The NZR O class consisted of six

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 ...

that operated on

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 ...

's national rail network. Ordered from the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in 1885, three arrived in time to begin work in December 1885, while two more were placed in service in January 1886, and the sixth in February 1886. After almost four decades of service, all six were withdrawn in May 1922. None survived to be preserved, although two engine frames and 5 tenders from O-class locomotives are known to exist near Summit on the former Rimutaka Incline. The Baldwin and Rogers locomotives reflected the styling adopted in the 1870s by American builders with elements from the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

and

Neo Baroque The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term is used to describe architecture and architectu ...

architectural styles, and Islamic, e.g. Moorish (from Alhambra) influences. Bold colours and painted decorations were used. Many Baldwin locomotives were in Olive Green ground colour, although the Baldwin N and O classes of the 1880s had Tuscan Red ground colour.''New Zealand's Early American Locomotives: The Design, Art and Architecture of the K, T and O Class Locomotives Part 2'' by David Fletcher: "New Zealand Railfan", March 2015 pages 33-49: Volume 21 No 2

External links

Baldwin Steam Trust statistics on the O classPlan of an O class locomotive by Derek Brown

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * O 2-8-0 locomotives 1′D n2 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Scrapped locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1885 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of New Zealand {{NewZealand-rail-transport-stub