NZR Locomotives

A summary of published research

The history of the locomotives used by the New Zealand Government Railways (NZR) is both intriguing and complex, particularly during the early years. This is brought out in several published works which attempt to unravel the complexities of early numbering and classification systems. This page and its sub-pages are intended intended to be able to be expanded to capture any level of detail desired about New Zealand railway locomotives.

The very early railway development in New Zealand was authorised by the Provincial Councils of the time, and all independent of each other, so any numbering of locomotives was also without any consideration of how things might develop in the future. It was also a period when locomotives tended to get allocated names, with some some rules around what types of locomotives received what type of name. By the time the Provincial Governments were abolished in 1876, a structure for a national railway network was already taking shape but it was not until two years later when the Railways Department and the Public Works Department were separated as two separate entities, the Railway Department in charge of running trains and the Public Works Department in charge of building railway lines (among other things), that serious thought was given to how such things as a national locomotive numbering system could be established. Given the haphazard start to railways in New Zealand, and the time that has elapsed since then, it is little wonder that understanding all the steps along the way could become a challenging task, one that was ultimately taken up by a number of different researchers.

The earliest formal publication devoted to NZR locomotives was curiously published in the U.S.A., the work of Tom McGavin, summarising the results of the work of several NZR&LS members. An address was given to Society members by Tom in 1950 and a duplicated transcript of the talk made available. An expanded version of that, with illustrations, was then published by the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in their "Bulletin 81" in the U.S.A. The work was titled ["The Steam Locomotives of New Zealand Government Railways 1872 - 1949"]. From this came the first New Zealand publication, "Steam Locomotives of New Zealand Since 1863" (1st edition 1950) with a second revised and enlarged edition in 1961. A complete update of the material covered by these early publications resulted in a set of three new volumes, Part one by T.A. McGavin dealing with 1863 - 1900, the other two by E.J. McClare, Part two dealing with 1900 - 1930 and Part three 1930 - 1971. These booklets still provide a very handy ready reference of the various steam locomotive types used throughout NZR's history.

The first attempt to document all the steam locomotives used on New Zealand railways was carried out by Bill LLoyd, and presented in a publication "NZR Steam Locomotive Lists 1880 - 1957". This was issued by the Railway and Locomotive Society as Supplement No.5 to their quarterly publication "The New Zealand Railway Observer". This first list was however not a complete story as it used the 1880 locomotive list (issued as an appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives) as a starting point, with no attempt to unravel and reconcile any earlier numbering systems. A further 10 years of research resulted in the publication of the first formal attempt to provide a complete register. The "Register of New Zealand Railways Steam Locomotives, published in 1974. 27 years later after much further research, an enlarged and revised edition was published in 2002. Both these edition are serious reference works, listing every locomotive of every class that worked on Government railway lines.

At the time of the centenary of New Zealand railways in 1963, a new work was published as a historical record of all classes of locomotives used by the New Zealand Government Railways, including Steam, Electric and Diesel. This was a collaborative effort by A. N. Palmer and W. W. Stewart and was titled "Cavalcade of New Zealand Locomotives" this is still a very useful reference, outlining all the locomotive types from 1863 to 1955 for the 1st edition, and to 1965 for the 2nd edition with a convenient Locomotive index and list of builders at the back.

As if to formally close off the Steam era, in 2011, Sean Miller published an extensive work titled "The NZR Steam Locomotive". This beautifully presented reference work covers each locomotive type, including a short section on unclassified locos, steam railcars etc. It has many fine illustrations but does lack some details you would expect to be able to find in such a well presented publications.

During the early 1960's, Peter Dyer was busy compiling data on the Public Works Department steam locomotives, a more challenging task given the dearth of early records that existed. He subsequently published a booklet in 1966 titled "Steam Locomotives of the New Zealand Public Works Department".

