The NZR W^D class was a class of

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that 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 locom ...

built by

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

to operate on New Zealand's

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 ...

. Essentially a more advanced version of 1898's W^B class, the eighteen members of the W^D class were ordered in 1901 and most entered service that year, though three were not introduced until the start of 1902. Based in locations all around the country, from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in the north to

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in the south, the W^D class were suitable for a variety of trains from freight to suburban passenger services. Withdrawal of the class began with W^D 356 in January 1933, with the final three, 327, 359, and 360, written off in March 1936. A number were not actually scrapped or dumped but were sold to work on private industrial lines.

Industrial use

Although designed as a large suburban tank locomotive, four W^D class locomotives were sold for industrial use after withdrawal by NZR. W^D 316 and W^D 356 were sold in April 1934 and January 1933 to Wilton Collieries Ltd. for use on their

private line In telecommunication, a private line is typically a telephone company service that uses a dedicated, usually unswitched point-to-point circuit, but it may involve private switching arrangements, or predefined transmission physical or virtual path ...

between Ngauruwahia and Glen Massey; both were listed as unserviceable by 1935 and were sold for scrap. W^D 317 was sold in December 1934 to the

Ohai Railway Board The Ohai Railway Board (ORB) was a short railway in Southland, New Zealand. The railway line itself still exists as the Ohai branch line, but the ORB was dissolved in 1990, and in 1992 the Southland District Council sold the board's assets to New ...

for use on their private railway between Ohai and Wairio. This locomotive remained in working order up until 1944, when it was placed in storage and scrapped in 1952. W^D 357 was withdrawn in March 1935 and placed in storage before it was sold to the Timaru Harbour Board in 1938. It remained in use at Timaru until 1964, when it was donated to the

New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society The New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Inc is a society of railway enthusiasts, based in Wellington. It was incorporated in 1958. The society archives are in the ''Thomas McGavin Building'' on Ava railway station's former goods yard in t ...

's Canterbury Branch for preservation on the

Ferrymead Railway The Ferrymead Railway is a New Zealand heritage railway built upon the track formation of New Zealand's first public railway, from Ferrymead to Christchurch, which opened on 1 December 1863. On the opening of the line to Lyttelton on 9 December 1 ...

Preservation

W^D 357, preserved at Ferrymead Railway, is still fitted with its original boiler and is currently in storage pending overhaul to working order. During the 1990s, the remains of W^D 356 were discovered at Konini, near

Pahiatua , image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shi ...

. It had been dumped for erosion protection during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; the frames of the locomotive had been separated into three sections, comprising the front, centre and trailing sections and buried along the riverbank. The front and centre sections were salvaged by Hugh McCracken and moved to

Steam Incorporated Steam Incorporated, often abbreviated to Steam Inc., is a railway heritage and preservation society based at the Paekākāriki railway station, Paekākāriki at the southern end of the Kapiti Coast, approximately 50 minutes north of Wellington on ...

's depot at Paekakariki. The remains of the locomotive were moved to the

Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust is a non-profit, charitable trust in New Zealand that was established in 2003 with the objective of reinstating an operating heritage railway over the Remutaka Ranges using the original route of the Wa ...

's workshops at Maymorn in 2006, pending restoration.

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