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 system. The Department was created in 1880 and was corporatised on 1 April 1982 into the
New Zealand Railways Corporation.
Originally, railway construction and operation took place under the auspices of the former
provincial governments and some private railways, before all of the provincial operations came under the central
Public Works Department
This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure.
See also
* Public works
* Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
. The role of operating the rail network was subsequently separated from that of the network's construction. From 1895 to 1993 there was a responsible Minister, the
Minister of Railways
A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...
. He was often also the Minister of Public Works.
Apart from four brief experiments with independent boards, NZR remained under direct ministerial control for most of its history.
History
Originally, New Zealand's railways were constructed by
provincial governments and private firms. The largest provincial operation was the
Canterbury Provincial Railways, which opened the first public railway at
Ferrymead
Ferrymead is a suburb south-east of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the main thoroughfare for reaching the eastern sea suburbs such as Sumner, as well as home to a number of cliff-top residences and businesses along the estuary front. After th ...
on 1 December 1863. During
The Vogel Era of the late 1860s to the 1870s, railway construction by central government expanded greatly, from just in 1869 to in 1880.
Following the abolition of the provinces in 1877, the
Public Works Department
This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure.
See also
* Public works
* Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
took over the various provincial railways. Since the Public Works Department was charged with constructing new railway lines (among other public works) the day to day railway operations were transferred into a new government department on the recommendation of a parliamentary select committee. At the time of railway lines were open for traffic, in the North Island and in the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
, mainly consisting of the
Main South Line
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...
from the port of Lyttelton to Bluff.
Formation and early years
![Railway HQ Wellington](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Railway_HQ_Wellington.jpg)
The Railways Department was formed in 1880 during the premiership of Sir
John Hall. That year, the private
Port Chalmers Railway Company Limited was acquired by the department and new workshops at
Addington opened. Ironically, the first few years of NZR were marked by the
Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide price and economic recession, beginning in 1873 and running either through March 1879, or 1896, depending on the metrics used. It was most severe in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing st ...
, which led to great financial constraint on the department. As a result, the central government passed legislation to allow for the construction of more private railways. A Royal Commission, ordered by Hall, had removed plans for a railway line on the west coast of the North Island from Foxton to Wellington. Instead, in August 1881 the Railways Construction and Land Act was passed, allowing joint-stock companies to build and run private railways, as long as they were built to the government's standard
rail gauge
In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...
of and connected with the government railway lines. The Act had the effect of authorising the
Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company to build the
Wellington-Manawatu Line.
In 1877 the first American locomotives were purchased; the
NZR K class (1877) from
Rogers Rogers may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Rogers Pass (British Columbia)
* Rogers Island (Nunavut)
United States
* Rogers, Arkansas, a city
* Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement
* Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
, followed by the
NZR T class of 1879 from
Baldwin.
The most important construction project for NZR at this time was the central section of the
North Island Main Trunk
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and se ...
. Starting from
Te Awamutu on 15 April 1885, the section—including the famous
Raurimu Spiral—was not completed for another 23 years.
The economy gradually improved and in 1895 the
Liberal Government Liberal government may refer to:
Australia
In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia:
* Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...
of Premier
Richard Seddon appointed
Alfred Cadman
Sir Alfred Jerome Cadman (17 June 1847 – 23 March 1905) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party. He was the Minister of Railways from 1895 to 1899 in the Liberal Government.
Early life
Cadman was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1847 ...
as the first
Minister of Railways
A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...
. The Minister appointed a General Manager for the railways, keeping the operation under tight political control. Apart from four periods of government-appointed commissions (1889–1894, 1924–1928, 1931–1936 and 1953–1957), this system remained in place until the department was corporatised in 1982. In 1895, patronage had reached 3.9M passengers per annum and 2.048M tonnes.
NZR produced its first New Zealand-built steam locomotive in 1889; the
W class built in the
Addington Railway Workshops.
Along with opening new lines, NZR began acquiring a number of the private railways which had built railway lines around the country. It acquired the
Waimea Plains Railway Company in 1886. At the same time, a protracted legal battle began with the
New Zealand Midland Railway Company, which was only resolved in 1898. The partially completed
Midland line was not handed over to NZR until 1900. By that time, of railway lines were open for traffic.
The acquisition in 1908 of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company and its railway line marked the completion of the North Island Main Trunk from Wellington to Auckland. A new locomotive class, the
X class, was introduced in 1909 for traffic on the line. The X class was the most powerful locomotive at the time. Gold rushes led to the construction of the
Thames Branch
The Thames Branch railway line connected Thames, New Zealand, with Hamilton and was originally part of the East Coast Main Trunk railway. Part of the line between Morrinsville and Waitoa remains open and is in use as the Waitoa Branch line, c ...
, opening in 1898.
In 1906 the
Dunedin railway station was completed, architect
George Troup.
A. L. Beattie
Alfred Luther Beattie (1852 – 2 May 1920), typically referred to as A. L. Beattie, was a pioneering locomotive engineer. Born in Yorkshire, England,The Rock, September 2010 http://www.stpeterscaversham.org.nz/The%20Rock/1009.pdf he gained fam ...
became Chief Mechanical Officer in April 1900. Beattie designed the famous
A class, the
Q class (the first "Pacific" type locomotive in the world), and many other locomotive classes.
NZR's first bus operation began on 1 October 1907, between
Culverden on the
Waiau Branch and
Waiau Ferry in
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...
. By the 1920s NZR was noticing a considerable downturn in rail passenger traffic on many lines due to increasing ownership of private cars, and from 1923 it began to co-ordinate rail passenger services with private bus services. The
New Zealand Railways Road Services
The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the New Zealand Railways Department and later the New Zealand Railways Corporation. It operated long-distance, tourist and suburban bus services and freight trucking and parcel ser ...
branch was formed to operate bus services.
In 1911 tenders for bookstalls were being advertised for 33 main stations -
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
,
Frankton Junction
Frankton Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Montgomery Canal terminates and meets the Llangollen Canal at Lower Frankton, Shropshire, England.
History
The Llangollen Canal is the modern name for a canal which was origina ...
,
Rotorua
Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encomp ...
.
Paeroa
Paeroa is a town in the Hauraki District of the Waikato Region in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula, it is close to the junction of the Waihou River and Ohinemuri River, and is approximately 20 ...
,
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of T ...
,
Ohakune,
Taihape,
Marton,
Feilding
Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council.
Feilding has ...
,
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
,
Levin, Wellington
Thorndon and
Lambton,
Masterton
Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a ...
,
Woodville,
Dannevirke
Dannevirke ( "Earthworks (archaeology), work of the Danes", a reference to Danevirke; mi, Taniwaka, lit= or ''Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua'', the area where the town is), is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New ...
.
Waipukurau.
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
,
Napier,
New Plymouth
New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...
,
Stratford,
Hāwera,
Aramoho
Aramoho is a settlement on the Whanganui River, in the Whanganui District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is an outlying suburb of Whanganui.
History
The settlement was established on the river in the 18 ...
,
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. Whang ...
,
Nelson,
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
,
Ashburton,
Timaru
Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
,
Oamaru
Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the ra ...
,
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
,
Milton,
Gore
Gore may refer to:
Places Australia
* Gore, Queensland
* Gore Creek (New South Wales)
* Gore Island (Queensland)
Canada
* Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community
* Gore, Quebec, a township municipality
* Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...
, and
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse ...
.
By 1912, patronage had reached 13.4M passengers per annum (a 242% increase since 1895) and 5.9M tonnes of freight (a 188% increase since 1895).
In 1913, damages of £15 were awarded against New Zealand Railways to S. J. Gibbons by the Supreme Court in a precedent-setting case; for damages to a car that hit a train at a level crossing: see
Cliff Road railway station.
World War I
![NZR Ab Class 778 hauling the Kingston Flyer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/NZR_Ab_Class_778_hauling_the_Kingston_Flyer.jpg)
The outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in 1914 had a significant impact on the Railways Department. That year the
AA class appeared, and the following year the first
AB class locomotives were introduced. This class went on to become the most numerous locomotive class in New Zealand history, with several examples surviving into preservation.
The war itself led to a decline in passenger, freight and train miles run but also led to an increase in profitability. In the 1917 Annual Report, a record 5.3% return on investment was made. The war did take its toll on railway services, with
dining car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that do ...
s being removed from passenger trains in 1917, replaced by less labour-intensive
refreshment rooms at railway stations along the way. As a result, the "scramble for pie and tea at
Taihape" became a part of New Zealand folklore.
Non-essential rail services were curtailed as more staff took part in the war effort, and railway workshops were converted for producing military equipment, on top of their existing maintenance and construction work. The war soon affected the supply of coal to the railways. Although hostilities ended in 1918, the coal shortage carried on into 1919 as first miners strikes and then an influenza epidemic cut supplies. As a result, non-essential services remained in effect until the end of 1919. Shortages of spare parts and materials led to severe inflation, and repairs on locomotives being deferred. Similar coal-saving timetable cuts occurred at the end of the next war in 1945 and 1946.
Increasing competition and great depression
![J1211 Napier 20Oct2002 JChristianson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/J1211_Napier_20Oct2002_JChristianson.jpg)
In 1920 the milestone of open railway lines was reached and 15 million passengers were carried by the department. An acute housing shortage following the war led to the creation of
Railways Department's Housing Scheme
The Railways Department's Housing Scheme refers to a housing programme undertaken by the New Zealand’s Railways during the 1920s. The scheme intended to provide Railway workers and their families with affordable and accessible accommodation du ...
in 1922. The first of the now-iconic railway houses were prefabricated in a factory in
Frankton for NZR staff. This scheme was shut down in 1929 as it was considered improper for a government department to compete with private builders.
The
Otira Tunnel
The Otira Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Midland Line in the South Island of New Zealand, between Otira and Arthur's Pass. It runs under the Southern Alps from Arthur's Pass to Otira – a length of over . The gradient is mainly 1 in 33, an ...
was completed in 1923, heralding the completion of the
Midland Line in the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
. The tunnel included the first section of
railway electrification
A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply.
Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ...
in New Zealand and its first electric locomotives, the
original EO class. The section was electrified at 1,500 V DC, due to the steep grade in the tunnel, and included its own hydro-electric power station. The second section to be electrified by the department was the
Lyttelton Line
Lyttelton Line is a name sometimes used to refer to the section of the Main South Line in New Zealand's South Island between Lyttelton and Christchurch, and can also be used to refer to the operations on this section. As it has always been p ...
in Christchurch, completed in 1929, at the same voltage and current. This again saw English Electric supply locomotives, the
EC class.
Gordon Coates, on 24 October 1922, as Minister of Public Works, in introducing his
Main Highways Act, said, “''I say the day will come when it will be found that through the use of motor transport certain railways in New Zealand will be relegated to a secondary place altogether, and probably will be torn up, and we shall have motor traffic taking their place''.” Section 12 of that Act allowed for government borrowing and Section 19 required local councils to provide half the cost of road improvements. By setting in place a system of subsidy from ratepayers and taxpayers, whilst requiring railways to make a 3¾% profit (at that rate, interest amounted to over 22% of total earnings), Coates ensured his prophecy came true, as railways gradually became uneconomic.
The following year, Gordon Coates became the Minister of Railways. Coates was an ambitious politician who had an almost "religious zeal" for his portfolio. During the summer of 1923, he spent the entire parliamentary recess inspecting the department's operations. The following year, he put forward a "Programme of Improvements and New Works'".