A separate branch of locomotive research was carried out by Gerald Petrie, looking at steam locomotives in New Zealand other than those operated by NZR. This resulted in the publication of "New Zealand Steam Locomotives by Official Number" in 1993. This was followed 3 years later by "In the Beginning", a detailed look at all locomotive data between 1863 and 1877 in an attempt to unravel most of the mysteries that surrounded certain old locomotives. Then in 2007 a detailed analysis of all available data relating to the early numbering of New Zealand Railways locomotives "Locomotive Numbering from 1890 back to 1863 - The Evidence". This is a fully documented research effort with scanned copies of all early documents found to support the conclusions reached.

While the focus of the above publications has really been on steam locomotives, soon after Tom McGavin's first publications he started producing what became a series of booklets reviewing all the motive power that was in use by NZR. While the titles varied a bit, they seemed to settle on "NZR Locomotives and Railcars" with a new issue every few years between 1953 and 1990. Among those issues there were also one publication called "NZR Locomotives", a Railmac publication from 1981, and two more extensive 'pocket' books compiled by Geoffrey Churchman from 1988 and 1992. These smaller format books listed all operating locomotives in New Zealand and grouped by NZR, Industrial and Museum.There was also a 1980 publication by E. J. McClare dedicated to diesels titled "New Zealand railways Diesels". In 2002 David Parsons published a book titled New Zealand Motive Power 2002 that reviewed each class of locomotive in use at that time. This was followed up with an updated version in 2018, so altogether there is a pretty comprehensive record of all railway motive power in New Zealand.

Locomotive Classification

The study of locomotive classification attempts to come to an understanding of why particular locomotive groups received the classification letters they ended up with, and why particular numbers were allocated to particular locomotives, perhaps not so important to the general rail-fan, but a fascinating conundrum to the serious researcher. Sean Millar made this his particular challenge and in 2001 he published a slightly controversial book titled "From A to Y excluding I", which was a first attempt at researching locomotive classification and included a fair bit of speculation where no hard evidence could be sourced, and yet a conclusion wanted to be reached. This was followed in 2018 by a new work, "Classifying New Zealand's Locomotives" being a more serious look at the classification issue and includes the diesel and electric locomotives.

There is of course much more published material available, particularly articles in periodicals like the Observer and Railfan, however these tend to look at individual locomotive classes rather than the collection as a whole. it is hoped that descriptions of these articles too will eventually be included in this wiki to help researchers locate all relevant material.

Locomotive Types

A locomotive's wheel arrangement can be described in a number of different ways, for steam locomotives, the system commonly used in New Zealand is known at the Whyte System where a sequence of numbers, separated by dashes, denotes the wheel arrangement e.g. 4-6-2. Appended to this code can be a series of letters to signify that it is a particular kind of tank locomotive e.g. 0-4-2ST. Apart from the number/letter code, some steam locomotives also had names for the particular type of wheel arrangement e.g. 4-6-2 was also known as a 'Pacific'. There is a second system used primarily in Europe so known as the Continental System and caters for steam, diesel and electric locomotives within the one system. Here in New Zealand we use that system for defining our diesel and electric locomotives, so we need to understand two systems to be able to record the wheel arrangement of any locomotive in New Zealand.

