Parcel Van 3903 Exterior

The exterior of Parcel Van 3903 at the Eveleigh Paint Shop is photographed from the side, showing the full length of the van's solid-sided body. The number 3903 is lettered in white block capitals about a third of the way along the body, with the NSW Government Railways class designation set above it. Two pairs of large sliding doors are set into the centre and rear of the side, each pair spanning roughly a third of the body length. The doors run on overhead tracks anchored to the body framing. Door pulls are heavy steel D-handles. The roof carries the standard ventilator pattern down the centre line. The riveted body panels are visible along the lower half of the side, painted in the freight-stock heritage scheme.

Parcel Van 3903 was one of the freight-and-parcels vans operated by NSW Government Railways on long-distance and country services for decades. The van's sliding-door arrangement allowed quick loading and unloading at station stops, with the doors wide enough for a hand-trolley and the load deck level with the platform. Vans of this class ran behind the locomotives and ahead of the passenger fleet on most consists. After the rationalisation of NSW long-distance services through the 1980s and 1990s, vans like 3903 were retired. The van is held at the Eveleigh Paint Shop as part of the rolling-stock heritage collection.