NZR LA Class | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() New Zealand Midland Railway Co. NO 3 (NZR LA 312) at Stillwater Junction during the opening of the Midland Railway between Greymouth and Stillwater, 1889. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The NZR LA class was a class of 4-4-0 T steam locomotives used by the New Zealand Railways Department and the New Zealand Midland Railway Company. They were built by Nasmyth, Wilson and Company in 1887 for New Zealand Midland Railway Company, and were taken over by NZR in 1900, when the government acquired the incomplete Midland line. The designation also applies to the NZR 4-4-0 T rebuilds of the Avonside L class of 1875 which were later reclassified LB after being rebuilt as 4-4-2 T s. [1]
The New Zealand Midland Railway Company ordered five 4-4-0 T locomotives from Nasmyth Wilson in 1887 for use on their planned railway between Nelson, Greymouth and Christchurch. These locomotives were built to a standard Nasmyth Wilson design for export, and had double-skinned cab roofs for work in tropical climates. The first three locomotives were named Reefton, Christchurch and Nelson on entry into service; the other two locomotives never carried names.
The locomotives, numbered as NZMRC NO's 1–5, were responsible for running all trains over the Midland Railway between Reefton, Stillwater and Lake Brunner, as well as running NZMRC trains over the NZR line between Stillwater and Greymouth. Following the failure of the NZMRC and its takeover by the NZR, the locomotives were renumbered as LA 310–315. Now based at Greymouth, the engines remained in service until the first withdrawal began in 1920.
The first Midland LA to be withdrawn was LA 311 (formerly NZMRC NO 2) in March 1920. The remaining locomotives were withdrawn between 1924 and 1928. Two of the withdrawn locomotives were sold for industrial service; LA 311 was sold to the Auckland Farmers Freezing Company in 1920 and worked as a shunting locomotive at their Moerewa works between 1920 and 1934, while LA 314 was sold to the New Forest Sawmilling Company at Ngahere where it worked as the mill's yard engine transferring wagons between the NZR station and the sawmill between 1926 and 1950.
The remaining locomotives, LA's 310, 312 and 313, were written off but not scrapped. Instead, at least one, LA 312, was dumped at the Omoto locomotive dump in 1929. The remains of LA 312 were salvaged for preservation in 2006 and are now in storage pending restoration to working order.
In 1893–94, NZR decided to rebuild three Avonside L class 2-4-0 T locomotives as 4-4-0 T locomotives. The conversion, classified by the NZR as the LA class, did not address the limited fuel capacity, and all further rebuilds were rebuilt as 4-4-2 T s.
The NZR J class were steam locomotives with the wheel arrangement of 2-6-0 that were built in 1874 to operate on the New Zealand Railways (NZR). The J class was the first class of locomotive in New Zealand to have a tender; all previous classes were tank engines.
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 NZR WB class was a class of tank locomotives that operated in New Zealand. Built in 1898 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the twelve members of the class entered service during the first five months of 1899. Eight were withdrawn by the end of 1935, while four others survived with new boilers until the mid-1950s.
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 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 RM class Midland railcar was the first successful railcar, and first diesel-powered vehicle, to enter revenue service in New Zealand. Two were built, RM 20 and RM 21, and they ran for five years from 1936 to 1941 before being replaced by larger Vulcan railcars. They operated primarily on the Midland Line and the Greymouth-Hokitika portion of the Ross Branch
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 Midland Railway Company partially constructed the Midland line between Christchurch and Greymouth and the Nelson railway in the South Island. It was one of the few private railway companies in New Zealand, and it did not match the success of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company.
The NZR R class was a class of early 0-6-4T single Fairlie steam locomotives operated by New Zealand's Railways Department (NZR) between 1879 and 1936.
The Stillwater Ngākawau Line (SNL), formerly the Stillwater–Westport Line (SWL) and the Ngakawau Branch, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand's national rail network. It runs between Stillwater and Ngakawau via Westport on the West Coast of the South Island. It was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand's history, with its first section opened in 1889 and the full line completed 1942.
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 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.
The NZR S class was a class of seven 0-6-4T single Fairlie steam locomotives used in New Zealand.
The NZR WJ class was a class of one steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works for service on New Zealand's private Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR). She acquired the WJ classification when the publicly owned New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) purchased the WMR and its locomotive fleet in 1908.
The NZR U class, the first tender locomotives built in New Zealand, were a class of 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler locomotive designed to the requirements of Mr T. F. Rotherham and built at NZR Addington between 1894 and 1903. They were amongst NZRs' longest lived tender engines.
The NZR G Class was a class of four saddle tank locomotives from English builders Black Hawthorn in the early 1870s. Like the similarly sized D class, they were an attempt to produce a passenger version of the already highly successful F class.
The NZR L class were a series of ten small tank engines built in England for the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) during the early years of the development of New Zealand's railway network.
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.
The New Zealand WW class was a class of 4-6-4T tank locomotives that operated on the New Zealand national railway network. They were built for New Zealand Railways Department (NZR), and were the final development of the six-coupled tank engine in New Zealand, the penultimate class of tank locomotives to be built for NZR, and the first class of tank locomotives to be built with superheaters.