Tables of NZ Locomotive Classes

Steam Locomotives

Na ex WMR 2-6-2 1 Baldwin 1894/1908 1929 54.5 9,700 180 49 2/ 10 x 20 + 2/ 17 x 20 50'-10" 1 Baldwin 1897/1908 1929 57.1 10,800 200 50'-5" Nc ex WMR 2-6-2 1 Baldwin 1902/1908 1931 65.1 10,800 200 49 2/ 10 x 20 + 2/ 17 x 21 54'-10" 1 Baldwin 1904/1908 1931 63.3 52'-2" O 2-8-0 6 Baldwin 1885 1922 45.5 11,700 130 36 2/ 15 x 18 46'-3" Oa ex WMR 2-8-0 1 Baldwin 1894/1908 1929 57.4 13,600 180 43 2/ 11 x 20 + 2/ 18 x 20 51'-8" Ob ex WMR 2-8-0 2 Baldwin 1888/1908 1931 57.6 15,717 165 43 2/ 16 x 20 51'-3" Oc ex WMR 2-8-0 1 Baldwin 1897/1908 1930 62.8 15,110 200 43 2/ 11 x 20 + 2/ 18 x 20 51'-8" P 0-6-0T 2 Davidson/Hunslet 1876 1885 12 3,328 130 28 2/ 8 x 14 20'-1" P 2-8-0 10 Nasmyth 1886 1930 52.2 11,415 130 41 2/ 15 x 20 50'-7" Q ex R&AFR 2-4-4T 2 Rogers 1879 1901 29 4,719 130 48 2/ 11 x 18 35'-4" Q 4-6-2 13 Baldwin 1901 1957 72.1 18,340 200 49 2/ 16 x 22 55'-4" R 0-6-4T 18 Avonside 1879 1936 30 6,936 130 36 2/12.25 x 16 31'-3" S 0-4-0T 1 Hughes 1876 1886 10 3,391 110 30 2/ 8.5 x 16 unknown S 0-6-4T 7 Avonside 1882 1927 36 7,705 130 36.5 2/ 13 x 16 33' T 2-8-0 6 Baldwin 1880 1928 42.2 11,700 130 36 2/ 15 x 18 44'-10" U 4-6-0 9 Addington 1894 1959 61.5 12,136 160 54 2/ 16 x 20 50' U 10 Baldwin 1898 1902 57.2 14,591 175 49 2/ 16 x 20 49'-6" Ua 4-6-0 6 Sharp Stewart 1899 1937 62.2 14,591 175 49 2/ 16 x 20 49'-3" Ub ex U (Baldwin) 4-6-0 10 reclassified 1902 1928 57.2 14,591 175 49 2/ 16 x 20 49'-6" 10 Baldwin 1901 1957 58.3 16,670 200 49 2/ 16 x 20 49'-2" Ub 4-6-0 1 Brooks 1901 1933 63.6 18,340 200 49 2/ 16 x 22 49'-5" Ub 4-6-0 1 Richmond 1902 1933 59.6 16,510 180 49 2/ 16 x 22 48'-4" Uc 4-6-0 10 Sharp Stewart 1901 1959 62.6 18,340 200 49 2/ 16 x 22 49'-6" Ud ex WMR 4-6-0 2 Baldwin 1908 1930 66.8 15,280 185 58 2/ 16.5 x 22 51'-6" V 2-6-2 10 Nasmyth 1885/6 1927 51.2 9,551 130 49 2/ 15 x 20 48'-9" ex WMR 3 1885 1927 52.3 10,285 140 W 2-6-2T 2 Addington 1889 1959 37.2 12,888 150 36.5 2/ 14 x 20 29'-5" Wa 2-6-2T 5 Addington 1892 1962 37.2 12,623 160 39.75 2/ 14 x 20 29'-4" 6 Hillside 1898 Wa ex J class 2-6-2T 1 Petone 1917 1932 38.7 11,806 160 42.5 2/ 14 x 20 30'-6" 2 Newmarket 1918 1933 1 Hillside 1919 1936 Wab 2-6-4T 1 Addington 1918 1963 71.5 22,260 200 54 2/ 17 x 26 44'-5" 10 Hillside 1923-7 3 Price 1923-7 ex Ws class 16 1932-5 Wb ex Wa 2-6-2T 12 reclassified 1899 1957 40.7 13,412 170 39.75 2/ 14 x 20 32'-9" Wd ex Wa 18 Baldwin 1901 1936 43.7 15,780 200 39.75 2/ 14 x 20 34'-9" We ex B (Sharp) 4-6-4T 1 Addington 1902 1969 55.2 19,080 180 42.5 2/ 16 x 22 35'-9" 2 HillsideWf 2-6-4T 10 Addington 1904 1969 43.7 15,330 200 45 2/ 14 x 22 34'-2" 16 Hillside 15 PriceWg 4-6-4T 20 Hillside 1910 1956 50 15,330 200 45 2/ 14 x 22 36'-10" Wh ex WMR 2-6-2T 3 Manning Wardel 1884-6 1927 32.9 7,846 140 37 2/ 12 x 18 29'-6" Wj ex WMR 2-8-4T 1 Baldwin 1908 1927 53.6 21,510 200 43 2/ 17 x 20 37'-2" Ws 2-6-4T 1 Addington 1917 1932-5 71.5 22,260 200 54 2/ 17 x 26 44'5" 10 Hillside 1923-7 5 Price 1923-7 Ww 4-6-4T 50 Hillside 1913 1969 51.5 16,910 180 45 2/ 15.5 x 22 37' ex Wg class 10 Hutt 1940 4 Hutt 1950-2 X 4-8-2 18 Addington 1909 1957 94/95.15 45 2/ 13.5 x 22 + 2/ 22 x 22 56'-10" Y ex PWD 0-6-0T 3 Hunslet 1938 1958 25.8 10,816 160 40 2/ 13 x 20 22'-11"

