NZR WG class

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NZR WG class
Steam locomotive 492, Wg class ATLIB 307464.png
WG No. 492, Godber Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Builder NZGR Hillside
Build date1910-1912
Total produced20
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 4-6-4T
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Driver dia.45 in (1.143 m)
Adhesive weight 29.7 long tons (30.2 t)
Loco weight50.5 long tons (51.3 tonnes; 56.6 short tons)
Fuel type Coal
Firebox:
  Firegrate area
16.9 sq ft (1.57 m2)
Boiler pressure200 lbf/in2 (1,379 kPa)
Heating surface738 sq ft (68.6 m2)
Cylinders Two, outside
Cylinder size 14 in × 22 in (356 mm × 559 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort 15,330 lbf (68.19 kN)
Career
Operators NZR
LocaleAll of New Zealand

The NZR WG class was a development of the preceding WF class of all purpose tank locomotive. Later in their careers most (14) were rebuilt as WW class. [1] The locomotives were designed by A. L. Beattie, who described them as a "large tank locomotive." [2]

Contents

In service

The locomotives were used on suburban trains in Wellington and Auckland. [2]

Rimutaka Incline

1917 photograph of WG 480, Godber Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library. Locomotive 480, Wg class, type 4-6-4T, built by New Zealand Railways at Hillside.jpeg
1917 photograph of WG 480, Godber Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.

WG 480 was built by New Zealand Railways at Hillside (maker's no 104/10), went into service in October 1910. It was altered for use on the Rimutaka Incline to assist the "Fell" locomotives cope with the military traffic to and from the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces training camp at Featherston. The cowcatchers were altered to clear the high Fell centre rail, and it had an acetylene headlamp arranged to follow the alignment of the track on curves. Written off in June 1969, and preserved at Glenbrook. [3]

Withdrawals

All of the locomotives were withdrawn by 1956. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

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NZR W<sup>B</sup> class

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NZR W<sup>D</sup> class

The NZR WD class was a class of tank locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works to operate on New Zealand's national rail network.

The NZR NA class was a class of two steam locomotives that operated on the privately-owned Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR) and then the publicly owned New Zealand Railways (NZR). Ordered by the WMR to operate on its line up the west coast of the North Island north of Wellington, the first was built in 1894 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and entered service that year as WMR No. 14. In 1896, a second locomotive that was slightly more powerful was ordered from Baldwin, and it entered service in October 1897. The engines were similar to the two members of the N class ordered in 1891, except they were heavier and more powerful. They were Vauclain compound locomotives.

NZR O<sup>B</sup> class

The OB class was the first class of steam locomotives constructed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR) in New Zealand. The class consisted of two locomotives ordered in 1888, and they entered service in September of that year as WMR No.'s 11 and 12.

NZR O<sup>C</sup> class

The OC class, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR) in New Zealand, consists of a solitary steam locomotive. Ordered in 1896 as an externally similar but more powerful version of the OA class locomotive ordered in 1894, it entered service in June 1897 as No. 16. It was a Vauclain compound locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZR E class (1906)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZR C class (1930)</span>

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NZR W<sup>AB</sup> class

The NZR WAB class locomotives were steam locomotives designed, built and used by New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). Their wheel arrangement is described by the Whyte notation 4-6-4T. The locomotives were designed by NZR chief draughtsman S.H. Jenkinson as tank versions of the AB class 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive. Initially, the locomotives were separated into two classes, designated WAB for mainline work and WS for suburban work.

NZR W<sup>F</sup> class Class of 41 New Zealand 2-6-4T locomotives

The NZR WF class were steam locomotives designed, built and used by New Zealand Railways (NZR). Their wheel arrangement is described by the Whyte notation 2-6-4T and the first members of the class entered service in 1904. The locomotives were tank engines designed by the Railways Department's Chief Mechanical Engineer A. L. Beattie, and were mainly built for suburban duties such as those between Christchurch and Lyttelton. They also saw main-line service in the Taranaki region, but most of the class members were assigned to branch line and local services throughout the country. Two were experimentally converted to oil burners in 1909-1910. The tests were satisfactory, but as coal was much cheaper than oil at the time, no further conversions took place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZR W class</span>

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 NZR S class was a class of seven 0-6-4T single Fairlie steam locomotives used in New Zealand.

NZR W<sup>J</sup> class

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 WA class locomotives were a class of Tank locomotive built for use for New Zealand Railways (NZR). 11 were built in-house at the Addington Workshops and at Hillside Workshops. Four more were converted from old J class 2-6-0 locomotives.

NZR W<sup>E</sup> class

The NZR WE Class were rebuilt from earlier Addington built B class locomotives. In service, the first two were tried on the Rimutaka Incline, however, they lacked the required adhesion on the 1 in 15 (6.67%) grade. They were later transferred to Greymouth for use on the Rewanui Incline, where they were far more successful, on the line's 1 in 25 (4%) grade. It is not known if they ever operated on the Roa Incline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZR G class (1874)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZR L class</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZR M class</span>

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NZR U<sup>B</sup> class

The NZR UB class were a series of Ten Wheelers built by American manufacturers for New Zealand Railways (NZR) around the start of the twentieth century. Two batches were built by Baldwin in 1898 and 1901. The earlier engines had slide valves and inside Stephenson motion, the later had piston valves and Walschaerts valve gear, as well as a higher boiler pressure.

NZR W<sup>W</sup> class Class of 50 (+14) New Zealand 4-6-4T locomotives

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.

References

  1. Lloyd 1974, p. 64.
  2. 1 2 3 Palmer & Stewart 1965, p. 100.
  3. "Steam locomotive 480, Wg class (4-6-4T type)". Alexander Turnbull Library . Retrieved 7 February 2020.

Bibliography