NZR FM guards van

The New Zealand FM guards van is a rail vehicle in New Zealand originally used on freight trains but now used primarily on passenger trains, reclassified AG.

In the mid-1970s NZR had a need for new guards vans for new vans for both freight and moderately fast passenger and express freight services, to replace old and increasingly decrepit vans, most of the existing vans were built before 1946, including passenger express vans, post war construction being only two batches of 35/30 in 1955 and 1963-67.Cabinet works approval for made for the Van order on 15/5/73 and NZR GM T M Small made a second request for Cabinet Works Committee approval on 15/8/74, but no work was made on design until 1975 due to the fact the NZR design staff were preoccupied with design of the Wagons and the reconstruction of the Northerner express. The first order for 56 FM vans was approved in the last Cabinet meeting of the Rowling, Labour Government on 18/11/1975 for 4.32 million, officially on Treasury report 1624, 3.4 million being applied to the overseas constructed basic van imported from Japan They were built by Mitsubishi, and were the first all-steel vans. The body was composed of three modules that could be detached from the underframe: a central module, classed GM (guard's module), which contained the guard's office,five first class seats and facilities; and two outer modules, classed LM (luggage module), for freight and luggage. The idea was that should a module become damaged in service it can be removed for repairs and replaced with another, allowing the van to return to service sooner than otherwise would have been the case. It was because of these modules that the vans were given the FM classification, as opposed to the traditional F designation given to all previous NZR guards vans. The FM also pioneered the X28020 bogie, now used under New Zealand's long-distance passenger fleet. The first batch was very well received by guards. Fifty-six were built, and in 1976 an order was placed for an additional 17. The vans were not however entirely appreciated as the passenger train crews on the large crewed prestige trains preferred the old 56 ft passenger vans and the luggage and van space on the Fm vans was not adequate for carriage and fast transfer of mail at parcels from express freight trains at intermediate stations requiring extra ZA vans having to be used for highly profitable mail and parcels on many North Island express freigths and the Northerner.

For a time, New Zealand Railways toyed with the idea of smaller vans at the ends of freight trains. This was achieved by positioning an FM G M (Guards' Module) onto an NH-class high speed four-wheeled flat deck wagon, classified FX. FX 399 was the first of these, and was later reclassified FH 16. The end result, however, was an uncomfortable ride for Guards and only three FH were commissioned, and were taken out of service within a year. FH 16 is now part of the Ferrymead Railway fleet of rolling stock as a support vehicle for W 192 as non-revenue E 8362.

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