Electric Multiple Units

Steam Locomotives - Imperial units

Class	Originally	Type	No Built	Builder	Start Year	End Year	Weight	Tractive Effort	Boiler Pres	Drivers	Cylinders	Length
A		0-4-0T	12	Dubs	1874/5	1906	11	3,072	120	30	2/ 8 x 15	17'-11"
			2	Yorkshire	1875
A		0-4-0T	3	Mills	1875	1885	8	3,413	100	24	2/ 8 x 16	16'-6"
A		0-4-0ST	2	Shanks	1876	1882	10	3,004	110	30	2/ 8 x 16	unknown
A		4-6-2	8	Addington	1906-8	1969	76.5	17,000	225	54	2/ 12 x 22 + 2/ 19 x 22	57'-2"
			50	Price	1907-14
Aa		4-6-2	10	Baldwin	1915	1957	88.5	21,580	170	49	2/ 18 x 24	58'-5"
Ab		4-6-2	38	Addington	1915-24	1969	84.7	20,030	180	54	2/ 17 x 26	62'-5"
			83	North British
			20	Price
	ex Wab		11	Hillside
Ab	ex A class	4-6-2	1	Addington	1915	1969	77	20,030	180	54	2/ 17 x 26	56'-10"
Ad	ex A class	4-6-2	30	reclassification	1910	1915	80.55	20,060	190	54	2/ 18 x 22	57'-2"
B		0-4-4-0T	2	Avonside	1874	1896	28	6,912	130	39	4/ 9 x 16	31'-2"
B		4-8-0	4	Sharp Stewart	1899	1967	65	18,662	175	42.25	2/ 16 x 22	51'-9"
			6	Addington
Ba		4-8-0	10	Addington	1911	1969	69.4	18,550	175	42.5	2/ 16 x 22	52'-3"
Bb		4-8-0	30	Price	1915	1968	69	20,940	175	42.5	2/ 17 x 22	52'-8"
Bc		2-8-2	1	Baldwin	1908	1927	71.4	16,080	200	43	2/11.5 x 20 + 2/19 x 20	55'-7"
C		0-4-0ST	16	Neilson	1874	1879	15.7	5,198	120	30	2/ 9.5 x 18	21'-3"
				Dubs	1875
C	ex C 0-4-0ST	0-4-2ST	16	reclassification	1879	1922	15.7	5,198	120	30	2/ 9.5 x 18	21'-3"
C		2-6-2	12	Hutt	1930	1968	66.5	15,330	200	45	2/ 14 x 22	54'-6"
			12	Hillside
D		2-4-0T	17	Neilson	1874	1927	14.7	4,693	130	36	2/ 9.5 x 18	21'-6"
			5	Dubs
			11	Scott
D		0-4-0T	1	Clayton	1930	1936	25.7	5,600	300	42	4/ 7 x 10	22'-4"
E	Ex D&PCR	0-4-4-0T	2	Vulcan	1873	1899	28	8,320	130	45	4/ 10 x 18	32'-10"
E		0-4-4-0T	6	Avonside	1875	1899	34	9,600	130	39	4/ 10 x 18	34'-2"
E		2-6-6-0T	1	Petone	1906	1917	65.8	24,200	200	36.5	4/ 9.5 x 18 + 4/16 x 18	39'-9"
F		0-6-0ST	26	Avonside	1873	1964	19.2	5,733	130	36	2/ 10.5 x 18	32'-4"
			1	Black Hawthorn	1874
			21	Dubs	1878-84
			12	Neilson	1872-88
			12	Stephenson	1885-6
			5	Yorkshire	1874
