| Background: |
|
| GwL | |
| Yearconstruction: | 1885 to 1906 |
| Numberbuilt: | 258 |
| Code: | PwL bay 96 |
| Fleetnumbers: | DRG nos. from 1923: 8827-8835, 8860-8869, 8899-8911, 8932-8939, 8956-8962, 9038-9855, 9130-9144, 9237-9270, 9357-9365, 9470-9483, 9513-9539, 9610-9624 |
| Carlength: | 8224- |
| Width: | 200frac=8NaNfrac=8 narrower than the 'shorts' (e.g. CL Bay 06b). |
| Wheelbase: | 3630- |
The GwL class vans of the Royal Bavarian State Railways were goods vans built for branch lines in the Kingdom of Bavaria in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The branch lines in Bavaria were generally known as Lokalbahnen, literally "local railways", and were of particularly light construction entailing the use of lightweight rolling stock. Between 1884 and 1906, 258 vans of the class GwL were built for this purpose in a number of batches each with a different designation.[1]
The GwL class were covered vans which had the appearance of Lokalbahn coaching stock, including similar lettering. The vans were had open platforms at both ends. Access to the loading area was either via a pair of hinged doors or a single door in the centre of the side walls. On either side of the doors was a window. The wheelbase of the earliest vans was 3.63 m, but was later increased to 3.8 and eventually 4.5 m. The overall length also increased from 8.224 m to 8.624 m.[1]
The following coaches were also built for the Lokalbahn branch line network: