In service 1953-2014 Constructed 1953-1955 | Built at Rocklea Number built 99 | |
Manufacturer | ||
Two types of steel bodied air-conditioned carriage stock have been used on long distance Queensland Rail services.
Contents
M series
In January 1950, Queensland Railways awarded a contract for 99 steel bodied carriages to Commonwealth Engineering, Rocklea. These were purchased to operate the Lander series of trains, The Inlander, The Midlander, The Sunlander and The Westlander entering service between 1953 and 1955.
The original order of 99 cars was for:
In 2007 as well as 2010, Queensland Rail projected that the 80 remaining M series carriages would have to be removed from service by December 2013. With the replacement of The Sunlander by the Spirit of Queensland, the M series carriages were retired in December 2014.
Five (MBC1449, MBS1483, MAS1501, MBL1506 & MBLM1526) were purchased by the DownsSteam Tourist Railway & Museum. MBS1473 has been preserved at Cecil Plains railway museum at the former railway station.
Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway at Swanbank were gifted six coaches upon the retirement of M class from Queensland Rail. The coaches gifted were:
Four of these coaches have now undergone work to return them to traffic as the Queensland Pioneer Dinner train over the 7km scenic railway and are spotting the original Blue and white livery the coaches first wore in 1953.
L series
Between October 1981 and October 1985, Comeng built a further 30 carriages. These were built out of stainless steel.
The original order was for 5 x LBL class second class sitting cars (48 seats).
Subsequent orders added an additional:
In 2007 as well as 2010, Queensland Rail projected that the 30 remaining L series carriages could operate for a further 15 years, pending refurbishment. In July 2014, tenders were called to reconfigure 11 L series carriages. With The Sunlander withdrawn, this allowed The Inlander, Spirit of the Outback and The Westlander to be converted to L series stock.