The NZR P class was a class of two ST locomotives built to work on the government-owned national rail network of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1876. They were initially ordered by the

Otago Provincial Council The Otago Province was a Provinces of New Zealand, province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the provin ...

, but they were soon incorporated into the national locomotive fleet when the provinces were abolished. Other examples of the P class were built for industrial service and never came under the ownership of the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway infrastruc ...

, though one worked on the Kaitangata Line.

History

The two P class locomotives owned by the Railways Department were known as ''Kiwi'' and ''Weka'' and they soon passed to the ownership of others, allowing the P classification to be used again in 1885. ''Weka'' was the first to leave the ownership of the Railways Department in 1882, when it was acquired by the

Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR or W&MR) was a private rail transport, railway Railway company, company that built, owned and operated the Wellington–Manawatu Line, Wellington-Manawatu railway line between Thorndon, New Zeal ...

, who used it for construction and maintenance purposes until 1898. It then came into the possession of the Manawatu County Council's

Sanson Tramway The Sanson Tramway in the Manawatū region of New Zealand operated from 1885 until 1945. Owned by the Manawatu County Council, it connected with the national railway network at Himatangi on the Foxton Branch. It was never part of the nationa ...

, who operated it until 1922, when it passed into the ownership of Mangawhero Sawmilling Co at Karioi and was ultimately scrapped in 1932. ''Kiwi'' left the Railways Department's ownership a few years after ''Weka'', just before the arrival of the second P class in 1885. It worked for a number of sawmilling companies throughout the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

for over half a century, but was derelict in 1956.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

History of some P class members
P class 0-6-0ST locomotives C n2t locomotives Scrapped locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1876 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of New Zealand {{NewZealand-rail-transport-stub

History

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links