Commonwealth Railways
This version features RMX wagon as ran between 1975-1980 and was operated by CR/ANR
 This version features AQMX wagon as ran between 1979-1991 and was operated by AN
Australian National
This version features AQMX wagon as ran between 1981-1991 and was operated by AN
This version features AQSY wagon as ran between 1985-1994 and was operated by AN
National Rail
This version features RQKY wagon as ran from 1994 to present and was operated by NRC
National Rail/Pacific National
This version features RQKY wagon as ran from 1994 to present and was operated by NRC/PN
This version features RQMF/Y wagon as ran from 1994 to present and was operated by NRC/PN
This version features RCJY wagon with coil steel cradles as ran from 1994 to present and was operated by NRC/PN
QR National
This version features QQJY wagon as ran from 2008 to present operated by QRN
Pacific National
This version features RCJY/RQKY wagons as ran from 2005 to present operated by PN
SCT
This version features PQFY wagon operated by SCT
RMX CONTAINER WAGON – PROTOTYPE INFORMATION A massive total of 455 RM and RMX flat deck wagons were built for the Commonwealth Railways and Australian National Railways between 1969 and 1977. No less than 4 rollingstock manufacturers were used to supply these wagons into the Standard Gauge fleet, in 8 various batches. Built with a solid deck 63ft deck, these wagons were ideal for hauling all kinds of freight. Over the years, they carried cars, trucks, rail, containers, and could also be fitted with stanchions. 70 of the RM wagons
were delivered with high speed Aligned Bogies.
The remainder of the fleet, being mainly RMX type wagons,
were delivered with exchangeable 50t bogies, allowing the wagons
to operate on both the Standard Gauge and Broad Gauge networks
from In 1979, the ROA introduced the new wagon classification system, and the wagons with the Aligned bogies became the AQPY class, and the bogie exchangeable fleet became the AQMX class. Australian National was always showing initiative, and regularly testing different components on wagons, and improved wagons if the testing was successful. They also embraced new standards, and usually recoded wagons to suit the standards. From 1985 through to 1991, the majority of AQMX wagons were upgraded and had constant contact side bearers fitted to the bogies. This allowed them to travel at 110km/h, rather than the usual 80km/h. Once converted, the wagons were coded AQSY. In 1988, the AQPY class was reclassified to the AQMP class, as the suffix Y represented high speed bogie exchangeable wagons. The P suffix showed that the wagon was not bogie exchangeable, yet still high speed. 70t bogies made an appearance in 1991, and more than 50 wagons were converted from 50t bogies, to the larger 70t bogies with constant contact side bearers. The AQMX wagons were recoded to AQMY. 18 AQMP wagons (formerly AQPY) had their Aligned bogies replaced in 1993, with standard high speed 50t bogies. They were recoded AQSY, as they were now the same as the upgraded AQMX wagons. The removed Aligned bogies were fitted to AMRZ and AMIY car carriers. Twelve months earlier, several AQMP wagons were recoded to AQMZ for carrying vehicles on the Indian Pacific and Ghan. Both the AMRZ and AQMZ still operate on these services now owned by GSR. A requirement for
wagons to be captive on Port Pirie to During the 1980s and 1990s, AN modified a number of wagons, and as a result, there was quite a range of wagon codes. A few examples of these are:
In 1994, National Rail emerged, as a national intermodal rail operator. The majority of container wagons from Australian National were passed into the ownership of National Rail, and wagons were given the prefix R. All remaining AQMP wagons as well as all AQSY wagons were recoded to RQKY, and the AQMY wagons recoded to RQMY. All AQQY wagons remained with Australian National, who were then purchased by Australian Southern Railroad in 1997. National Rail upgraded some RQKY wagons with 70t bogies, and recoded them to RQMF, as they were not high speed. Any wagons that were not fitted with IBC (twistlock) plates were upgraded. This all occurred in 1995. In the early 2000s, a large proportion of the RQKY fleet were modified with new twistlock points fitted, allowing a 40ft container to be placed in the middle of the wagon. This allowed the weight of the container to be spread evenly over both bogies, especially when double stacked. These wagons were recoded RRKY. A requirement to move
reefer container between The fleet of RM and
RMX type wagons remained pretty consistent from 2002-2005.