			11	Vulcan	1875-87
Fa	ex F class	0-6-0T	5	Addington	1892	1943	24	9,090	160	36.5	2/ 12 x 18	23'-4"
			3	Newmarket
			4	Petone
Fa	13 ex Fb class	0-6-2T	12	reclassification	1905	1943	29.3	9,090	160	36.5	2/ 12 x 18	27'-1"
			6	Addington	1902-3
	ex F class		1	Westport
Fb	ex Fa class	0-6-2T	13	recassification	1900-5	1905	29.3	9,090	160	36.5	2/ 12 x 18	27'-1"
G		4-4-0ST	4	Black Hawthorn	1875	1919	18.2	5,733	130	36	4/ 10.5 x 18	24'-3"
G		4-6-2+2-6-4	3	Beyer Peacock	1929	1937	145.8	51,584	200	57	6/ 16.5 x 24	84'-4"
G	ex G class	4-6-2	6	Hillside	1937	1956	98.5	25,792	200	57	3/ 16.5 x 24	64'-6"
H		0-4-2T	4	Avonside	1877	1956	34	19,510	130	32 + 23.5	2/14 x 16 + 2/12 x 14	24'-1"
			2	Neilson	1886		36
J		2-6-0	6	Avonside	1875-76	1935	38	9,707	130	42	2/ 14 x 20	41' 1"
			4	Dubs	1879
			5	Neilson	1880
			5	Stephenson	1880
			12	Vulcan	1883-85
J		4-8-2	40	North British	1939	1971	109	24,960	200	54	2/ 18 x 26	67'-0"
Ja		4-8-2	35	Hillside	1946-56	1971	109.45	24,960	200	54	2/ 18 x 26	67'-0"
			16	North British	1952
Jb	Ex J class	4-8-2	12	reclassification	1948	1971	108.9	24,960	200	54	2/ 18 x 26	67'-0"
K		2-4-2	8	Rogers	1878	1927	42.5	6,240	130	48	2/ 12 x 20	45'-7"
K		4-8-4	30	Hutt	1932	1967	135.6	30,815	200	54	2/ 20 x 26	69'-8"
Ka		4-8-4	25	Hutt	1939	1967	145.9	30,815	200	54	2/ 20 x 26	69'-8"
			10	Hillside
Kb		4-8-4	6	Hillside	1939	1969	147.7	30815/36815	200	54/36	2/ 20 x 26 + 2/ 7 x 10	69'-8"
L		2-4-0T	10	Avonside	1878	1903	18.5	5,733	130	36	2/ 10.5 x 18	24'-1"
L	ex L(Av)	4-4-2T	2	Neilson	1899	1939	31.5	7,806	160	42.5	2/ 12 x 18	29'-9"
			1	Hillside	Rowspan=2								1900
			1	Petone
L	ex L (Av)	4-4-0T	2	Newmarket	1900-02	1939	26.6	7,806	160	42.5	2/ 12 x 18	26'-2"
			1	Petone
La		4-4-2T	3	Petone	1903	1939	31.5	7,806	160	42.5	2/ 12 x 18	29'-9"
La		4-4-0T	5	Nasmyth	1895	1928	25	6,451	140	45	2/ 12 x 18	26'-2"
M		0-6-0T	4	Hunslet	1876	1928	27.7	10,240	160	42	2/ 12.25 x 20	25'-5"
N		2-6-2	6	Baldwin	1885	1934	45.2	9,551	130	49	2/ 15 x 20	49'-2
	ex WMR		2		1895		50.8	10,285	140			50'-2'
	4		1901		54.2		14,660	200	48'-11"