The NZR J class were

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

with the wheel arrangement of

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. T ...

that were built in 1874 to operate on the New Zealand Railways (NZR). The J class was the first class of locomotive in New Zealand to have a tender; all previous classes were

tank engines A tank locomotive is a steam locomotive which carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomotive a tender h ...

Introduction

The first batch built consisted of six locomotives built by the

Avonside Engine Company The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company. Origins The firm was original ...

and they entered service in 1874 in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Ten more were built in 1879, with a dozen more from

Vulcan Foundry The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside). History The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossi ...

in 1883. One was lost at sea while being delivered, and a replacement was built the following year.

Service

They spread beyond Canterbury and could also be found working in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

, and

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

. The J class worked well whether it was pulling a long goods train or operating important passenger services in the early days of the

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

, but as traffic increased, it was superseded by more powerful locomotives and in 1917-18, four members of the class were converted to

2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The maj ...

tank engines (the W^A class) to perform shunting duties in yards.

Withdrawals

By 1935, all 32 original J class locomotives had reached the end of their usefulness and were discarded, and none survived to be preserved.

Surviving relics

Although none were preserved, relics of J class locomotives can still be seen to this day at sites where NZR dumped withdrawn equipment. A locomotive dump at

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

had five J class engines dumped there, J's 15, 82, 83, 116, and 117, although most of these were removed from the seawall by protection works carried out by ONTRACK in 2008—2009. This dump was also the location of W^A 120, which was one of the J's rebuilt as tank engines. Elsewhere, J 61 was dumped without cylinders at

Branxholme Branxholme is a hamlet in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, overlooking the River Teviot, southwest of Hawick, on the A7 road to Langholm. Nearby are Ale Water, Alemoor Loch, Burnfoot, Borthwick Water, Colterscleugh Monument, Robert ...

and other miscellaneous components, large and small were dumped in other dump site locations.

References

Bibliography

* * {{NZR Locomotives J class (1874) 2-6-0 locomotives 1′C n2 locomotives Avonside locomotives Dübs locomotives Neilson locomotives Robert Stephenson and Company locomotives Vulcan Foundry locomotives Scrapped locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1874 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of New Zealand