Coates scheme proposed spending £8 million over 8 years. This was later expanded to £10 million over 10 years. The programme included:
* The Auckland–Westfield deviation of the
North Island Main Trunk
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and se ...
;
* New marshalling yards at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch;
* The Milson Deviation of the North Island Main Trunk through
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
;
* The
Rimutaka Tunnel
The Remutaka Tunnel (spelled Rimutaka Tunnel before 2017) is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line.
The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 Novem ...
under the
Rimutaka 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 c ...
in Wellington;
* The
Tawa Flat deviation of the North Island Main Trunk out of Wellington;
* Electric lighting;
* New locomotive facilities and
* New signalling systems.
An independent commission, led by Sir
Sam Fay
Sir Sam Fay TD (30 December 1856 – 30 May 1953), born in Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, England, was a career railwayman who joined the London and South Western Railway as a clerk in 1872 and rose to become the last General Manager of the Great C ...
and Sir
Vincent Raven
Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven, KBE (3 December 1859 – 14 February 1934) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the North Eastern Railway from 1910 to 1922.
Biography
Vincent Raven was born the son of a clergy ...
produced a report known as the "Fay Raven Report" which gave qualified approval to Coates' programme. The reports only significant change was the proposal of a
Cook Strait
Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A ...
train ferry service between Wellington and Picton, to link the two systems up. Coates went on to become Prime Minister in 1925, an office he held until 1928 when he was defeated at the
general election of that year. While the Westfield and Tawa Flat deviations proceeded, the Milson deviation and Rimutaka Tunnel projects remained stalled. The onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
from late 1929 saw these projects scaled back or abandoned. The Westfield deviation was completed in 1930 and the Tawa deviation proceeded at a snail's pace. A number of new lines under construction were casualties, including the
Rotorua-Taupo line, approved in July 1928 but abandoned almost a year later due to the depression. An exception was the
Stratford–Okahukura Line
The Stratford–Okahukura Line (SOL) is a secondary railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, between the Marton - New Plymouth Line (MNPL) and the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) Railway, with 15 intermediate stations. It is long thr ...
, finished in 1933.
However, there was criticism that maintenance was being neglected. In the
Liberals last year of office in 1912, of line had been relaid, but that was reduced to 118 in 1913, 104 in 1914, 81 in 1924 and 68 in 1925, during the
Reform Government's years.
Once again, growing traffic requirements led to the introduction of a new type of locomotive, the ill-fated
G class G class or Class G may refer to:
Locomotives
* NZR G class (1928), a type of steam locomotive used in New Zealand
* Tasmanian Government Railways G class, a class of 0-4-2T steam locomotive used in Australia
* V/Line G class, a class of diese ...
Garratt
A Garratt (often referred to as a Beyer Garratt) is a type of steam locomotive invented by British engineer Herbert William Garratt that is articulated into three parts. Its boiler, firebox, and cab are mounted on a centre frame or "bridge ...
locomotives in 1928. Three of the locomotives were introduced for operation on the North Island Main Trunk. They were not well suited to New Zealand conditions: they had overly complex
valve gear
The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle. It can also serve as a reversing ...
, were too hot for crews manning them and too powerful for the wagons they were hauling. The failure of this class lead to the introduction of the
K class in 1932.
Government Railways Board
Tough economic conditions and increasing competition from road transport led to calls for regulation of the land transport sector. In 1931 it was claimed half a million tons of freight had been lost to road transport. That year, the department carried 7.2 million passengers per year, down from 14.2 million in 1923. In 1930 a Royal Commission on Railways recommended that land transport should be "co-ordinated" and the following year Parliament passed the
Transport Licensing Act 1931
The Transport Licensing Act 1931 was a New Zealand Act of Parliament regulating land transport. It was introduced following a Royal Commission on road and rail competition in 1930. The Act also regulated aspects such as safety and insurance req ...
. The Act regulated the carriage of goods and entrenched the monopoly the department had on land transport. It set a minimum distance road transport operators could transport goods at before they had to be licensed. The Act was repealed in 1982.
Alongside these changes, in 1931 the Railways Department was briefly restructured into the Government Railways Board. Another Act of Parliament, the Government Railways Amendment Act 1931 was passed.
The Railways Board was independent of the Government of the day and answered to the
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
.
During this period the Prime Minister
George Forbes was also Minister of Railways, and Minister of Finance was former Minister of Railways
Gordon Coates. The Railways Board was abolished by the
First Labour Government in 1936.
In 1933 plans for a new railway station and head office in Wellington were approved, along with the electrification of the
Johnsonville Line
The Johnsonville Branch, also known as the Johnsonville Line, is a commuter branch line railway from the main Railway Station of Wellington, New Zealand to the northern suburb of Johnsonville via Ngaio and Khandallah.
Transdev Wellington ...
(then still part of the North Island Main Trunk). The
Wellington railway station
Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line.
The station opened in ...
and Tawa flat deviation were both completed in 1937. As part of attempts by NZR to win back passengers from private motor vehicles, the same year the first
56-foot carriages were introduced.
Garnet Mackley
Garnet Hercules Mackley (9 December 1883 – 24 April 1986) was a New Zealand businessman, railways manager and politician.
Career
Mackley was born in Port Chalmers. He became general manager of New Zealand Railways in 1933. During his ten ...
was appointed General Manager in 1933, and worked hard to improve the standard and range of services provided by the Department. This included a number of steps to make passenger trains faster, more efficient and cheaper to run. In the early 20th century, NZR had begun investigating railcar technology to provide passenger services on regional routes and rural branch lines where carriage trains were not economic and
"mixed" trains (passenger carriages attached to freight trains) were undesirably slow. However, due to New Zealand's rugged terrain overseas technology could not simply be directly introduced. A number of experimental railcars and railbuses were developed. From 1925 these included the
Leyland experimental petrol railcar and a fleet of
Model T Ford railbuses, the
Sentinel-Cammell steam railcar and from 1926 the
Clayton steam railcar and successful
Edison battery-electric railcar. 10 years later in 1936 the
Leyland diesel railbus was introduced, but the first truly successful railcar class to enter service began operating that year, the
Wairarapa railcar specially designed to operate over the
Rimutaka Incline
The Rimutaka Incline was a , gauge railway line on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa side of the original Wairarapa Line in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The ...
