The 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...

 DSC class is a heavy shunting locomotive used throughout New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The class was built in seven batches, the first 18 locomotives being built by British Thomson-Houston

British Thomson-Houston

British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, with the remainder being built by New Zealand Railways.

The class is widely used in both the North

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 and South

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 Islands of New Zealand, mainly for heavy yard shunting, although some members of the class have been used for local mainline shunting services. All members of the class are now fitted with shunters refuges, and most are fitted with remote control capabilities.

Withdrawal and preservation

As part of the program of the New Zealand Railways Corporation to rationalise the locomotive fleet in the late 1980s, a number of the older mainly British Thomson-Houston built locomotives were scrapped. One British Thomson Houston locomotive has been saved and has been brought by the Alliance Group Limited for use at their Pukeuri Plant on the outskirts of Oamaru.

One class member has been sold to Mainline Steam, and is used as their depot shunting locomotive at Plimmerton. Another is owned by the Waitara Railway Preservation Society and is currently used hauling passenger trains between Waitara and Lepperton.

Class register

TMS No.	Original No.	Builder	Introduced	Withdrawn	Current Livery	Status	Allocated to	Notes
DSC 2000	400	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2013	401	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2026	402	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2039	403	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2041	404	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2054	405	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2067	406	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			Alliance White	In service	South Island	Pukeuri Freezing Works, Oamaru Oamaru Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both... .
DSC 2082	407	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2095	408	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2107	409	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2122	410	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2135	411	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2148	412	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2150	413	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2163	414	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2176	415	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2189	416	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2191	417	BTH British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...			International Orange	Scrapped
DSC 2203	418	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2216	419	NZR			Toll Rail ("Corn Cob")	Scrapped	North Island	Locomotive caught fire.
DSC 2229	420	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2231	421	NZR			International Orange	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2244	422	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2257	423	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2272	424	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2285	425	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Under Overhaul	Hutt Workshops	KiwiRail repaint
DSC 2298	426	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Scrapped	South Island
DSC 2312	427	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2325	428	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	South Island
DSC 2338	429	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2340	430	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2353	431	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	South Island
DSC 2366	432	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	South Island
DSC 2379	433	NZR			KiwiRail	In service	North Island
DSC 2381	434	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2394	435	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2419	437	NZR			KiwiRail	In service	North Island
DSC 2421	438	NZR			Alliance Yellow	In service	South Island	Alliance Works, Lorneville.
DSC 2434	439	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Under Overhaul	North Island	KiwiRail repaint
DSC 2447	440	NZR			KiwiRail	In service	South Island
DSC 2462	441	NZR			Toll Rail ("Corn Cob")	In service	South Island
DSC 2475	442	NZR			International Orange	Scrapped	South Island
DSC 2488	443	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2490	444	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2502	445	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	South Island
DSC 2515	446	NZR			KiwiRail	In service	North Island
DSC 2528	447	NZR			International Orange	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2530	448	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2543	449	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2556	450	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2569	451	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2571	452	NZR			International Orange	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2584	453	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Preserved	North Island	Waitara Railway Preservation Society Waitara Railway Preservation Society The Waitara Railway Preservation Society is a society established in 1999 to operate a heritage railway over the former Waitara Branch Railway that operated between Lepperton and Waitara in the New Plymouth District of New Zealand's North Island... , Waitara Waitara Waitara is the name of a number of localities:* Waitara, New South Wales* Waitara, Queensland* Waitara, New Zealand* Waitara River in Taranaki, New Zealand... .
DSC 2597	454	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	North Island
DSC 2624	457	NZR			KiwiRail	In service	North Island
DSC 2652	459	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	South Island
DSC 2665	460	NZR			KiwiRail	In service	North Island
DSC 2678	461	NZR			Tranz Rail Black ("Bumble Bee")	In service	South Island
DSC 2680	462	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	Under Overhaul	North Island	KiwiRail repaint
DSC 2693	463	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	South Island
DSC 2705	464	NZR			KiwiRail	In service	North Island
DSC 2718	465	NZR			Tranz Rail Blue	In service	South Island
DSC 2720	466	NZR			Toll Rail ("Corn Cob")	In service	North Island
DSC 2733	467	NZR			International Orange	Scrapped	North Island
DSC 2746	468	NZR			Tranz Rail Black ("Bumble Bee")	In service	North Island
DSC 2759	469	NZR			Mainline Steam Blue	Preserved	North Island	Mainline Steam Mainline Steam Mainline Steam is a New Zealand organisation devoted to the restoration and operation of historic New Zealand Railways mainline steam locomotives. Regular day excursions and multi-day tours are operated over rail lines throughout New Zealand... , Plimmerton Plimmerton The township of Plimmerton is adjacent to one of the more congenial beaches in the northwest part of the Wellington urban area of Porirua in New Zealand... .

External links

• NZ Rolling Stock - Preserved NZR diesels