LZ3103 was originally Western Australian Government Railways L class locomotive L259 built in 1968. Upon privatisation of the Westrail freight operations in 2000 it became part of the Australian Railroad Group (ARG) fleet. It was one of four L class locos overhauled by ARG for use on Alice Springs to Darwin construction trains between 2001-2003. It subsequently saw service with ARG on bulk freight services in NSW before returning to Western Australia following the loss of these contracts. ARG was purchased by the state government owned Queensland Rail in 2006, which was privatised as QR National in 2010. A poor 2010 harvest in Western Australia saw spare QRN locos and wagons transferred to New South Wales for a grain haulage contract in 2011.
LZ3103 was photographed between duties at the Australian Horsepower Service Centre in Goulburn on Saturday 17 December 2011 - the Z stands for its ZTR traction control package.