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...

 T class was a class of 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...

 used in 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...

.

History

By the late 1870s there was a distinct need for a powerful type of locomotive to operate the steep section of the Main South Line

Main South Line

The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...

 between Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

 and 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...

. As the success of the K class

NZR K class (1877)

The NZR Rogers K class was the first example of American-built locomotives to be used on New Zealand's railways. Their success coloured locomotive development in New Zealand until the end of steam.-History:...

 demonstrated the suitability of American locomotives to New Zealand's railways, an order was placed with the Baldwin Locomotive Works

Baldwin Locomotive Works

The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

 in 1879 for six 2-8-0

2-8-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...

 tender locomotive

Tender locomotive

A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...

s. Based on a design already used for the Denver and Rio Grande, it was much less decorative than the K class, but this did not detract from its performance capabilities. The largest and most powerful locomotives in the country upon their introduction, the backhead of the boiler protruded a very long way into the cab leaving very little room for the driver

Railroad engineer

A railroad engineer, locomotive engineer, train operator, train driver or engine driver is a person who drives a train on a railroad...

 or fireman.

In service

Because of its small diameter driving wheels, the T class was typically limited to a speed of 29 km/h (18 mph). Accordingly, it was usually assigned to freight trains. In their heyday, the T class generally hauled services on the Otago Central Railway and the Main South Line

Main South Line

The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...

 between Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

 and 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...

. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the class received new boilers of a Belpaire

Belpaire firebox

The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium. It has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox, improving heat transfer and steam production...

 design, fitted with Westinghouse air brakes and two were moved north to Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 to assist on the newly opened North Island Main Trunk Railway. Most were also fitted with steel cabs in place of the original wooden ones, although the design fitted varied from locomotive to locomotive.

As time progressed, more powerful, newer locomotives progressively displaced the T class, with the four South Island

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...

-based members of the class (103-106) known to have been relegated to the quiet, lowly trafficked Tokarahi Branch

Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches

The Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches were two connected railway branch lines in northern Otago, New Zealand, part of the national rail network. The Ngapara Branch opened in 1877 and almost all of it closed in 1959; the remaining few kilometres, called the Waiareka Industrial Line, were removed in...

. A number of the class were modified for use as yard shunters. This involved the fitting of a tender cab and moving the tender body back on the frame to provide more room for the fireman.

Withdrawal and disposal

The first of the T class were withdrawn in 1922, with the last example withdrawn in 1924. Some managed to survive long enough to be dumped or have components dumped when the NZR started dumping locomotives for embankment protection in 1926.

List of locomotives

Key:	In Service	Leased to ARTA	Withdrawn	Preserved	Under Repair	Scrapped

Number	Builder	Builder's Number	Entered service	Withdrawn	Notes
101	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4660
102	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4661			Transferred to North Island, modified for shunting. Dumped Westfield 1929? Exhumed during 1930's and sent to Japan as scrap.
103	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4664
104	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4665			Tender dumped in the Bealey River Bealey River The Bealey River is a small river located in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. It is a tributary of the Waimakariri River. Its valley forms the eastern approach to Arthur's Pass... .
105	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4666
106	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4667			Withdrawn at Dunedin, last T locomotive in service. Locomotive and tender dumped at Mt White, 1926.