National Rail, and their new owner Pacific National
operated the majority of wagons predominately in intermodal
traffic. ARG
utilized their fleet in intermodal traffic also, generally
running between between 2006 saw the sale of
the Western Australian operations of ARG to Queensland Rail.
The South Australian operations became Genesee & Wyoming
Australia (GWA).
About 10 AQQY and the 6 AEQY wagons were passed to QR, and the
remaining 60 or so AQQY wagons were retained by GWA for
operations within An ACC ruling against
Pacific National, forced wagons to be sold to competitors.
In 2007 ‘Starter Pack’ 1 and 2 were sold to SCT and QR
respectively. In
relation to the RM and RMX wagon classes, Starter Pack 1
contained 50 RQMY wagons.
Starter Pack 2 contained around 115 RQKY/RRKY wagons and
less than 10 RQMY wagons.
These starter packs left Pacific National with around 150
RQKY/RRKY wagons remaining in intermodal traffic, and a dozen or
so RQMF/RQMY wagons in Steelink traffic.
They also retained at least 9 RQKY wagons converted to
RCJY wagons, which were fitted with two ‘jumbo coil’ cradles.
The Pacific National fleet can be seen SCT placed some wagons
straight into traffic, while other were stored.
In March 2008, 33 wagons were transferred to The wagons SCT placed
in traffic were quickly split into three categories.
Inline Fuel wagon, container wagon, and timber wagon.
The Inline fuel wagons were fitted with 2 large ISO tank-tainers.
Initially, these RQMY wagons were stock standard, however
they are progressively being upgraded with strengthened draft
gear, a new coat of red paint, and a recoding to PQFY.
The container wagons are being recoded PQMY, yet none
have been sighted by September 2008.
The timber wagons are quite interesting.
They have had tie rails added to the side sill, and a
large bulk head at each end of the wagon.
In June 2008, RQMY 3064 was noted as being modified and
painted red. Future
modified timber wagons will be coded PQTY.
All the SCT wagons run between QR acquired their
Starter Pack just in time for their first train to
Recoding started in
2008 as wagons were overhauled and serviced.
The code change process to date has been quite slow,
although by the end of 2008, it is expected that at least half
the fleet will have been recoded.
QR operate these wagons predominately on the When delivered, the RM and RMX wagons were Commonwealth Railways red, with CR stenciled on them. Many were repainted in Australian National green and yellow in the 1980s. The majority of the fleet have not seen a paintbrush for at least a decade, with quite a few still wearing the CR red, complete with logo. National Rail painted at least one RQKY in light grey with orange, and SCT are now painting RQMY derivatives in bright red. QR are yet to paint any wagons, although repaired derailment victims may come out sporting a new livery very shortly. The design varies slightly across the 8 batches. The major variation is the cut outs in the side sill belly. One small initial order or 35 wagons feature large oval cut outs, similar to the RO wagon being built around the same time. The other 7 batches feature square cut outs. 4 of the earlier batches feature large square cut outs along the side sill belly, were as the last 3 batches features similar square cuts outs, although some cut outs were not as large in size as the early batches. The brake gear arrangement altered slightly between batches also. From a humble start with the Commonwealth/Australian National Railways owning all 455 RM and RMX type wagons, the fleet is now more spread than ever before. In 2007 the fleet was split between:
It should also be noted that wagons from the above owners have been leased to various other operators including Freightlink, Southern & Silverton, and El Zorro. These wagons could possibly be the widest spread wagon in Australia. RMX CONTAINER WAGON – PROTOTYPE PHOTOS
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