New Zealand DSJ class locomotive

Last updated

New Zealand DSJ class
NZR class DSJ 4004 shunting in Picton.jpg
DSJ4004 in Picton, April 2012.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-Electric
Builder Toshiba Heavy Industries, Japan (1) NZR Addington Workshops (4)
Build date1984–1985 [1]
Total produced5
Specifications
Configuration:
   UIC Bo'Bo'
Gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Prime mover One: Cummins KTA-1150L
Engine type6-cyl diesel engine
Career
Operators New Zealand Railways, Tranz Rail, Toll Rail, KiwiRail
NumbersTMS: 4004–4060
LocaleAll of New Zealand
DispositionFour in service, one written off

The New Zealand DSJ class is a class of diesel-electric shunting locomotive used on the New Zealand rail network. The class has a very similar overall design to the DSG class, but is instead single-engined, has a cab that is offset from the centre and is both shorter and lighter than its twin-engined counterpart.

Contents

Introduction

DSJ4017 performing shunt duties at Ahuriri, 2003. DSJ4017 Ahuriri 25November2003 JChristianson.jpg
DSJ4017 performing shunt duties at Ahuriri, 2003.

The first DSJ was assembled in Japan by Toshiba Heavy Industries in 1983 and arrived in New Zealand in 1984. [1] Toshiba are the same company who built the EO class electric locomotives. The remaining four were assembled at the former Addington Workshops in Christchurch, [2] and entered service from 1984 to 1985. [1]

With only five members in this class, it represents one of the smallest contingents of shunt locomotives in current use.

In service

The locomotives have spent most of their time in use at the Te Rapa Marshalling Yard and Picton, and have ventured elsewhere on the network from time to time, including Ahuriri in Napier. [2]

Accidents

On the afternoon of 1 September 2021, DSJ4004 [3] and a wagon went off the end of the rail ferry linkspan at Picton and into the harbour. [4] The wagon and locomotive were retrieved from the harbour on 2 and 3 September 2021 respectively. No one was injured during the incident. Due to the cost of repairing the flooded locomotive, DSJ4004 was written off and became a parts donor for the remainder of the fleet. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switcher locomotive</span> Locomotive used in yards for assembling trains

A switcher locomotive, shunter locomotive, or shifter locomotive is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distances. Switchers do not usually move trains over long distances, instead they typically assemble trains in order for another locomotive to take over. Switchers often operate in a railyard or make short transfer runs. They may serve as the primary motive power on short branch lines or switching and terminal railroads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transport in New Zealand</span> Overview of rail transport in New Zealand

Rail transport in New Zealand is an integral part of New Zealand's transport network, with a nationwide network of 4,375.5 km (2,718.8 mi) of track linking most major cities in the North and South Islands, connected by inter-island rail and road ferries. Rail transport in New Zealand has a particular focus on bulk freight exports and imports, with 19 million net tonnes moved by rail annually, and 99.5% of New Zealand's exports and imports being transported through the country's seaports.

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

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.

Locomotives of New Zealand is a complete list of all locomotive classes that operate or have operated in New Zealand's railway network. It does not include locomotives used on bush tramways.

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

The NZR C class consisted of twenty-four steam locomotives built to perform shunting duties on New Zealand's national rail network. It is sometimes known as the big C class to differentiate it from the C class of 1873.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand DH class locomotive</span>

The New Zealand DH class locomotive is a type of diesel-electric heavy transfer and shunting locomotive in New Zealand's national railway network. The class consists of six heavy shunt U10B type locomotives built by General Electric United States at their Erie, Pennsylvania plant in 1978. Five of the class are used in the Auckland area for heavy shunting duties, including services around Auckland and the Port of Auckland, while one is based at the Port of Tauranga in Mount Maunganui.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Railways Department</span> Government agency (1880–1982)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NZR RM class (88 seater)</span>

