Project Steam is a railway preservation society based in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is dedicated to the restoration of steam locomotives formerly operated by the New Zealand Railways Department, with its goal to restore at least one locomotive to main line operating conditions in order to operate excursions from Dunedin Railway Station. The society is currently the only one of its kind in Dunedin; the Ocean Beach Railway operates small tank locomotives but on private trackage, and the popular Taieri Gorge Limited is run solely by diesel locomotives.
The restoration of P 107, also using some parts from the remains of P 25, is currently the focus of Project Steam's efforts. The two locomotives were built in 1885 by Nasmyth, Wilson and Company, entered service in 1887, were withdrawn in 1928, and on 8 August 1932 were dumped in the Clutha River near Beaumont to protect the Roxburgh Branch from erosion. Their remains were recovered in May 1992, and as the frame of P 107 was in a better condition, it was chosen for restoration, with extra parts sourced from P 25, most notably its wheels, which were in better condition to P 107's.
During the celebration of the Dunedin Railway Station's centennial in October 2006, P 107 was displayed in partially rebuilt condition at the station. Funds are currently being raised for the next and most costly stage of the restoration, the reconstruction of P 107's boiler. The restoration is historically significant as the locomotive is one of, if not the earliest known surviving example of a British-built 2-8-0 . Once fully restored, there are proposals to establish a regular service run by P 107 as a tourist attraction, such as a service modelled on the Kingston Flyer. It would run over the preserved track of the Otago Central Railway between Pukerangi and Middlemarch, connecting with the Taieri Gorge Railway's daily diesel-hauled services between Dunedin and Pukerangi.
Project Steam's first home was a location by the Water of Leith in central Dunedin. Later the group moved most of the restorable items to the Dunedin Gas Works, where the frame and wheels of P 107 were continued to be worked on while P 25's frame (cut into sections) could be found stored onsite. All other components such as spare wheels, old tender bodies and the boilers were moved to a field next to the Taieri Gorge Railway at Sutton. In 2008, with redevelopment occurring at the Gas Works necessitating the group's removal from the Gas Works, P 107 was shifted to Springfield and is now located at the Midland Rail Heritage Trust. It is understood that the group will continue to restore P 107 to operational order at Springfield.
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the use of these self-propelled vehicles is increasingly common for passenger trains, but rare for freight.
A steam locomotive is a rail vehicle that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material to heat water in the locomotive's boiler to the point when it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type was first used by the Northern Pacific Railway, and initially named the Northern Pacific, but railfans and railroad employees have shortened the name since its introduction. It is most-commonly known as a Northern.
Railway preservation in New Zealand is the preservation of historically significant facets of New Zealand's rail transport history. The earliest recorded preservation attempt took place in 1925, although the movement itself did not start properly until 1960.
Dübs & Co. was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it amalgamated with two other Glasgow locomotive manufacturers to create the North British Locomotive Company.
Dunedin Railways is the trading name of Dunedin Railways Limited, an operator of a railway line and tourist trains based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. The company is a council-controlled trading organisation wholly owned by Dunedin City Council through its holding company Dunedin City Holdings Limited.
Strath Taieri is a large glacial valley and river plateau in New Zealand's South Island. It is surrounded by the rugged hill ranges to the north and west of Otago Harbour. Since 1989 it has been part of the city of Dunedin. The small town of Middlemarch is located at its southern end.
A Meyer locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive. The design was never as popular as the Garratt or Mallet locomotives. It can be best regarded as 19th Century competition for the early compound Mallet and also the Fairlie articulated designs. Most single cab modern trains are of a similar design such as power cars, freight diesel locomotives, and some passenger locomotives.
The Port Chalmers Branch was the first railway line built in Otago, New Zealand, and linked the region's major city of Dunedin with the port in Port Chalmers. The line is still operational today.
The Ocean Beach Railway (OBR) is a heritage railway that operates in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located between John Wilson Drive in the suburb of Saint Kilda and sports grounds near Forbury Park Raceway, and runs parallel with the city's main beach, Ocean Beach. This is near where the Ocean Beach Branch once ran, but not on the same formation.
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 Outram Branch was a branch line railway near Dunedin, Otago that operated from 1877 to 1953 and formed part of New Zealand's national rail network.
The New Zealand DJ class locomotive is a type of diesel-electric locomotive in service on the New Zealand rail network. The class were built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and introduced from 1968 to 1969 for the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) with a modernisation loan from the World Bank to replace steam locomotives in the South Island, where all of the class members worked most of their lives. Nine of the locomotives remain in use, mainly with Dunedin Railways.
The P class was a class of steam locomotives built to haul freight trains on the national rail network of New Zealand. The class consisted of ten individual locomotives ordered from the British company of Nasmyth, Wilson and Company in 1885, but miscommunications about the weight limitations imposed on the locomotives meant they did not start work until 1887. This debacle came at a time when the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) was suffering from a lack of motive power to work on its rapidly expanding network and was part of what prompted a shift towards American and home-grown manufacturers.
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 Otago Central Railway (OCR) or in later years Otago Central Branch Railway, now often referred to as the Taieri Gorge Railway, was a secondary railway line in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand.
The K class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways in Australia from 1922 to 1979. Although its design was entirely conventional and its specifications unremarkable, the K class was in practice a remarkably versatile and dependable locomotive. It went on to outlast every other class of steam locomotive in regular service on the VR, and no fewer than 21 examples of the 53 originally built have survived into preservation.
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).
Branxholme locomotive dump is a steam locomotive and wagon dump located on the eastern bank of the Oreti 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.