The

NZR RM class The RM class was the classification used by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) and its successors gave to most railcars and railbuses that have operated on New Zealand's national rail network. "RM" stands for Rail Motor which was the co ...

McEwan Pratt petrol rail motor (misspelt as ''MacEwan-Pratt'' by some authors) was the first

rail motor A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

to run 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 ...

national rail network In United States railroading, the term national rail network, sometimes termed "U.S. rail network", refers to the entire network of interconnected standard gauge rail lines in North America. It does not include most subway or light rail lines. F ...

, though it was never used in revenue service. It was built in 1912 at a time when 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 ...

(NZR) was seeking alternative methods of providing rural passenger transportation. "Mixed" trains that carried both passengers and freight were typical on country

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

s as there was not sufficient traffic to justify a separate passenger train, but the schedule delays caused by loading and unloading freight during the journey made the mixed trains undesirable.

Introduction

NZR began investigating whether railcars could provide a more efficient passenger service with low operating costs. At the time, railcar technology was new and the rugged nature of New Zealand's terrain made the task of finding a successful design more difficult. The railcar's four-cylinder petrol engine and running gear were supplied by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

company

McEwan Pratt McEwan Pratt (full name: McEwan, Pratt & Co Ltd) was a manufacturer of narrow-gauge internal combustion locomotives, founded around 1905 in Wickford, Essex. It produced a wide variety of locomotives and railcars, but failed as a business and bec ...

, a predecessor of

Baguley Cars Ltd Baguley Cars Ltd (later Baguley (Engineers) Ltd, then E. E. Baguley Ltd) was a British engineering company, specialising in railway locomotives. it was founded in 1911 by Ernest E. Baguley and subsequently acquired by Drewry Car Co to form ...

. Its 4.87-metre long wooden body, which resembled a tram of that era, was built at the Railways Department's

Newmarket Workshops The Newmarket Workshops in Auckland were a major New Zealand Railways Department facility, one of 13 workshops nationwide. It was one of two main railway workshops of Auckland, used mainly for maintenance; the older facility at Newmarket was rep ...

. The engine was located in the middle of the railcar with transmission provided by chain drive to just one of the two axles. A total of twelve people could be seated in the gas-illuminated passenger compartment, and driver's controls were at just one end despite the tram resemblance. On a trial run between Frankton and

Putāruru Putāruru is a small town in the South Waikato District and the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It lies on the western side of the Mamaku Ranges and in the upper basin of the Waihou River. It is on the Oraka Stream 65 kilometres s ...

in early 1913, it reached a speed of 50 km/h, at the time a fast speed for a rural line in New Zealand. It then broke down, and after attempts to fix it were fruitless, research in different directions was undertaken. NZR dismantled it in May 1913.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * Wellington Tramway Museum, ''Where Railcars Roamed'' (Wellington: Wellington Tramway Museum, 1999), p. 4. {{NZR Locomotives Railcars of New Zealand Rail transport in New Zealand Petrol railcars