Ohai Railway Board Heritage Trust

Last updated April 12, 2024

The Ohai Railway Board Heritage Trust is a defunct railway preservation society that was formed to preserve Southland's rail history. The trust was formerly based at Wairio on the Wairio Branch in the former Ohai Railway Board workshops, and owned a number of locomotives and items of rolling stock, including the remains of two P class 2-8-0 tender locomotives.

Trust Lapses

In 2006 the ORBHT's lease on the former ORB workshops and yard at Wairio was allowed to lapse after the trust decided no to pursue the idea of running heritage services from Bluff to Ohai. The trust's locomotives and rolling stock remained on the site; as of January 2015, most of the trust's stock remained at Wairio with the exception of diesel shunting locomotive D^S 201 and the remains of steam locomotive P 60, which had moved to Dunedin and Lumsden respectively.

Banned

In December 2011, members of the ORBHT were banned from entering the Wairio yard and workshop buildings after being served a trespass notice by KiwiRail. The notice was served on the grounds that the trust's members had not sought permission from KiwiRail to access the site; one of the trust members responded by saying the trust had become concerned with the neglected state of the site and the potential fire risk, and had stepped in to clean the site up.^[1]

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

In 2002, the ORBHT purchased two diesel shunting locomotives, D^S 201 from Alliance Meats at Lorneville and the former Ohai Railway Board Mitsubishi shunter N^O 1 which was then stored at Wairio. In 2003 they also recovered the chassis of P 60 and the engine unit of P 133 on 4 April 2003. In 2014 P 133 was unknownly purchased and was transported to Mosgiel. It will be later transported to Middlemarch for static display for funding so it can be restored to working condition.^[2] Also in 2014 D^S 201 was purchased by a private owner and transported to Dunedin.^[2]^[3] The 'D^S' is in operational order but requires a repaint. The chassis of P 60 was purchased by the Lumsden Heritage Trust along with three wagons.

In 2016 several pieces of rolling stock were leased to other South Island heritage groups by Southland District Council. (The tables below have not been updated to reflect these leases.)^[4]

Other Rolling Stock

Key:	In service, Mainline Certified	In service	Static display	Under overhaul/restoration	Stored	Scrapped

Type	Number	Builder	Year built	Arrived at Wairio	Notes
Carriage	A 294	NZR Petone Workshops	1892	14 February 2003	Named Nightcaps. Entered service for the New Zealand Railways Department in 1892. Withdrawn in 1952 and purchased by the Ohai Railway Board. It was later leased to the Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society in 1990. It was stored in Oamaru until being transferred back to Wairio on 14 February 2003. Carriage A294 will be leased to the Waimea Plains Railway Trust to be restored to operational status.^[4]
Carriage	A 525	NZR Addington Workshops	1896	2003	Named Ohai. Entered service for the New Zealand Railways Department in 1896. Withdrawn and sold to the Ohai Railway Board on 16 August 1952. It was later leased to the Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society in 1990. It was stored in Oamaru until being transferred back to Wairio on 14 February 2003. Carriage A525 will be leased to Lumsden Heritage Trust to be situated as part of their static railway display of heritage rail assets at the Lumsden Heritage Precinct.^[4]
Van	F 11	n/a	1886	9 August 2002	Named Morley. Entered service for the New Zealand Railways Department in 1886. Withdrawn in 1937 and converted to Way & Works ballast plough van E 932. Purchased by the Ohai Railway Board in 1941, later leased to the Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society in 1994. It was stored in Oamaru until being transferred back to Wairio on 9 August 2002. The guards and plough van, which has a high heritage value, will be leased to the National Railway Museum in Christchurch.^[4]
Wagon	ER 295	NZR Otahuhu Workshops	1954	2000	Formerly J^C 5307 (1954 - 1978), E 4189 (1978) and E 5326 (1978 - 1981). Withdrawn on 17 August 1974. Owned by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand and leased to the ORBHT.
Wagon	Unidentified L	n/a	n/a	n/a	Formerly owned by the Ohai Railway Board.
Wagon	LA 2962	NZR Otahuhu Workshops	1931	n/a	Pre-TMS: L^A 17119. Withdrawn in Invercargill in August 1978. Formerly owned by the Ohai Railway Board.
Wagon	LA 16320	NZR Otahuhu Workshops	1931	n/a	Pre-TMS: L^A 17134. Withdrawn on 10 October 1966 after traffic damage. Formerly owned by the Ohai Railway Board.
Wagon	L^B 2631	NZR Addington Workshops	22 May 1976	n/a	Owned by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand and leased to the ORBHT.
Wagon	LPF 388	n/a	1995	2000	Pre-TMS: the number is unidentified. Owned by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand and leased to the ORBHT. Used for transportation of fertiliser.
Wagon	LPS 351	n/a	1989	n/a	Pre-TMS: the number is unidentified. Former LPA wagon converted for scrap haulage, Owned by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. Formerly leased to the ORBHT, now on static display at Lumsden railway station.
Wagon	WOA 620	NZR Otahuhu Workshops	1939	n/a	Formerly L^A 19320.
Wagon	X^A 2583	n/a	n/a	n/a	Rebuilt in 1950 at the Otahuhu Workshop] after an accident. Donated to the ORBHT by PPCS. Frame and body only.
Wagon	X^A 2587	n/a	n/a	n/a	Rebuilt in 1950 at the Otahuhu Workshops after an accident. It was then donated to the ORBHT by PPCS.

