[1] In 1887 four vans, numbers 6, 7, 8 and 16, were fitted with long bars inside the roof, for the purpose of hanging meat while being transported.
As four-wheeled wagons were not always sufficient to handle the large amount of traffic needed, a fleet of bogie box vans with thick insulation was also developed.
Initially, refrigeration was achieved by having slots in the sides and ends of the wagons, allowing airflow when the train was moving.
From 1941 they gained high-speed bogies for express train running, and in 1956 15 and 18 were recoded to TP, then to BP only a year later (TT 16 went on to become a BB van).
A highly successful experiment was made yesterday by the Mutual Store Company, under the direction of Messrs. Stevens and Kelt, with one of the recently constructed refrigerating railway cars.
The car was attached to the 10.40 a.m. goods train, and ranged up alongside the Valetta at the Williamstown railway pier by 11 o'clock, when transfer of the contents into the ships refrigerating room was commenced.
The vans were kept cool by their insulation, as well as a 2-foot-1-inch (635 mm) deep well suspended from the roof of the wagon, which was filled with salted, crushed ice at Melbourne Yard on a regular basis (What a Journey - Tom Yates).
The vans were painted in standard VR wagon red, but their roofs were in a lighter brown; this was probably to make them stand out in consists when being viewed from above.
When these conversions took place, the six-wheeled vans lost their middle axles and TFM wagons were converted back to standard T design.
Van 422 was of a different design to the other 49 wagons in this batch, with thinner walls and internal bracing to compensate; this could have been a trial or caused by material shortages.
Other wagons of note are T 13 and 36 which were destroyed in a fire at the Government Cool Stores in 1937, T 6, which became wagon H1 for way and works fumigation in 1954, Ts 29, 167 and 181 which apparently swapped identities a few times, 20-34 with a coconut fibre floor, 35-40 with Luplan's Carbo Paint from new and 41-48 which were painted in Zinc White when new, T 103 which became a workmans' sleeper in 1957, Ts 140 and 143 which swapped identities in 1960, HD 217 and 222 which were converted to HD 238 and HD 239 respectively, T 304 which was converted to flat wagon K2 in 1978, HR 5 in 1980 and HZE 231 in 1985 and T 444 and 463 which had their floors modified for palletised butter traffic in February 1971.
As the Victorian Railways lost its hold on the freight market the use of the vans declined, and by the mid-1970s many had been sold or scrapped with 79 underframes converted to KMQ flat wagons for container use.
In 1958 two wagons, T 297 and 283, had passenger bogies added and were renumbered to TP 1 and 2, for express running from Melbourne to Mildura on the "fruity".
When they first entered service, the iced wagon fleet was painted white with black text and underframe, and silver roofs.