO, a second-class van with a booking office installed), though a handful became workmen's sleeping accommodation. Car 118 AB was recoded to 118 ABH in about 1900, for holiday traffic.

The 1910 re-coding saw the leftover cars converted from AB to XY; 118 ABH became 15 XYH, and was removed from service in 1913. Otherwise, the number range was 1 to 42 XY, although about five cars were never converted, and were scrapped or put to other uses.

Between 1911 and 1958, the XY cars were progressively scrapped or converted to other uses (mainly workmen's vehicles of the W-series), the last being 25XY on 29 July 1958.

It is thought that the derelict carriage body near Manor, south of Werribee, is a former XY carriage. It survives as a wooden frame, and sadly in recent years had been blown over by the wind. Another carriage body, from 5 XY, is thought to be in Hampton, having been recorded as being in good condition in 1996.

Composite First- & Second-Class Carriages with a Guard's Van ABD/XYZ As car designs were being mixed and matched to find a better balance between offering patronage and weight hauled, combination carriages became more common. Part of the car was a guard's van and luggage area, with the rest being second- and first-class passenger compartments. The ABD type was a result of this experimentation, with nine cars built by 1886, numbered from 1 ABD to 18 ABD. These vans were used on mixed trains and smaller branch line trains.

Between 1889 and 1891, three cars were transferred to other services. 8 ABD was most interesting - it was reclassified as 380 B in 1889, which suggests that it was originally a standard carriage with one compartment being converted for use as a van section, or that the van was fitted with seating and the cupola section blanked off or removed. Twelve more of a different design were built new during 1893/1894. Five were transferred to other service between 1898 and 1903. In the 1910 renumbering, the thirteen remaining vehicles were re-coded to XYZ; numbers were altered to fill gaps at the same time.

One XYZ car was scrapped in 1912. An extra vehicle was not converted until 1922 when 12 YZ became 14 XYZ. The class was gradually withdrawn from service between 1928 and 1939.

Second-Class Carriages B/BH/X/XH