. This class followed the building of the Red Terror (an inspection car on a Leyland Cub chassis) for the General Manager in 1933. More classes followed over the years, primarily to operate regional services.
Following the success of the Wairarapa railcar class, in 1938 the
Standard class railcars were introduced. A further improvement to passenger transport came in July that year, with electric services on the Johnsonville Line starting with the introduction of the
DM/D English Electric Multiple Unit
A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...
s.
Three new locomotive classes appeared in 1939: the
KA class,
KB class and the
J class. The K
A was a further development of the K class, while the J class was primarily for lighter trackage in the South Island. The numerically smaller K
B class were allocated to the
Midland line, where they dominated traffic. This led to the coining of the phrase "KB country" to describe the area, made famous by the
National Film Unit
The National Film Unit (NFU) was a state-owned film-production organisation originally based in Miramar, New Zealand, Miramar, New Zealand. Founded in 1936 when the government took over a private film studio, Filmcraft, the NFU produced newsreels, ...
's documentary of the same title.
World War II and its aftermath
![JA1271 Opapa 16Feb2003 JChristianson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/JA1271_Opapa_16Feb2003_JChristianson.jpg)
As with the first world war, the
Second World War
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 ...
had a significant impact on railways. The war created major labour shortages across the economy generally, and while considered "essential industry", railways were no exception. A large number of NZR employees signed up to fight in the war. For the first time, the Department employed significant numbers of women to meet the shortages. The war created serious coal shortages as imported coal was no longer available. Despite this, NZR had record revenues in 1940.
Despite the war and associated labour and material shortages, new railway construction continued. In 1942 the
Gisborne Line was finally opened, followed by the
Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch being completed in 1945. The final section of the then ECMT, the
Taneatua Branch, was also completed.
Centralised Traffic Control
Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system cons ...
(CTC) was installed from Taumaranui to Auckland at the same time.
In 1946 the last class of steam locomotives built by NZR was introduced, the
JA class. Due to coal shortages the
K,
J,
KA, J
A classes of steam locomotives were converted from coal to oil burning.
Following the war, NZR contracted the
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...
from 1947 to ship inter-island freight across Cook's Strait between Paraparaumu in the North Island and Blenheim in the South Island, as part of the "
Rail Air" service. In 1950, Straits Air Freight Express (later known as SAFE Air) took over the contract from the RNZAF. The service was discontinued in the early 1980s.
Modernisation
![RM 114](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/RM_114.jpg)
The General Manager of NZR, Frederick Aicken, was an advocate for electrifying the entire North Island Main Trunk to alleviate the shortage of coal and the cost of importing diesel fuel; though he also recognised that steam and diesel traction would be required on other lines. NZR's first diesel-electric locomotives, the
English Electric built
DE class, were introduced in 1951. The locomotives gave good service but were not powerful or numerous enough to seriously displace steam traction.
In 1954, the New Zealand railway network reached its zenith in terms of distance with , 60% of it on gradients between 1 in 100 and 1 in 200 and 33% steeper than 1 in 100. The
EW class electric locomotives introduced for the Wellington electric system. They were the second class of electric locomotive to be used on this section of electrification. They were the most powerful locomotives on the system till the D
X class arrived in 1972.
Aicken went as far as negotiating a tentative contract for the construction of electrification and locomotives for it, but fell out with the Government in late 1951 and resigned. His successor, H.C. Lusty, terminated the contract and entered into an agreement with General Motors for the supply of 40 EMD G12 model locomotives, designated by NZR as the
DA class. The first of these locomotives entered service in September 1955, with all of this initial order running by September 1957.
On Christmas Eve 1953, the worst disaster in NZR's history, and
one of the worst in New Zealand's history occurred. 151 people died when the
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
-
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 ...
express was derailed due to a bridge collapse north of Tangiwai due to a
lahar
A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.
Lahars are extreme ...
from a volcanic eruption, in what became known as the
Tangiwai disaster
The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriage ...
.
The following year NZR introduced the dual-cab
DF class in 1954, the first main-line
diesel-electric locomotives in service. They proved to be unsuccessful in service and the original order of 31 was cancelled, and
DG class locomotives, also built by
English Electric, ordered instead. While the D
G class proved more successful than the D
F class, steam remained the dominant form of traction.
This led to the introduction of the
DA class in 1955, the largest fleet of diesel-electric locomotives NZR ever introduced. The D
A class, more than any other class, displaced steam locomotives from the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
. On 3 November of the same year the long
Rimutaka Tunnel
The Remutaka Tunnel (spelled Rimutaka Tunnel before 2017) is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line.
The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 Novem ...
opened, greatly reducing transit times between the
Wairarapa
The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...
and Wellington. This led to the closure of the Rimutaka Incline and its unique Fell railway system. Because steam locomotives could not be operated through the new tunnel, the
Wairarapa Line
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt ...
was the first to be fully "dieselised". Amid many protests, the isolated
Nelson Section
The Nelson Section was an isolated government-owned railway line between Nelson and Glenhope in the Tasman district of New Zealand's South Island. While part of the New Zealand Government Railways, the section was never connected to the natio ...
was closed, although future
Nelson Railway Proposals
There have been various proposals to link the city of Nelson to New Zealand’s South Island rail network, but none have come to fruition.
Nelson was served by the Dun Mountain Railway, a mineral tramway that was also used by a horse tram between ...
resurfaced from 1957.
The
RM class "88 seater" or "Fiats" also began entering service from 1955. The railcars were designed to take over provincial inter-city routes but proved to be mechanically unreliable.
