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 K 88 at The Plains Railway in 2013. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The NZR K class of 1877 was the first example of American-built locomotives to be used on New Zealand's rail network. [1] Their success coloured locomotive development in New Zealand until the end of steam.
In 1877, the new Chief Mechanical Engineer of the NZR, Allison D. Smith, required additional motive power for the fledgling Government system. It had been intended to order more J Class locomotives that were of English design. American civil engineer Walton W. Evans had been promoting the advantages of U.S.-built engines to railways of South America and further abroad. His efforts, having secured an order of two locomotives for Australia's Victorian Railways the previous year, [2] had enticed Smith (see Vogel railways), and an order was placed with the Rogers Locomotive Works of New Jersey, for two tender locomotives with a wheel arrangement of 2-4-2. The initial two Rogers locos were ordered prior to Smith’s appointment as Locomotive Engineer on 10 April 1877 (he had been manager of the Wellington section), and were ordered through Evans. The locomotives were described by R.D. Grant as having the design hallmarks of Roger's Superintendent William H. Hudson, with his truck design innovations and his patented compensated springing throughout from the front bissel truck to the driving wheel springs and to the rear swinging truck. [3]
Upon their arrival to New Zealand, the locomotives created quite a stir with their bar frames, Gothic-style wooden cabs, locomotive bell, ornate embellishments and, rakish appearances which were at odds with the traditional English locomotive appearance in New Zealand at the time and were described by journalist Charles Rous-Marten as "a watch with all its works outside". [4] One Christchurch paper suggested that they needed a glass case to protect them from the weather. [1] They looked flimsy because of the bar frames rather than the heavier plate frames of the Js. [5] In addition, this first pair, K 87 "Lincoln" and K 88 "Washington", reputedly wore a kaleidoscope of colours – green, blue, yellow, red, purple, and gold in addition to their Russian Iron boiler jackets. The Baldwin and Rogers locomotives reflected the styling adopted in the 1870s by American builders with elements from the Renaissance Revival and Neo-Baroque architectural styles, and with Islamic Moorish (from Alhambra) influences. Bold colours and painted decorations were used. [6]
After arrival in the South Island at Lyttelton, the locomotives were quickly put into service. K 87 "Lincoln" quickly distinguished itself by hauling the first bogie-carriage passenger train, and both the locomotives soon earned a reputation as fast and free runners, with mild coal consumption. K 88 "Washington" hauled the first train between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1878 on the just-completed Main South Line, [7] assisted by the Double Fairlie "Josephine" south of Oamaru until "Josephine" had to be taken off the train due to mechanical issues - caused by how K 88 was being driven by its driver. Six more of the class was ordered from the Rogers Locomotive Works, numbered from 92 through 97 before K's 87 and 88 had entered service - the former being ordered in January 1878 [8] while the latter entered service in March 1878, such was Allison Smiths faith in the type of engine he had ordered. Allison Smiths faith was well placed with railway authorities regarding the first two K's as "infinitely superior to the English locomotives" [8] in operation during the same period. The second batch of locomotives entered service in the South Island and contained almost no differences to the first two, albeit they were not given names and there is no record of them wearing the same kaleidoscope livery (it is likely K 87 and K 88 had been repainted by this time also). In 1883, due to its design characteristics, the K class was the only class of engine officially permitted to run at 35 miles per hour in ordinary service. [9]
As more powerful locomotives arrived on the railway system, increasingly of American origin from Baldwin, the K class became relegated from the top expresses and cascaded down to express trains on secondary lines. Two of the K's, K 93 and K 96, were transferred to the North Island during this time. Beginning just after 1900 the class started receiving new NZR-built boilers to replace their Rogers-built wagon-top boiler. The South Island locomotives gained boilers of a Belpaire design, while the North Island pair received round-top boilers. All the new boilers were pressed to 160psi, an increase over the original boiler's 130psi. By this time all the locomotives had received Westinghouse brake equipment also. It was during this time that some of the K class, having been relegated to the Kingston-Gore branch, began earning a reputation for the Kingston-Invercargill express train which earned the name "Kingston Flyer". [1]
The days of the K class in service were over during the 1920s. Both the North Island examples, plus K 87 "Lincoln" had been withdrawn as early as 1922. The others managed to linger on for a few more years yet, with the last two, K 92 and K 95, not withdrawn until 1927. As was customary at the time, the locomotives were set aside pending disposal, whatever form that may have taken. [10] All remaining South Island class members lasted long enough to be dumped as embankment protection, something which began in 1926.
