NZR WJ class
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 The former WMR second No. 3 locomotive as NZR 466, WJ class. Godber Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The NZR WJ class was a lone steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works for service on New Zealand's private Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR). It acquired the WJ classification when the publicly owned New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) purchased the WMR and its locomotive fleet in 1908.[2]
Introduction
[edit]The locomotive entered service in July 1904 with WMR road No. 3 (reused). It was the first WMR locomotive to have piston valves.[3]
A large 2-8-4T tank engine nicknamed Jumbo, it was based at Wellington for all its life. It was used as a banker out of Wellington up the Ngaio bank to Johnsonville, which had long grades of 1 in 40 up to Crofton (Ngaio) and Khandallah and tunnels No 1 to 5.[4]
It ran 67,907 mi (109,286 km) by 29 February 1908.[5] Jumbo was allegedly hated by both drivers and firemen, but all agreed that it was extremely strong and durable. Like all Baldwin locomotives, it had cast bar frames; in this case, they gave considerable trouble, for they persistently broke immediately behind the smokebox saddle.[2]
When taken into the NZR fleet in 1908, it was allocated its own class and NZR No. 466. With a tendency for breaking its frames on the heavy banking duty, Jumbo saw little service after 1920.
Withdrawal
[edit]The locomotive was withdrawn in 1927 and written off on 31 March 1928.[6] The boiler was sent to the Taumarunui locomotive depot for use as a washout boiler.[7]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ "The former WMR second No. 3 locomotive as NZR 466, WJ class". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- ^ a b Palmer & Stewart 1965, p. 97.
- ^ Hoy 1972, p. 69.
- ^ Cassells 1994, pp. 110, 155, 166.
- ^ Cassells 1994, p. 155.
- ^ Lloyd 1974, p. 45.
- ^ Palmer & Stewart 1965, p. 96.
Bibliography
[edit]- Cassells, Ken (1994). Uncommon Carrier: The History of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, 1882-1908. New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society. ISBN 0-908573-63-4.
- Hoy, Douglas (1972). West of the Tararuas: An Illustrated History of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Co. Dunedin: Southern Press.
- Lloyd, W. G. (1974). Register of New Zealand Railways Steam Locomotives 1863-1971 (2nd ed.). Otago Railway and Locomotive Society & Triple M Publications. ISBN 0-9582072-1-6.
- McGavin, T. A. The Manawatu Line (Wellington NZRLS, 1958, 2nd edn 1982) ISBN 0-908573-35-9
- Palmer, A. N.; Stewart, W. W. (1965). Cavalcade of New Zealand Locomotives. Wellington: A H. & A W. Reed. ISBN 978-0-207-94500-7.
- Stewart, W. W. (1974). When Steam was King. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 978-0-589-00382-1.