Despite large orders for diesel-electric locomotives, NZR was still building steam locomotives until 1956, when the last steam locomotive built by NZR, J
A1274, was completed at
Hillside Workshops
Hillside Engineering Group is a trading division of the rail operator KiwiRail in Dunedin, New Zealand. Most of its work is related to KiwiRail, but it also does work for the marine industry in Dunedin. On 19 April 2012 KiwiRail announced it was ...
,
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. The locomotive is now preserved in Dunedin near the railway station.
During the 1950s New Zealand industry was diversifying, particularly into the timber industry. On 6 October 1952 the
Kinleith Branch
The Kinleith Branch railway line is located in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The line was constructed by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company, Taupo Totara Timber Company and rebuilt by the Public Works Department primarily to ser ...
, formerly part of the
Taupo Totara Timber Company
The Mokai Tramway was a bush tramway constructed by the Taupo Totara Timber Company (TTT Co) to link their milling centre at Mokai with the New Zealand Railways Department, New Zealand Government Railways line (NZR) at Putāruru in the Waikato ...
's line, was opened to service a new pulp and paper mill at its terminus. NZR's first single-purpose log trains, called "express loggers", began to operate on this branch. The Kinleith Branch was shortly followed in 1957 by the long
Murupara Branch
The Murupara Branch is a long branch railway line from the East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) at Kawerau to Murupara, built to serve a new pulp and paper mill harvesting the radiata pine trees of the Kaingaroa Forest on the Kaingaroa Plateau in the ...
, which was opened running through the
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...
's
Kaingaroa Forest
Kaingaroa Forest covers 2900 km² of the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand, and is the largest forest plantation in New Zealand, and the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere (after the 6000km² Sabie/Graskop plantation in South Afri ...
. The branch is the last major branch line to open in New Zealand to date. The line was primarily built to service the
Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill in
Kawerau
Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distri ...
, with several loading points along its length. The line's success led to several
Taupo Railway Proposals being put forward, with extensions of the branch being mooted at various times.
1960s
In 1960 the second
Christchurch railway station, at Moorhouse Avenue, was opened. The station was closed in 1990, with a new station being built at Addington. In 1961, livestock was exempted from the Transport Licensing Act, effectively opening the sector up to competition.
![Aranui roll-on roll-off ferry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Aranui_roll-on_roll-off_ferry.jpg)
The introduction of
GMV ''Aramoana'' in 1962 heralded the start of inter-island ferry services run by NZR.
The service was very successful, leading to criticism, when the Wellington–Lyttelton overnight ferry was withdrawn, that NZR was competing unfairly with private operators. Before the ''Aramoana'' was introduced, NZR could not compete for inter-island freight business, and the rail networks of both the North and South Islands were not well integrated. To send goods between the islands, freight had to be unloaded from wagons onto a ship on one island, unloaded at the other and then loaded back into wagons to resume its journey by rail. The introduction of a roll-on roll-off train ferry changed that. Wagons were rolled onto the ferry and rolled off at the other side. This led to many benefits for NZR customers.
NZR's 1963–1964 year-end financial report showed that inter-island ferry services contributed $1.07 million to NZRs profit of $1.077 million. A second ferry, MV Aranui, arrived in 1965.
Closures of rural branch lines reduced the total network length to in 1966.
In 1968 the "
Blue Streak
Blue Streak or Bluestreak may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Blue Streak'' (album), a 1995 album by American blues guitarist Luther Allison
* Blue Streak (comics), a secret identity used by three separate Marvel Comics supervillains
* Bluestreak (co ...
" refurbished railcars were introduced to the
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
–
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 ...
run, having failed to raise patronage between
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
and Auckland. The success of the Blue Streaks led to the purchase of three new railcars in 1972. The Blue Streaks were then allocated to the Wellington—
New Plymouth
New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...
service. The introduction of the Japanese-built
DJ class diesels from that year in the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
accelerated the demise of steam, replacing the remaining steam locomotives. The final demise of steam came on 26 October 1971 with the withdrawal of the last class of mainline steam locomotives, the
JA class in the South Island (although the NZR-operated heritage
Kingston Flyer
The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It used 14 kilometres of preserved track that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch. Originally, Kingston Flyer was a passen ...
service, using two
AB class steam locomotives began just two months later in December 1971).
1970s
![Railways Timetable (19573056451)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Railways_Timetable_%2819573056451%29.jpg)
Railways' management had entered the 1970s with a modernisation plan around the theme "Great things are happening to Railways", to counter negative views of the railways' held by the general public and political elites. In 1970, a red, black and white corporate logo designed by Barry Ellis was introduced and a new Passenger Division was established.
The Southerner between
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
and
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse ...
was introduced, replacing the
South Island Limited
The ''South Island Limited'' was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) between 1949 and 1970. It operated over the almost route between Christchurch and Invercargill. It was replaced by the '' Southerne ...
. The new service featured buffet cars and modernised rolling stock. New rolling stock included the
Silver Star
The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...
luxury
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
–
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 ...
overnight train, sourced from Japan. The service never lived up to its promise and was withdrawn in 1979 due to poor patronage. In 1972 the first
Silver Fern
''Alsophila dealbata'', synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into New Zealand English as a generic term fo ...
railcars were introduced for the daytime Wellington–Auckland run.
Freight traffic was again changing. In October 1969, the first unit coal trains were introduced, between coal mines at
Huntly
Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...
and
New Zealand Steel
New Zealand Steel Limited is the owner of the Glenbrook Steel Mill, the steel mill located 40 kilometres south of Auckland, in Glenbrook, New Zealand. The mill was constructed in 1968 and began producing steel products in 1969. Currently, the ...
at
Mission Bush.
