NZR

New Zealand Railways Department

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 reformed in 1981 into the New...

 A 88 was a railway passenger carriage

Railroad car

A railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...

 converted into the Buckhurst petrol carriage railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

in 1924. It was the only railcar operated by NZR not designated as a member of the NZR RM class

NZR RM class

The RM class is the classification used by the New Zealand Railways Department and its successors given to most railcars and railbuses that have operated on New Zealand's national rail network. As NZR and its successors has operated many diverse types of railcars, alternate names have been given...

; while a railcar, it retained the designation of A 88. This designation was wholly unrelated to the steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 A class of 1873

NZR A class (1873)

The A class was the second class of steam locomotive ordered to work on New Zealand's national railways. It should not be confused with the more numerous A class 4-6-2 tender locomotives of 1906. Initially ordered by the Public Works Department for use in the construction of lines, the A class...

 or A class of 1906

NZR A class (1906)

The A class were steam locomotives built in 1906 with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement for New Zealand's national railway network, and described by some as the most handsome engines to run on New Zealand rails. The class should not be confused with the older and more obscure A class of 1873. They were...

.

History

In the 1910s, NZR began experimenting with railcar technology to cater for passengers on routes that could not economically support locomotive-hauled dedicated passenger trains and thus had to settle for undesirably slow mixed train

Mixed train

A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...

s (freight trains with passenger carriages attached). World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and its subsequent economic impacts brought research to a halt after three unsuccessful experiments. In 1924, work resumed at Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

's Addington Workshops

Addington Workshops

The Addington Railway Workshops was a major railway facility established in the Christchurch suburb of Addington in May 1880 by the New Zealand Railways Department. The workshops were previously in Carlyle Street and closed in 1990.-Description:...

 after a local engineer, E. B. Buckhurst, was given approval to convert a regular passenger carriage into a railcar. A 88 was the carriage chosen for the task; it had been imported from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1878 and prior to its renovation, it provided seated accommodation for second class passengers.

Technical details

A 88 was fitted with a unique gearbox designed by Buckhurst. Power was provided by a Hudson six cylinder petrol engine typically used by cars that was slung laterally beneath the 13 metre long, 13.5 tonne carriage. Compartments for the driver were installed at each end of the carriage, giving it a passing resemblance to tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

s of the era. A total of 48 passengers could be carried by A 88 in its railcar guise.

Trials

The first test run of the railcar was to Sandy Knolls, 27 kilometres from Addington, and subsequent trials meant the railcar covered a distance of more than 3000 km. The railcar successfully operated at a speed of 55 km/h, with its top attained speed approximately 65 km/h, but problems and faults became manifest over the trial period. The most notable problem was that the engine tended to overheat, and this combined with other flaws meant that the project became uneconomic and was abandoned before A 88 entered regular passenger service. The railcar parts were removed and sold and A 88 was returned to regular locomotive-hauled service in passenger trains after being re-converted into an un-motorised carriage.