Z type carriage

Z type carriage
Exterior of a ACZ type carriage
Interior of a first class ACZ carriage
In service	1957–2006 (As Z sets), now used with N sets to provide additional capacity.
Manufacturer	Victorian Railways
Built at	Newport Workshops
Constructed	1957–1966
Entered service	1957
Refurbishment	1983-1995 (conversions to ACZ and general reconditioning); 1998-2013 refurbished to BZN/BTN style carriages; refurbished again from 2008-2016.
Formation	Additional cars for N sets
Operator(s)	V/Line, various heritage operators
Specifications
Car body construction	Steel
Car length	71 ft 6 in (21.79 m) over body, 74 ft 8 in (22.76 m) over coupling points (Sitting cars) 75 ft (22.86 m) over body, 78 ft 2 in (23.83 m) over coupling points (VAM1/SZ287)
Width	9 ft 9 in (2.97 m), 10 ft 1 15⁄16 in (3.10 m) over handrails (AZ, ACZ, BCZ, BZ, BZS, BZN & BTN), 10 ft 5⁄8 in (3.06 m) over handrails (VBK & VFK)
Height	13 ft 2 11⁄16 in (4.03 m) (AZ, ACZ, BCZ, BZ, BZS, BZN & BTN), 13 ft 4 5⁄8 in (4.08 m) (VBK & VFK)
Doors	Manual swing, 2 per side, since upgraded to power-closing
Articulated sections	Rubber corridor connectors
Maximum speed	70 mph (113 km/h)
Power supply	Originally axle-mounted generators, now Head end power
Coupling system	Autocouplers
Track gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm), has operated on 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

71 ft 6 in (21.79 m) over body, 74 ft 8 in (22.76 m) over coupling points (Sitting cars)

The Z type carriages are an air conditioned steel passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. The carriages were constructed by the Victorian Railways from 1957 for use on intrastate services.

Two major types of carriage were constructed - thirteen AZ first class cars with closely spaced but smaller windows, and twelve BZ second class cars with wider spaced but larger windows (the thirteenth BZ entered service on standard gauge). Carriages were provided with a saloon layout, with 2+2 reversible seating provided, with each row lining up with the windows. First class was provided with more legroom than second. An internal partition existed between the two ends of the saloon, but was removed in later years. A single twinette sleeping car was also built in a Z type body shell, entering service in 1963; it had 20 berths.

A number of carriages were placed onto standard gauge bogies from 1962 for use on interstate trains such as the Spirit of Progress. With the end of these trains in the 1980s they were placed back onto the broad gauge. During this time a number of AZ type carriages were provided with conductors work stations / compartments and recoded to ACZ at this time.

The Z type cars were made redundant by the early 1990s with the introduction of the Sprinter railcars, this most of not all Z Sets were broken up, with the formation of West Coast Railway effective Sunday 19 September 1993 to run Melbourne ~ Geelong ~ Warrnambool Passenger Rail Services under contract to the Victorian Governments Dept. of Transport, Carriages: ACZ's: 252, 255, 257 & BZ's: 267, 269, 270 were obtained by West Coast Railway. After the demise of WCR, V/Line reacquired ACZ 252, ACZ 257 & BZ267, with preservation groups such as R707 Operations acquiring ACZ 255 & BZ 270 & Steamrail Victoria acquiring BZ 269.