The US-built
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
U26C DX class locomotives were introduced in 1972, with a further batch arriving in 1975. They were at the time the most powerful class of locomotives in New Zealand. At first, they were deployed to the North Island Main Trunk but gradually began working the express freight trains for which they were ordered throughout the North Island. The D
X continued to dominate North Island traffic until the electrification of the main trunk in the 1980s. 1971 saw the introduction of scheduled
ISO shipping container services to New Zealand. NZR introduced its first purpose-built container wagons, the UK class, for the growing traffic that was quickly changing freight patterns. NZR was criticized for not investing enough in new bogie wagons.
Freight volumes greatly increased during the 1970s, despite the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, with the greatest setback for freight volumes being Britain's entry into the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
in 1973. Inflationary pressures within the economy greatly rose, at the same time exports were falling. In reaction to this, the government attempted to control inflation by fixing prices; in 1972 it was decided that NZR could only charge for its services at no more than 1971 rates, despite rising fuel and labour costs. As a result, Railways' accounts were in a deficit for much of the decade and were topped up with a special "Vote Stabilisation" in the budget.
Following a change of Government in 1975, the
Robert Muldoon
Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party.
Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...
led
National Government decided to increase the transport licensing limited from to 150 km. This change took effect from 1977,
and greatly increased competition for NZR on key routes between larger centres within 150 km of each other—routes such as Auckland–Hamilton, Hamilton–Tauranga, Wellington–Palmerston North and Christchurch–Ashburton.
In 1978 a major rebuilding program of the ageing D
A class was launched, creating the
DC class. Locomotives were sent to Australia for rebuilding, with five being rebuilt at the NZR's own Hutt Workshops. Ten of the
DB class were rebuilt into the DBR class at the same time. The following year the Canadian built
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
DF class was introduced.
Despite these efforts, there was still considerable negativity about railways and the service they offered. In its 30 May 1979 issue, the
National Business Review
The ''National Business Review'' (or ''NBR'') is a New Zealand online news publication aimed at the business sector.
It has journalists based in Auckland and Wellington.
History
The ''NBR'' was founded in 1970 by then-23 year old publisher Hen ...
said "long-distance rail travel is likely to completely disappear in the early 1980s. This will leave the slow creaking third world narrow gauge network to bulk freight where it can be more efficient."
Traffic Monitoring System
On 12 February 1979, NZR introduced a computerised "Traffic Monitoring System", known as TMS. A pilot scheme of TMS began in 1973 on the
Palmerston North - Gisborne Line Palmerston may refer to:
People
* Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer
* Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston
** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman and B ...
between Woodville and Gisborne.
TMS resulted in an 8 per cent improvement in wagon utilisation.
As a result of the introduction of TMS, all locomotives, railcars, carriages and other rolling stock were re-numbered. Class notations changed to
machine-readable capital letters, rather than the previous superscript capital letter (e.g. D
A became DA.) TMS was replaced in 1989 with Amicus.
"Time for Change"
Following the increase in distance for road transport licensing in 1977, NZR General Manager Trevor Hayward published a pamphlet entitled "Time for Change".
In it, he spelt out the basic challenge facing NZR at the time: providing both commercial and loss-making "social" services.
While Hayward was not against road transport deregulation, he was in favour of greater investment in NZR to meet freight requirements and shutting down uneconomic services.
In 1981, parliament passed the New Zealand Railways Corporation Act, and the department was corporatised as the
New Zealand Railways Corporation on 1 April 1982.
Branches
The Railways Department followed a traditional branch structure, which was carried over to the corporation.
* Commercial;
* Finance and Accounts;
* Mechanical;
* Publicity and Advertising;
* Refreshment;
*
Railways Road Services;
* Stores;
* Traffic; and
* Way and Works.
Performance
The table below records the performance of the Railways Department in terms of freight tonnage:
Workshops
The following NZR workshops were
builders of locomotives:
*
Hutt Workshops
The Hutt Railway Workshops is a major railway engineering facility in the Lower Hutt suburb of Gracefield in the Wellington region of New Zealand's North Island. It is state-owned enterprise KiwiRail's only workshops, and was opened in 1930.
...
, Lower Hutt, at Petone to 1929
*
Hillside Workshops
Hillside Engineering Group is a trading division of the rail operator KiwiRail in Dunedin, New Zealand. Most of its work is related to KiwiRail, but it also does work for the marine industry in Dunedin. On 19 April 2012 KiwiRail announced it was ...
, Dunedin, now Hillside Engineering
*
Addington Workshops
The Addington Railway Workshops was a major railway workshops established in the Christchurch suburb of Addington in 1877 by the Public Works Department, and transferred in 1880 to the newly-formed New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). The wor ...
, Christchurch (closed 1990)
*
East Town Workshops
The East Town Railway Workshops were a major manufacturing, maintenance and repair facility of the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) located by the Marton - New Plymouth Line in the city of Wanganui in New Zealand's North Island. Output i ...
, Wanganui (closed 1986) also Aramoho
*
Newmarket Workshops
Newmarket Workshops in Auckland was 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 replaced ...
, Auckland (opened 1875, closed 1928)
*
Otahuhu Workshops
Otahuhu Railway Workshops were a major rolling stock construction, maintenance and repair facility operated by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR), in the south Auckland suburb of Otahuhu in New Zealand's North Island. The workshops wer ...
, Auckland (opened 1928, closed 1992)
Minor workshops
None of these minor workshops manufactured locomotives, although major overhauls were carried out:
*Greymouth (Elmer Lane)
*Invercargill
*
Kaiwharawhara
Kaiwharawhara is an urban seaside suburb of Wellington in New Zealand's North Island. It is located north of the centre of the city on the western shore of Wellington Harbour, where the Kaiwharawhara Stream reaches the sea from its headwaters ...
