The V type carriages, introduced from 1897, were the first group of Victorian Railways passenger rolling stock to have their own distinct class.
Despite some records, these classes were never "doubled" to reflect their bogies; for example, the class AVAV never existed.
AV
In the closing years of the 19th century, the Victorian Railways found itself in need of more passenger carriages.
In 1897, a design was settled upon, and carriage AV285 was constructed and brought into use. The number 285 was a follow-on from the AA class of carriages, the last of those having been numbered 284. The "V" indicated that the carriage was of a vestibule design, with a walk-through connection to the next carriage.
The new carriage was long, and the internal layout was similar to the later E, W and S carriages, having compartments with a side corridor. It was the first passenger carriage to include toilets, which were becoming more important, given the longer journeys that could be undertaken by then.
The arrangement featured six compartments with a vestibule and lavatory at each end of the carriage; the central four compartments could each take six first class passengers in a 3+3 arrangement, and the outer compartments had a three-seat bench on the inner side and a single-seat bench on the outer side of the compartment to make room for the inset lavatory accessible from the end of the car. This gave a net capacity of 32 seated passengers, including 10 smoking and 4 ladies; if looking from the ladies' end to the smoking end, the corridor would be on the left.
With the trial judged a success, construction of carriages 286 and 287 was continued. However, all three cars were renumbered to the AV1-3 series prior to service. By 1898, cars AV 1-7 were all in revenue service, and they were joined by AVs 8-35 by the end of 1899.
Cars 23 and 32 AV had an altered construction, with doors 2 and 5 on each side removed and the space replaced with wider windows. This allowed for two regular compartments in the middle of each carriage, and the outer ends were used as saloons. These saloon compartments featured a single-seat bench at the end, four movable chairs, and a three-seat bench towards the centre of the carriage, giving a total capacity of 28 seats in 32AV; 23AV is recorded as having 30 seats, but this is not reflected in the diagram.https://web.archive.org/web/20150526065056/http://pjv101.net/fts/u01/aa730.jpg
Some of the carriages were used as "joint stock", for running between Melbourne and Adelaide on the Intercolonial Express, and entered that service directly from the production line. The symbol OA class was painted on their frames, although that was never officially recorded. OAs 31, 32, 34 and 35 were AV 31, 26, 5 and 11 in that order. The cars returned to their AV designations in about 1907.
Cars AV 21 and 23 also had some role in Melbourne-Adelaide services, but it is not known whether they were ever recoded.
The carriages were kept in service until the early 1960s, being withdrawn and scrapped between 1962 and 1970. However, a handful of cars were retained, with some being converted for use in the Display Train (see below), and others for heritage operations.
BV
In parallel with the production of the AV class, second class vehicles were also constructed. The same dimensions and general layout were used, with construction lasting through 1898 and 1899. A total of 25 vehicles were built, numbered from BV1 to BV25.
Again, joint stock vehicles were drawn from the class. OBs 33 and 36 were converted from BV's 23 and 6 respectively - however they were never officially recorded as the OB class.
The last use of the class was 18BV in the final run of R766 as a coal burner, from Melbourne to Ballarat on December 19th 1999.
Steamrail Ballarat intended to restore a number of the cars to active heritage status, and to that end 7BV was fitted with a kiosk in one of the compartments.
CV, DV
Usually, when the Victorian Railways developed a new type of passenger car, they also produced a matching guards van. The V series was no different, with DV1 and DV2 being constructed in 1898.
Those vans were fitted with guard's compartments at each end, and had a large baggage area in the centre. Vans 1 and 2 had small side projections known as "duckets", which were used by the guard to peer along the side of the train through narrow windows. That was in lieu of the more regular raised observation compartments, and so CV's 1 and 2 were unique for their era in having flat roofs.