Three of the Rogers K class have so far been exhumed and entered into preservation. The first and most notable of these locomotives is K 88 Washington, which was exhumed from its river grave by the Southland Vintage Car Club on 19 and 20 January 1974. There were a number of loose plans regarding the locomotive's future but these came to nothing. The locomotive wreck was threatened with being pushed back into the river until The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum came up with ambitious plans to restore it back to working order. Beginning in July 1974, they achieved this goal in on the 7 November 1981 proving that the restoration of exhumed locomotives was possible. It was recommissioned on the 25 November the following year. However, on 24 September 1987 the boiler of K 88 (which was the boiler that it had been recovered from the Oreti River with) was condemned, and it was not until 30 March 2002 that K 88 was once again in working order, this time with a new Belpaire-style all-welded boiler and wearing an interpretation of the kaleidoscope colours. [11]
The other two locomotives exhumed so far are K 94, exhumed by a private owner and moved to The Plains Railway on 21 April 1986. It is in storage in an un-restored state with no active plans for restoration. And K 92, recovered in 1985 by the Fiordland Vintage Machinery Club for their Museum's railway venture on the shores of Lake Te Anau. Partially restored in Te Anau the venture fell through before the locomotive had been fully completed and subsequently the locomotive was put up for sale, with the restoration being completed in Dunedin. Purchased by Colin Smith in 1998, the locomotive's restoration was completed and it is intended to recreate the old "Kingston Flyer" trains of the early 1900s at the Waimea Plains Railway. While waiting for the railway to be completed, K 92 has visited a number of railways in the South Island, with some of the more notable visits being those to the Kingston Flyer, an old haunt for K 92 where it triple headed with the two AB class locomotives resident there, and also a visit to the Plains, home of K 88, where both locomotives were used together extensively.
The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It used 14 kilometres of preserved track that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch. Originally, Kingston Flyer was a passenger express train between Kingston, Gore, Invercargill, and less frequently, Dunedin. It was operated by the New Zealand Railways (NZR) from the 1890s to 1957. In 1971, NZR revitalised the service as a tourist venture, later leasing the locomotives and rolling stock in 1982 to a private company. Since then, the Kingston Flyer has been through a number of owners, most recently being owned by the Kingston Flyer Ltd. A group of volunteers has restored the railway, rolling stock and locomotives to service. In July 2021 the Kingston Flyer received resource consent to operate, initially for tour groups.
The New Zealand F class was the first important class of steam locomotive built to operate on New Zealand's railway network after the national gauge of 3 ft 6 in was adopted. The first locomotives built for the new gauge railways were two E class double Fairlies for the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway Company. The F class was the first class ordered by the central government, and between 1872 and 1888, a total of eighty-eight members of the class were constructed.
The NZR A class were a class of steam locomotives built in 1906 with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement for the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). The class should not be confused with the older and more obscure A class of 1873. They were designed by the NZR's Chief Mechanical Engineer, A. L. Beattie and his Chief Draughtsman, G. A. Pearson to replace less powerful locomotives struggling with increasing loads on the South Island Main Trunk Railway, and in anticipation of the traffic volumes that would be created upon the completion of the North Island Main Trunk railway.
The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum is a heritage railway and recreated historic village in the Tinwald Domain, Tinwald, New Zealand. The railway runs on approximately three kilometres of rural railway line that was once part of the Mount Somers Branch. The village and railway are open regularly to the public. The railway utilises preserved and restored locomotives and rolling stock once used on New Zealand's national railway network, while the village shows visitors how life was lived in New Zealand's pioneering past.
The NZR AB class was a class of 4-6-2 Pacific tender steam locomotive that operated on New Zealand's national railway system for New Zealand Railways (NZR). Originally an improvement on the 1906 A class, 141 were built between 1915 and 1927 by NZR's Addington Workshops, A & G Price of Thames, New Zealand, and North British Locomotive Company, making the AB class the largest class of steam locomotives ever to run in New Zealand. An additional eleven were rebuilt from the tank version of the AB – the WAB class – between 1947 and 1957. Two North British-made locomotives were lost in the wreck of the SS Wiltshire in May 1922.