(signals)
*Napier
*
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
*New Plymouth (Sentry Hill) from 1880
*Westport
*
Whanganui (East Town)
Locomotives
Steam locomotives built and rebuilt at NZR workshops:
Nine of the
ED electric locomotives were constructed (assembled) at the Hutt (7) and Addington (2) workshops. Various diesel locomotives have been rebuilt at NZR workshops, for example, five of the
DA as
DC, though most rebuilding has been contracted out. Hillside built 9
NZR TR class
The New Zealand TR class locomotive is a type of Diesel locomotive, diesel Switcher, shunting locomotives built by many different manufacturers. Defined as "shunting tractors" or "rail tractors" by KiwiRail and its predecessors, they are classifi ...
diesel shunters.
The Auckland workshops (
Newmarket, then
Otahuhu) specialised in car and wagon work, and in repairs and maintenance.
Private firms that built steam locomotives for NZR
British companies, e.g.:
*
Avonside Engine Company
The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company.
Origins
The firm was original ...
(
Fairlie and
Fell
A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...
locomotives)
*
Beyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
*
Clayton Carriage and Wagon
*
Dübs and Company
Dübs & Co. was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it amalgamated with two other Glasgow locomotive manufacturers to create the North British ...
*Henry
Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works
*
Hunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & So ...
*
Nasmyth, Wilson and Company
Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company, originally called The Bridgewater Foundry, specialised in the production of Machine tool, heavy machine tools and locomotives. It was located in Patricroft, in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford England, close to ...
*
Neilson and Company
Neilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland.
The company was started in 1836 at McAlpine Street by Walter Neilson and James Mitchell to manufacture marine and stationary engines. In 1837 the firm moved to Hyde Park ...
*
North British Locomotive Company (built a quarter (141) of NZR steam locomotives; the
NZR J class (1939))
*
Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns
Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd (RSH) was a locomotive builder with works in North East England.
History
The company was formed in September 1937 when Robert Stephenson and Company, which was based in Darlington, took over the locomotive ...
*
Sharp, Stewart and Company
Sharp, Stewart and Company was a steam locomotive manufacturer, initially located in Manchester, England. The company was formed in 1843 upon the demise of Sharp, Roberts & Co.. It moved to Glasgow, Scotland, in 1888, eventually amalgamating wit ...
*
Vulcan Foundry
The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside).
History
The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossi ...
*
Yorkshire Engine Co
American companies, e.g.:
*
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 ...
Built 111 steam locomotives for NZR and the WMR, the first were the
NZR T class of 1879.
*
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the ...
Built eight
NZR K class (1877), the first American locomotives purchased.
*
Brooks Locomotive Works
The Brooks Locomotive Works manufactured railroad steam locomotives and freight cars from 1869 through its merger into the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901.
History
When the New York and Erie Railroad (NY&E) relocated its shops facili ...
Built Ub17 during purchase by ALCO
*
Richmond Locomotive Works
Richmond Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturing firm located in Richmond, Virginia.
It began operation in 1887, and produced upward of 4,500 engines during its 40 years of operation. The Richmond Locomotive Works was the largest and ...
Built Ub371 during purchase by ALCO (ten of the
NZR Ub class
New Zealand Railways may refer to KiwiRail which is the current rail services owner/operator and infrastructure owner/maintainer.
New Zealand Railways may also refer to the following companies:
* New Zealand Railways Department (also known as Ne ...
were built by Baldwin).
New Zealand companies:
*
James Davidson & Co,
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
*
A & G Price
A & G Price Limited is an engineering firm and locomotive manufacturer in Thames, New Zealand founded in 1868.
History
A & G Price was established in 1868 in Princes Street, Onehunga by Alfred Price and George Price, two brothers from Stroud, ...
,
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
*
E. W. Mills and Company
*
Scott Brothers,
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
Companies that supplied NZR with diesel locomotives
*
Clyde Engineering
Clyde Engineering was an Australian manufacturer of locomotives, rolling stock, and other industrial products.
It was founded in September 1898 by a syndicate of Sydney businessmen buying the Granville factory of timber merchants Huds ...
*
Commonwealth Engineering
Commonwealth Engineering (often shortened to Com-Eng, later Comeng was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams.
History
Smith and Waddington, the predecessor to Commonwealth E ...
*
Drewry Car Co.
The Drewry Car Co was a railway locomotive and railcar manufacturer and sales organisation from 1906 to 1984. At the start and the end of its life it built its own products, for the rest of the time it sold vehicles manufactured by sub-contract ...
*
Electro-Motive Diesel
Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its s ...
*
English Electric various British contractors and English Electric Australia
*
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
*
General Motors Diesel
General Motors Diesel was a railway diesel locomotive manufacturer located in London, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro-Motive Diesel division of General Motors (EMD). In 1969 it was re-organiz ...
*
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
*
Hunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & So ...
*
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...
*
A & G Price
A & G Price Limited is an engineering firm and locomotive manufacturer in Thames, New Zealand founded in 1868.
History
A & G Price was established in 1868 in Princes Street, Onehunga by Alfred Price and George Price, two brothers from Stroud, ...
,
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
*
Toshiba
, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
*
Vulcan Foundry
The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside).
History
The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossi ...
Suppliers of electric traction to NZR
*
English Electric (
New Zealand DM class electric multiple unit
The New Zealand DM/D class electric multiple unit (also known as English Electrics) were a type of electric multiple units used on the suburban rail network of Wellington, New Zealand. Formed of DM power cars and D trailer cars, the first unit ...
and
NZR EC class
The NZR EC class was a class of electric locomotive used in Christchurch, New Zealand. They replaced steam locomotives on trains through the Lyttelton rail tunnel between Lyttelton and Christchurch.
Introduction
Since its opening in 1867, the ...
,
NZR ED class
The NZR ED class locomotive was a type of electric locomotive used in Wellington, New Zealand. They were built by English Electric and the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) between 1938 and 1940, and hauled mainly passenger trains on the Well ...
