544ZL

ID/Name: 544ZL
Type:  Guards Van
Description: 6 Wheel Guards Van
Built: 1918
Status: In Operation

HERITAGE

The design of 544ZL dates from 1889, however it can be traced to back further to when the first guards van with a raised copula at one end was introduced on the Victorian Railways in 1863.

Built in 1918 by private contractors as 544Z, it represents one of the most common vehicles on the Victorian Railways with every goods train having a Z van at the end, along with many mixed trains (goods and passenger combined) on the branchlines.

In the early 1950s a wood/coal stove was provide to all the Z vans, the guards having complained for decades about no heating except for their kerosene lamps. Sometime in the period 1959-65, it, along with 370 of its class makes were converted into ZL vans, the L indicating that they had been fitted with long shank couplers in an attempt to lesson the shock guards experienced when the ‘slack’ was taken up starting a long train.

As this required the body to be lifted off the frame, the opportunity was taken to undertake repairs at the same time, meaning sometimes the underframe was finished prior to the body, so any body that was ready was put on any underframe.

This happened to 544ZL, as it sits on 60Zs underframe.

As the branchlines were closed in the 1970s and local goods services lost to road traffic the need for Z vans diminished. This was hastened with the transition of rail freight to fast interstate services or large block grain and containers traffic in Victoria, which saw the removal of guards and guards vans from all goods trains in 1985.

544ZL then make its way to Daylesford Railway in 1986 where it has under 2 significant rebuilds and restored with many original features.