NZR WH class

Last updated

NZR WH class
Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company Wh class locomotive leaving Wadestown tunnel ATLIB 512281.png
Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company WH class locomotive leaving Wadestown tunnel
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Builder Manning Wardle, Leeds, England
Serial number920 to 924
Build date1884
Total produced5
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 2-6-2T
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Wheel diameter37 in (940 mm)
Adhesive weight 23.9 long tons (24.3 t; 26.8 short tons)
Loco weight32.9 long tons (33.4 t; 36.8 short tons)
Fuel type Coal
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		12 sq ft (1.1 m2)
Boiler pressure140 psi (965 kPa)
Heating surface687 sq ft (63.8 m2)
Cylinders 2
Cylinder size 12 in × 18 in (305 mm × 457 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort 7,850 lbf (34.9 kN)
Career
Operators Wellington and Manawatu Railway, New Zealand Government Railways
Locale Wellington - Manawatu Line
DispositionWithdrawn

The NZR WH class was a class of three steam locomotives built by Manning Wardle in 1884 for service on New Zealand's private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR). They did not acquire their WH classification until 1908 when WMR was nationalised and incorporated into the New Zealand Government Railways (NZR). A total of five locomotives were purchased by the WMR but two had been sold by the time NZR took over the company.

Contents

Introduction

The first locomotives purchased by the WMR were five 2-6-2T light tank locomotives, to be used for construction work and then for local traffic. The WMR engineer in charge of construction Harry Higginson sent his requirements to the WMR’s agent in London Sir Julius Vogel in 1883. Mr Bromley drew up detailed drawings and specifications, and a tender was awarded in January 1884 to Manning Wardle of Leeds, England. The first locomotive was tested at Leeds by Mr Bromley, who was killed in a railway accident at Bulhouse while returning to London.

Service

No. 1 & 2 arrived at Wellington on the SS Aorangi on 15 September, and Nos. 4 & 5 on the SS Ionic arrived on 28 January 1885. No. 1 was tested at the Petone NZR workshops, and found to have tight bearings, with Higginson rebutting rumours printed in the Evening Post that it was of unsatisfactory design and manufacture. [1] At least one locomotive arrived fitted with Howell’s copper coated steel tubes which were a failure and had to be replaced with copper tubes (according to WMR annual reports). [2]

Their centre drivers were flangeless; and the smokeboxes were too short (possibly because of the coal used) so were extended within a couple of years. The extension improved their performance, if not their appearance. The first engine was eagerly awaited in September 1884, as the formation to Johnsonville was ready for tracklaying and ballasting, but the WMR had unsuccessfully tried to hire a locomotive from the Government in August 1884. The last two were shipped to Wanganui after erection at Wellington to provide much-needed motive power at the isolated Longburn end. [1]

These engines were expected to haul 70 tons up the 1 in 40 grade to Johnsonville; and two in tandem could be used to Johnsonville, with only one proceeding to Paekakariki. For the easier run to Longburn a faster tender locomotive was required, and three engines similar to the NZR V class were ordered in 1883. The tank engines were averaging about 24,000 miles each in 1887-88 but about 17,000 miles each in 1889. By 1892, half of the running of Nos. 2, 3 & 5 was for track maintenance work (some 25,000 miles) and half for shunting and Wellington-Paekakariki banking. No. 5 required repairs in 1887-88 and 1892. [3]

Disposals

Two locomotives, WMR Nos. 3 and 5 (Manning Wardle Nos. 922 and 924), were sold to the Timaru Harbour Board in 1901. No. 5 was sold for £1000, and arrived in Timaru on 26 February 1901. No. 3 was reassembled at Addington, and reached Timaru on 22 April 1901. They were written off by WMR at the end of the 1900-01 financial year (No. 5) and in the 1901-02 financial year (No. 3). [4] The mileage to 29/2/1908 (but presumably only for WMR service) is given as 219,999 miles (No. 3) and 211,602 miles (No. 5). [5] Later, one was sold to the Mount Somers Tramway in the 1930s, and the other scrapped. [6]

Later service

Three remaining locomotives, WMR Nos. 1, 2 and 4 (Manning Wardle Nos. 920, 921, and 923) were taken over by the NZR in 1908, and classified as the WH class. The NZR numbers were Nos. 447 (305,825 miles), 448 (319,724 miles), and 449 (346,162 miles) respectively; with the WMR mileage to 29 February 1908 given in brackets. [5]

Related Research Articles

NZR N class

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 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.

Wellington and Manawatu Railway Trust

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.

NZR N<sup>C</sup> class

The NZR NC class was a class of two steam locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works built for service on New Zealand's private Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR). They did not acquire their NC classification until the publicly owned New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) purchased the WMR and its locomotive fleet.