,
NZR EO class (1923)
The NZR EO class of 1923 were electric locomotives used on the steep Otira to Arthurs Pass section of the Midland Line in New Zealand. They were primarily needed for pulling trains through the 1 in 33 grade Otira Tunnel which was too long and ...
,
NZR EW class
The New Zealand EW class locomotive was a type of electric locomotive used in Wellington, New Zealand. The classification "EW" was due to their being electric locomotives allocated to Wellington. For two decades until the advent of the DX class ...
locomotives)
*
Goodman Manufacturing (
New Zealand EB class locomotive
The New Zealand EB class locomotive was a class of five battery electric (later diesel-electric) locomotives built to perform shunting duties at the workshops of New Zealand's national rail network.
Introduction
The first (later No. 29) w ...
)
*
Toshiba
, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
(
New Zealand EA class locomotive
The New Zealand EA class (later reclassified as EO) of electric locomotives were used on the New Zealand rail network between 1968 and 1997 on the OtiraArthur's Pass section of the Midland line in the South Island, through the Otira Tunnel ...
)
Suppliers of bus and coach chassis to NZR
*
Associated Equipment Company
Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was a British vehicle manufacturer that built buses, motorcoaches and trucks from 1912 until 1979. The name Associated Equipment Company was hardly ever used; instead it traded under the AEC and ACLO brands. ...
*
Albion Motors
Albion Motors was a Scottish automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer.
Founded in 1899, Albion Motors was purchased by Leyland Motors in 1951. Vehicles continued to be manufactured under the Albion brand until 1972, after which they con ...
*
Bedford Vehicles
Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a brand of vehicle manufactured by Vauxhall Motors, then a subsidiary of multinational corporation General Motors. Established in April 1931, Bedford Vehicles was set up to build commer ...
Supplied a record 1260
Bedford SB
The Bedford SB was a front-engined bus chassis manufactured by Bedford in England. It was launched at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show as the replacement for the Bedford OB.
It was the first Bedford vehicle to have a "forward control" design, wit ...
chassis (largest fleet of Bedford SB buses in the world). As well as around 400 trucks
*
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
*
Hino Motors
*
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
Suppliers of ferries to NZR
*
McGregor and Company
McGregor and Company Ltd was a heavy engineering company based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Apart from building the notable steam ship '' Earnslaw'', the company also built early 20th century steam locomotives, of which there are no survivors. The com ...
, Dunedin, New Zealand. Builders of
TSS Earnslaw
The TSS ''Earnslaw'' is a 1912 Edwardian twin screw steamer based at Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand. It is one of the oldest tourist attractions in Central Otago, and the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the so ...
.
*
William Denny and Brothers
William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company.
History
The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny (born 1779), for whom ships are recorded being buil ...
, Dumbarton, Scotland. Builders of
GMV Aramoana.
*
Vickers Limited
Vickers Limited was a British engineering conglomerate. The business began in Sheffield in 1828 as a steel foundry and became known for its church bells, going on to make shafts and propellers for ships, armour plate and then artillery. Entir ...
, Newcastle, England. Builders of
GMV Aranui
GMV ''Aranui'' was a roll-on/roll-off train ferry operating across the Cook Strait between 1965 and 1984.
History
Government Motor Vessel (GMV) ''Aranui'' was built in 1965 for the New Zealand Railways Department for the service between the North ...
.
*
Chantiers Dubegion, Nantes, France. Builders of MV Arahanga and
MV Aratika.
People
*
A. L. Beattie
Alfred Luther Beattie (1852 – 2 May 1920), typically referred to as A. L. Beattie, was a pioneering locomotive engineer. Born in Yorkshire, England,The Rock, September 2010 http://www.stpeterscaversham.org.nz/The%20Rock/1009.pdf he gained fam ...
, Chief Mechanical Engineer
*
Whitford Brown
Whitford James Richard Brown (13 May 1910 – 14 April 1986) was the foundation mayor of Porirua City, a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand, for 21 years from 1962 to 1983. Previously, Porirua was part of what was then called th ...
, civil engineer, Mayor of Porirua
*
Alf Cleverley, fitter at Petone and Hutt Workshops, Olympic boxer
*
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Norman Frederick Hastings DSO, engineering fitter at Petone Railways Workshop, killed on Gallipoli and commemorated on the Petone railway station memorial.
*
Graham Latimer, was stationmaster Kaiwaka, later president of New Zealand Maori Council
*
Ritchie Macdonald, worked at Otahuhu Workshops, union secretary, later member of parliament
*
Garnet Mackley
Garnet Hercules Mackley (9 December 1883 – 24 April 1986) was a New Zealand businessman, railways manager and politician.
Career
Mackley was born in Port Chalmers. He became general manager of New Zealand Railways in 1933. During his ten ...
, General Manager 1933–1940, later member of parliament
*
George Troup, Architect, Mayor of Wellington
See also
*
List of Chief Executives of New Zealand Railways List of Chief Executives of New Zealand Railways
:::They were titled ''General Manager'' unless otherwise specified.
*J. P. Maxwell 1880-89
*J. McKerrow 1889-94
:(Chief Comissioner)
* Thomas Ronayne 1895-1913
*E. H. Hiley 1913-19
* ...
*
New Zealand Railways Corporation
*
Rail transport in New Zealand
Rail transport in New Zealand is an integral part of New Zealand's transport network, with a nationwide network of of track linking most major cities in the North and South Islands, connected by inter-island rail and road ferries. Rail trans ...
*
Railway houses
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
"Rail tourism"at NZHistory
{{Authority control
1981 disestablishments in New Zealand
Defunct transport organisations based in New Zealand
Railways Department
Locomotive manufacturers of New Zealand
Rail transport in New Zealand
Railway companies of New Zealand
Rolling stock manufacturers of New Zealand
Railway companies established in 1880
New Zealand companies established in 1880