New Zealand
Some pictures of heritage railways taken by Robin Stanton when he lived in New Zealand. Main line railways in both North and South Islands are 3'6'' gauge, fully electric or diesel since the late 1960s on the North Island and October 1971 on the South Island. There are numerous preserved railways and sites.
A famous line on the North Island was the Rimutaka Incline, a 3-mile-long (4.8 km), 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge railway on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the original Wairarapa Line. Opened in October 1878 it was in operation until replacement by a new line in October 1955.
The Fell Museum has the surviving loco from the Rimutaka Incline. H199 is an 0-4-2 rack tank built by Avonside Engine Co, Bristol, its worksplate 1075 of 1875 is shown above right. Avonside constructed four locos of this class for the line.
Neilson of Glasgow also built a couple of the Rimutaka locos, the worksplate off 3469 of 1886 has survived.
Avonside 1207 of 1877 was a class L 2-4-0T on New Zealand Government Railways until 1903 when it was transferred to the Public Works Department. In 1948 it was sold to Wilsons Portland Cement Co where it worked until 1974 and is now preserved at The Silver Stream Railway, Wellington.
The Silver Stream Railway opened at Upper Hutt, near Wellington, in 1986 on an old trackbed. Left is a signal gantry along the line. Above is RM 30 a railcar built in 1938.
RM 30 at the station alongside oil fired class Ka 4-8-4 935 which is newer than RM30, having been built in 1941 at Hutt Workshops. After preservation Ka935 worked in various years from 1973 but has been out of use since 2003.
More information about the railway can be found at https://www.silverstreamrailway.org.nz
Left above and above: Two views of 935 on the journey. The loco glimpsed on the rear of the train is 847, pictured below.
Left : Close up shot of 935 - it's a big powerful loco on 3'6'' gauge, equivalent of anything seen on the same gauge in South Africa.
847 is a class C 2-6-2 designed for heavy shunting but with a light axle load. It was used in preservation from 1994 to 2016 but now requires overhaul. Note the sloped back shunting tender.
Robin always took pictures of diesels as well as steam. This Bo-Bo diesel electric was one of 15 built by English Electric Co, Preston, UK, in the early 1950s and used for shunting and transfer work.
1410 is one of a large class of General Motors A1A-A1A diesel electrics introduced in the mid 1950s to replace steam on N Z Government Railway main line services.
Ja 1271 is a 4-8-2 built in 1956 at Hillside Workshops, Dunedin, one of the last batch of steam locos for N Z Government Railways. It worked express trains on the South Island until late 1970. Having spent some years in the 1970s as a washout boiler, it was eventually returned to working order and was back in use on heritage trains in 1997, being certified for main line work. It is still working in 2023 for Steam Incorporated. Earlier 4-8-2s were 40 locos of the J class from North British Loco Co in 1939; from 1947 new 4-8-2s were designated class Ja with a batch of 16 from NBL and 35 from Hillside. They were a fast running loco with speeds up to 70 miles per hour, pretty impressive for 3' 6'' gauge.
The Glenbrook Vintage Railway was founded in 1970 to preserve, rebuild, and operate the old Waiuku Branch Railway between Glenbrook and Waiuku.
This delightful 2-4-4-2 compund Mallet worked for the Taupo Totara Timber Co until 1945. It languished in a scrapyard for some years before acquisition for preservation and was restored to steam in 1977. No.4 worked on the GVR until 2000.
Seven Climax geared steam locos were imported to New Zealand from the USA for work on logging railways. Four survive in preservation, this is 1203, a class B Climax at Shantytown Heritage Park, Greymouth where it worked from 1980 to 2002.
663 is a class Ab 4-6-2, built by New Zealand Railways Addington Workshops in 1917. This was a big class with others built by Price and North British Loco. 663 worked on the North I sland until transfer to the South Island in later years. It has been both an oil and coal burner in its life. It hauls main line tours for the Mainline Steam Heritage Trust.
Ab 663 in immaculate condition for this Anzac Steam Special at Wellington railway station.
A piece of heavy kit for the NZ Railways was this large 40 ton crane made by Craven Bros, Reddish, Stockport, UK.