1 NPH was built and issued to traffic June 1910. Its purpose was to carry explosives and general goods. There were two compartments: a 10ft 8¾ inch (3,270 mm) section for explosives and a 13 ft 7 in (4,140 mm) section for general goods.
The sides, ends and doors were covered in sheet metal. The van was stationed on the Moe – Walhalla line. Walhalla was a gold mining town and the rail line had been built from Moe to provide a faster means of transportation than bullock teams from the sailing boats from Melbourne to Port Albert/Sale via Heyfield.
In 1911 the van was converted to all goods transport and recoded to NH. With the closing of the mines at Walhalla the need to carry explosives ended and both compartments were used for general goods. The doors were replaced with NU type louvre doors for ventilation.
At Wombat Creek the wagon is classed 11 NH (will be changed to NPH) instead of 1 NH. The reason for the extra ‘1’ is the classification system at the gold mines. Passenger carrying vehicles have one digit. Freight wagons have two digits. First digit ‘1’ for covered wagons and first digit ‘2’ for open wagons.
