The Queensland Railways ordered two different types of steel bodied air-conditioned carriage stock, both built by Commonwealth Engineering at their Rocklea plant.

In January 1950, Queensland Railways awarded a contract for 99 steel bodied carriages to Commonwealth Engineering, Rocklea.

These were purchased to operate the Lander series of trains, The Inlander, The Midlander, The Sunlander and The Westlander entering service between 1953 and 1955.

Subsequent orders added an additional: In 2007 as well as 2010, Queensland Rail projected that the 30 remaining L series carriages could operate for a further 15 years, pending refurbishment.

[8] With The Sunlander withdrawn, this allowed The Inlander, Spirit of the Outback and The Westlander to be converted to L series stock.