NZR S Class
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The NZR S class (later WAGR I class) was a class of seven 0-6-4T
single Fairlie A Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended (a double Fairlie) or single ended (a single Fairlie). Fairlies are most famously associated with the Ffestiniog Rail ...
steam locomotive 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 ...
s used in New Zealand.


History

The locomotives were ordered by 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 New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...
(NZR) in 1880, and delivered from the Avonside engine works in 1881–1882. The S Class Locomotive's driving Wheels were intentionally built not rigidly fixed to the Frame like a conventional Locomotive. This benefited New Zealand Lines as curves can be sharp and short. This allowed them to operate on lines such as the old Wairarapa Line Route up the Rimutaka Ranges from Upper Hutt to Summit more easily. https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/23874 They were considerably larger than the earlier R class, and which saw service in the
Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...
district and the
Remutaka Ranges The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east ...
, with its abundance of sharp curves and grades. These two classes of Single Fairlies were considerably more popular with the engine crews than their older Double Fairlie counterparts, which often suffered frame breakages whilst operating in the Wanganui district.


Sale to WAGR

In 1891 despite complaining of a lack of motive power, the residing
chief mechanical engineer Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...
T.F. Rotheram arranged the shipment of three of this class to the
Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...
(WAGR), where they were classified as the I class. They remained in service for WAGR until 1900.


See also

*
NZR E class (1872) The NZR E class of Double Fairlie steam locomotives were two different types of Fairlie steam locomotives, used on New Zealand's railway network. They were the first classes to take that designation, followed by the E class Mallet compound ...
*
NZR B class (1874) The NZR B class of 1874 was the first of two steam locomotive classes to be designated as B by the Railways Department that then oversaw New Zealand's national rail network (the second B class was introduced in 1899). Ordered from the Avonsid ...
*
NZR R class The NZR R class was a class of early 0-6-4T single Fairlie steam locomotives operated by New Zealand's Railways Department (NZR) between 1879 and 1936. Introduction In the 1870s New Zealand's railway network was a small, fragmented system of l ...
*
Locomotives of New Zealand Locomotives of New Zealand is a complete list of all locomotive classes that operate or have operated in Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway network. It does not include locomotives used on List of New Zealand railway lines#Bush ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * {{WAGR Locomotives S class I WAGR class 0-6-4T locomotives Avonside locomotives Fairlie locomotives 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of New Zealand Scrapped locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1880 Passenger locomotives