The N class were 12 steam locomotives that operated on the national rail network of New Zealand. They were built in three batches, including one batch of two engines for the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, the WMR, by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1885, 1891, and 1901. Previously the N class designation had been applied between 1877 and 1879 to Lady Mordaunt, a member of the B class of 1874.
The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Trust is a charitable trust based in Wellington, New Zealand, and is actively restoring former Wellington and Manawatu Railway locomotive No.9, to full working order.
The NZR E class of Double Fairlie steam locomotives were two different types of Fairlie steam locomotives, used on New Zealand's railway network.
The NZR B class of 1899 was a class of steam locomotives that operated on New Zealand's national rail network. An earlier B class of Double Fairlies had entered service in 1874, but as they had departed from the ownership of the New Zealand Railways (NZR) by the end of 1896, the B classification was free to be re-used. Despite early difficulties, they were amongst NZR's most influential designs.
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was corporatised on 1 April 1982 into the New Zealand Railways Corporation. Originally, railway construction and operation took place under the auspices of the former provincial governments and some private railways, before all of the provincial operations came under the central Public Works Department. The role of operating the rail network was subsequently separated from that of the network's construction. From 1895 to 1993 there was a responsible Minister, the Minister of Railways. He was often also the Minister of Public Works.
The NZR JA class were a type of 4-8-2 steam locomotive used on the New Zealand railway network. The class was built in two batches, the first batch was built at Dunedin's Hillside Workshops between 1946 and 1956 and the second batch by the North British Locomotive Works in 1951. To distinguish between the batches, locomotives are identified by their maker.
The NZR K class of 1932 was a class of mixed traffic 4-8-4 steam locomotives built by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) that operated on New Zealand's railway network. The locomotives were developed following the failure of the G class Garratt locomotives. The class should not be confused with the much earlier K class of 1877-78, the first American-built engines to arrive in New Zealand.
The NZR G class was a type of Garratt steam locomotive used in New Zealand, later rebuilt as Pacific type locomotives. They were the only Garratt type steam locomotives ever used by the New Zealand Railways (NZR). They were ordered to deal with traffic growth over the heavy gradients of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and to do away with the use of banking engines on steep grades. They were one of the few Garratt designs to employ six cylinders. A mechanical stoker was used to feed coal into the locomotive.
The NZR J class steam locomotives were a type of 4-8-2 steam locomotive built for the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) and used on the New Zealand railway network. Built by the North British Locomotive Works, although designed to work on the lighter secondary lines the class was frequently used on mainline express passenger trains as well as freight. The class first appeared in distinctive streamlining, which was later removed from 1947 onwards for maintenance reasons. The class should not be confused with the earlier 1874 J class. Three J class lasted until the end of steam-hauled services on 26 October 1971, three locomotives of the forty built have been preserved.
The NZR KB class of 1939 was a class of six mixed traffic steam locomotives built for New Zealand Railways Department (NZR), that operated on New Zealand's railway network. After the success of the K class, the KB class were built to meet the increasing traffic demands on the Midland Line in the South Island. The locomotives had a wheel arrangement of 4-8-4 and first appeared with distinctive streamlining, mainly to hide their ACFI feedwater systems.
NZR D class steam tank locomotives operated on New Zealand's national railway network. The first entered service in 1874 all had been withdrawn by the end of 1927, which allowed the D classification to be used again in 1929.
The NZR W class consisted of two steam locomotives built at the Addington Railway Workshops in Christchurch, New Zealand by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). They were the first locomotives to be built by NZR.
The New Zealand V class steam locomotive was used on New Zealand's railway network from 1885 onwards. They were operated by New Zealand Government Railways and the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company.
Branxholme locomotive dump is a steam locomotive and wagon dump located on the eastern bank of the Ōreti River adjacent and just to the north of Southland's Wairio Branch Line in New Zealand. Locomotives and rolling stock have been dumped here for river protection since the 1920s. In the time since numerous items have been recovered for preservation purposes.
The NZR UC class were a group of ten 4-6-0 steam locomotives obtained from Scottish builders Sharp, Stewart and Company for New Zealand Railways (NZR). Essentially they were developments of the firm's previous batch of 4-6-0s' for NZR.