NZR E class (1906)

The New Zealand E class locomotive comprised a single Mallet steam locomotive operated by New Zealand Railways (NZR) from 1906 until 1917. Classified as E 66 and nicknamed Pearson's Dream after its designer, it was an experimental Mallet locomotive designed to work on the Rimutaka Incline. The "E" classification was previously used by the Double Fairlie E class of 1872-75, but the classification was free as they had all been withdrawn by the time E 66 entered service. After the withdrawal of E 66, "E" was again re-used on the battery-electric E class of 1922. It was the only Mallet locomotive to operate for the NZR

NZR B<sup>C</sup> class

The BC class comprised a single steam locomotive that operated on New Zealand's national rail network. Built for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR) and classified simply as No.17, it passed into the ownership of the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) when the government purchased the WMR in December 1908, and it was then that it acquired the BC classification as BC 463.

<i>Napier Express</i>

The Napier Express was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department initially between Napier and Palmerston North and later between Napier and Wellington. It ran from 1891 until 1954.

The New Plymouth Express was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) between Wellington and New Plymouth. It ran from 1886 until 1955 and was sometimes known as the New Plymouth Mail due to the Railway Travelling Post Office carriages included in its consist. The Express was notable amongst NZR's provincial expresses as being both the first and, until the commencement of the Gisborne Express in 1942, the longest in distance travelled.

Steam Incorporated, often abbreviated to Steam Inc., is a railway heritage and preservation society based at the Paekakariki railway station, Paekakariki at the southern end of the Kapiti Coast, approximately 50 minutes north of Wellington on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. Unlike some societies who operate on preserved sections of closed branch lines, Steam Incorporated own a depot beside one of the country's most important railway lines, the North Island Main Trunk railway, and restores heritage locomotives and rolling stock for use on excursions on the regular national rail network.

Johnsonville Branch Railway line in New Zealand

The Johnsonville Branch, also known as the Johnsonville Line, is a commuter branch line railway from the main Railway Station of Wellington, New Zealand to the northern suburb of Johnsonville via Ngaio and Khandallah.

The Wellington and Manawatu Line is an unofficial name for the section of New Zealand's North Island Main Trunk Railway between Wellington and Palmerston North. Originally a government project, the line was constructed by the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company and bought by the government in December 1908.

NZR V class

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.

NZR U<sup>D</sup> class

The NZR UD class was a class of two 4-6-0 steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1904 for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company. When that company was nationalised in 1908, they passed into the ownership of the New Zealand Railways and received the designation UD.

Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company

The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company was a private railway company that built, owned and operated the Wellington-Manawatu railway line between Thorndon in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, and Longburn, near Palmerston North in the Manawatu, between 1881 and 1908, when it was acquired by the New Zealand Government Railways. Its successful operation in private ownership was unusual for early railways in New Zealand.

Otaihanga railway station Defunct railway station in New Zealand

Otaihanga railway station was a flag station between Paraparaumu and Waikanae on the Wellington-Manawatu Line in New Zealand, when the line was run by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company. This line is now part of the Kapiti section of the North Island Main Trunk.

Thorndon railway station Defunct railway station in New Zealand

Thorndon railway station in Wellington, New Zealand, was opened in 1885 as the southern terminus of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company’s Wellington-Manawatu Line and then known as Wellington and Manawatu railway station. This line is now part of the Kapiti section of the North Island Main Trunk.

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 Haywards–Plimmerton Line was a railway development proposed several times between 1879 and the 1960s to connect the Hutt Valley and Porirua areas of Wellington via Haywards.

Longburn railway station Defunct railway station in New Zealand

Longburn railway station was a station in Longburn, on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. The platform, which is across from the Fonterra Factory, remains but the structure has been demolished.

North–South Junction

The North–South Junction is a section of single-track rail line about 7 km long, north of Wellington, New Zealand between the closed (2011) Muri railway station and the (lower) Paekakariki railway station to the north. It is part of the Kapiti Line section of the North Island Main Trunk line between Wellington and Auckland, and part of the Wellington–Manawatu Line, built by the Wellington & Manawatu Railway Company (WMR).

References

  1. 1 2 Cassells 1994, p. 34-38.
  2. ↑ Hoy 1972, p. 61.
  3. ↑ Cassells 1994, p. 55,57,76.
  4. ↑ Cassells 1994, p. 100.
  5. 1 2 Cassells 1994, p. 156.
  6. ↑ Lloyd 1974, p. 125.

Bibliography

  • Cassells, Ken (1994). Uncommon Carrier: The History of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, 1882-1908. New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society. ISBN   0-908573-63-4.
  • Hoy, Douglas (1972). West of the Tararuas: An Illustrated History of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Co. Dunedin: Southern Press.
  • Lloyd, W.G (1974). Register of New Zealand Railways Steam Locomotives, 1863-1971. NZRLS.
  • Stewart, W. W. (1974). When Steam was King. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN   978-0-589-00382-1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.