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RESTORED MORTUARY
CARRIAGE
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| Still well serviced
by rail, Fawkner Crematorium & Memorial Park was originally geared
to rail transportation. From 1906 to 1939, special trains of one first
class carriage, two second class carriages and a guards' van were
used to convey mourners. Bringing up the rear was the "hearse
car" or "mortuary carriage" bearing the coffins. |
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Six of these "mortuary carriages"
were built at the Newport railway workshops in the early 1900s.
It was believed that by 1952 all carriages had been sold for scrap,
but in 1990 three were located on properties at Kerrie and Meredith.
Although stripped of brass fittings and in poor repair, one of these
carriages has now been fully restored.
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| Completed in 1993, over
2000 hours of labour were required for the restoration. Restorers
were fortunate to find original design drawings and, with reference
to these and sample brass fittings, completed a highly accurate job.
The design of the carriage is both somberly stylish and functional.
Coffins were placed behind louvered doors giving pallbearers access
from two sides, while adjacent compartments with plain doors held
wreaths and floral tributes. This historic vehicle is today on view
at the cemetery, close to the Tea rooms and Fawkner railway station.
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