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ZP with buffers as was the case for intermediate rollingstock.


Rollingstock


Z guard's van

The Victorian Railways proceeded to reclassify rollingstock in 1910, with the original 'D' classed guard's vans being reclassified as 'Z' guard's vans. Later on, many of these vans would have various conversions made for different purposes, such as dual couplers, heavier weight, even as far as having the fixed wheels removed and replaced with bogies.

To the right is an SEM kit with the 'ZL' coding applied. ZL wagons featured a longer shank coupler and draft gear to try and eliminate a whip effect caused by slack in the train1. They were converted during the 1950s and '60s.

The wagon below is a 'ZP' type, featuring buffers for its intended purpose. Although the VR was quick to implement the auto-coupler conversion program, some passenger stock still remained without. As a result, an intermediate wagon needed to be placed between three-link fitted stock and the new diesel electrics


Standard Z guard's van.

which didn't feature dual couplers as their steam engine predecessors did. As a result, the Z vans so fitted with dual couplers and used as the intermediate vehicle were coded 'ZP'2.

Many of these ZP vans were also painted in the passenger car red colour scheme of the passenger cars they complimented, as opposed to the wagon red worn by the majority of goods traffic vans.

This SEM kit is an injection moulded styrene kit, and includes decals, wheelsets, extensive instructions and diagrams. The modeller needs to supply their own couplers and paint (also available from SEM).

Due to the six-wheel nature of the van, it cannot negotiate curves much smaller than about 20" in

radius. As a result, these wagons have been built with a 'floating' centre axle. The axle boxes of the middle axle do not feature bearings as the others do, allowing for lateral movement, and, therefore tighter operating curves. It also eliminates any potential seesaw effect from incorrectly aligned wheels.