The NZR RM class 88-seaters were a class of railcar used in New Zealand. New Zealand Government Railways (NZR) classified them as RM (Rail Motor), the notation used for all railcars, numbering the 35 sets from RM100 to RM134. They were the most numerous railcars in NZR service. Their purchase and introduction saw the demise of steam-hauled provincial passenger trains and mixed trains, and was part of a deliberate effort to modernise NZR passenger services at a time of increasing competition from private motor vehicles. Being diesel powered and lighter the railcars were less expensive to operate and able to maintain quicker timetables, although became plagued with mechanical and electrical problems, with a number of the class eventually being turned into depowered locomotive-hauled carriages and reclassified as the AC class "Grassgrubs".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand DA class locomotive</span>

The New Zealand DA class locomotive were a class of diesel-electric mainline locomotives operated on the New Zealand railway system between 1955 and 1989. Consisting of 146 locomotives, it was the most numerous class to ever operate in New Zealand, with five more than the AB class steam locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand DE class locomotive</span>

The New Zealand DE class locomotive is a New Zealand class of shunting diesel-electric locomotives. The New Zealand Railways intended to replace steam locomotives for shunting duties with this class. They are physically similar to the Tasmanian Government Railways X class, which were also of English Electric design.

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">New Zealand DSG class locomotive</span>

The New Zealand DSG class is a type of diesel-electric shunting locomotive used in New Zealand. The class shares a central cab design with the smaller DSC class shunting locomotive, and is twin-engined. Meanwhile, the very similarly designed, single-engined DSJ class, has a cab that is offset from the centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addington Railway Workshops</span>

The Addington Railway Workshops was a major railway workshops established in the Christchurch suburb of Addington in 1877 by the Public Works Department, and transferred in 1880 to the newly-formed New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). The workshops closed in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand DSC class locomotive</span> Heavy shunting locomotive

The New Zealand DSC class locomotive is a heavy shunting locomotive used throughout New Zealand. The class was built in seven batches, the first 18 locomotives being built by British Thomson-Houston of the United Kingdom, with the remainder being built by New Zealand Railways (NZR).

The Drewry Car Co was a railway locomotive and railcar manufacturer and sales organisation from 1906 to 1984. At the start and the end of its life it built its own products, for the rest of the time it sold vehicles manufactured by sub-contractors. It was separate from the lorry-builder, Shelvoke & Drewry, but it is believed that James Sidney Drewry was involved with both companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand EA class locomotive</span>

The New Zealand EA class of electric locomotives were used on the New Zealand rail network between 1968 and 1997 on the Otira – Arthur's Pass section of the Midland line in the South Island, through the Otira Tunnel. Following reconditioning, three were used by KiwiRail's Tranz Metro in Wellington from 2008 to 2011 to top and tail Metlink suburban passenger trains as an interim measure before new rolling stock arrived. Four of the five locomotives were scrapped in 2013 with one being set aside for preservation.

KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) responsible for rail operations in New Zealand and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered at 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie, KiwiRail is the largest rail transport operator in New Zealand. KiwiRail has business units of KiwiRail Freight, Great Journeys New Zealand and Interislander. The company was formed in 2008 when the government renationalised above-rail operations and inter-island ferry operations, then owned by Toll Holdings. In 2021, the government launched the New Zealand Rail Plan, with funding for rail projects to come from the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), and with KiwiRail remaining an SOE but paying Track Access Charges (TACs) to use the network.

The Diesel Traction Group (DTG) is the Christchurch-based operator of a fleet of ex-New Zealand Railways Department diesel-electric locomotives. The fleet represents a full collection of New Zealand locomotive classes built by the English Electric Company and is a historically significant collection of early New Zealand diesel traction. All of the DTG's locomotives are owned by individual members through the sale of shareholdings.

The NZR DS class locomotive is a type of 16 diesel shunting locomotives built by the Vulcan Foundry and supplied by the Drewry Car Co from 1949–1955, for New Zealand Railways (NZR).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "DSJ Toshiba, Addington, 1984". New Zealand Railways Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 Parsons 2002, p. 18.
  3. "KiwiRail retrieves locomotive from bottom of Picton harbour". Stuff. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  4. "'Shunter locomotive' and railway wagon plunge into Picton harbour". September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  5. Eder, Jennifer (12 October 2021). "Locomotive's swim in Picton harbour proves fatal for ageing engine". Stuff. Retrieved 12 October 2021.

Further reading