OCX/OCY/NQOX/NQOY 3 TEU Container Wagon

 

(If you can supply a good,” sunny-side” photo of an OCX or OCY in new condition please contact the site owner)

 

The 560 OCX/OCY wagons, supplied in nine contracts from 1969 to 1975, were the standard NSW 3 TEU (~60’) wagon. There were differences between the wagons supplied under most contracts, nevertheless the wagons were sufficiently similar to be allocated only two codes. They were solid decked wagons designed to take three 6.1 m (20’) ISO containers. The containers were held with corner brackets.

 

Builders:

 

-                     Tulloch Limited supplied the first contract of 30 wagons numbered 14551 – 14580 (1969)

-                     Tulloch also supplied the second and third contract wagons (14581 – 14610, 14611 – 14640 respectivly) in 1970 -72

-                     The fourth contract wagons were supplied by Commonwealth Engineering (50 wagons numbered 14901 – 14950, delivered in 1973 – 75)

-                     Tulloch Ltd delivered the fifth contract wagons in 1973 – 75 (50 wagons numbered 14951 – 15000)

-                     Under the sixth contract Tulloch Ltd delivered 100 wagons numbered 34401 – 34500 in 1974 –75

-                     A Goninan supplied 100 wagons numbered 34301 – 34400, also in 1974 –75

-                     Commonwealth Engineering built 70 wagons numbered 150001 – 70 in 1974 –75

-                     The last 100 wagons were built by A Goninan in 1975 and were numbered 34951 - 35050

 

Length: 19.2 m             Tare:                21 t (OCX), 24 t (OCY)          Capacity:          55 t (OCX), 52 t (OCY)                      Gross:  76 t

 

Bogies:             OCX XFA and other exchange types, OCY 2CM(YCM)

 

Coding:

-                     Wagons of the first three contracts (90 wagons) were coded OCX when delivered, the others were delivered as OCY. There has been some interchange between the groups, particularly with fourth and fifth contract wagons being given exchangeable bogies and recoded OCX or, more recently, being given ordinary 3-piece bogies and recoded NQOF.

-                     With the introduction of the four-letter code, the OCX wagons became NQOX and OCY became NQOY.

-                     Many of the wagons have been modified and recoded subsequently (see below)

-                     Most wagons of the 15000, 34000 and 35000, and a few of the 14900, series were transferred to NRC in 1994 – 95 however they had been modified and recoded by that date.

-                     Many wagons of the first three contracts, and a few from the fourth and fifth, have been recoded NQPY but the extent of modifications leading to the change is unclear.

 

Colour Scheme:

-                     The OCX wagons were introduced in gunmetal lacquer, the OCYs in PTC blue.

-                     Some wagons were repainted in the SRA red following maintenance, but most were not repainted until they underwent conversion (and in a great many cases not even then).

-                     Some NQPY wagons have been painted yellow for Sunrice traffic

 

Further Modifications:

-                     Many of the wagons have undergone significant modification. According to the ARTC General Instructions, wagons of the following codes, all with OCX/OCY ancestry, still exist: NQGY, NQOF, NQOX, NQOY, NQPY, NQSY, RQBY, RQGY, RQSY, RRSY.

-                     Most, possibly all, of the 34000 and 35000 series wagons were modified and recoded as the NQSY and NQGY wagons in 1989 - 92. Many of the 15000 series wagons were modified and recoded NQBY (via a brief stint as NQSYs) at about the same time. Some of these have been recoded again and now carry the RQSY or RQGY code. Many of the 14900 series carry the NQOF, NQOY and NQPY codes and are used primarily within NSW, often under lease to private operators, while others have the “R” initial letter (RQSY and RQGY) and are seen on interstate trains.

-                     Many (most?) former OCXs now carry the NQPY code. The NQPY wagons still have their equipment boxes, decks and corner brackets but the codeboard indicates the fitting of a choke.

-                     There has been some level of recoding within the RQxY classes. The RQBY and RQSY groups appear to have lost members in recent years while the RQGY group has grown.

 

Operation:

-           In the last twenty years the 15000, 34000 and 35000 series wagons have been used primarily in interstate intermodal traffic (both before and after modification). The NQOX wagons have tended to be used on intrastate services such as the Griffith and Dubbo Speedfreights and the shipment of flour for the Manildra Group. Duties of the 14900 series NQOY wagons are less clear but they were not common on interstate trains and may have been pooled with the NQOXs..

 

Modelling:

Rails North produced an epoxy (later polyurethane) model of the 30000 series OCY/NQOY but it is no longer available

Casula Hobbies have a polystyrene OCY/NQOY in their Silvermaz range

AR Kits have a polystyrene kit of the OCX/NQOX (second contract?)

Powerline have used the Silvermaz OCY/NQOY, with different bogies and underframe modifications to accept the plug-in bogies, in their Freightline range.

 

 

NQOF 14904-P (on right) and another from the same contract, Boggabri, 11/8/2005. Roger Jones

 

 

NQPY 14579-G still has the appearance of an NQOX, Boggabri, 11/8/2005   Roger Jones

 

 

Damaged NQOY 34326-B has been removed from a train at Yarrabandai in August 1990. The wagon was repaired and

about a year later converted to an RQSY. The container anchors are evident, as is the full deck.            Roger Jones

 

 

Underframe detail of NQOX 14618S, Nov 1997                                             Roger Jones