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References

↑ "Rail followers banned by Kiwirail". 19 January 2012.
1 2 "Preserved Locomotives at non-heritage places". Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
↑ "New Zealand Rolling Stock Register".
1 2 3 4 "Historic Ohai Railway vehicles find new homes". 20 July 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2017.

External links

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[1] "Rail followers banned by Kiwirail". 19 January 2012.

[preserved-2] 1 2 "Preserved Locomotives at non-heritage places". Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.

[3] "New Zealand Rolling Stock Register".

[stuff2016-4] 1 2 3 4 "Historic Ohai Railway vehicles find new homes". 20 July 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2017.

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v t e Railway preservation in New Zealand New Zealand railway heritage and preservation groups
Nationwide	Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand (FRONZ) Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand New Zealand Model Railway Guild
Upper North Island	Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Bush Tramway Club Driving Creek Railway Glenbrook Vintage Railway Goldfields Railway Helensville Railway Station Precinct Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Museum of Transport and Technology Papatoetoe Railway Station Preservation Trust Railway Enthusiasts Society Rotorua Ngongotaha Railway Trust Waikino Victoria Battery Tramway and Museum Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club
Lower North Island	East Coast Museum of Technology Feilding and District Steam Rail Society Fell Locomotive Museum Gisborne City Vintage Railway Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Main Trunk Rail Ohakune New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Ormondville Rail Preservation Society Paekakariki Station Precinct Trust Pahiatua Railcar Society Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust Silver Stream Railway Steam Incorporated SteamRail Wanganui Tramways Whanganui Trust Tokomaru Steam Museum Wairarapa Railway Restoration Society Waitara Railway Preservation Society Wellington and Manawatu Railway Trust Wellington Heritage Multiple Unit Preservation Trust Wellington Tramway Museum
South Island	Blenheim Riverside Railway Canterbury Railway Society Canterbury Steam Preservation Society Diesel Traction Group Ferrymead Railway Ferrymead Two Foot Railway Kingston Flyer Lumsden Heritage Trust Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Midland Rail Heritage Trust National Railway Museum of New Zealand Nelson Railway Society Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society Ocean Beach Railway Ohai Railway Board Heritage Trust Pleasant Point Museum and Railway Project Steam Reefton Historic Trust Board Dunedin Railways (inc. Otago Excursion Train Trust) The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum Tramway Historical Society Waimea Plains Railway Weka Pass Railway West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society (inc. Shantytown) Westland Heritage Park Westport Railway Preservation Society