![Railway Workshops, Otahuhu, Auckland (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Railway_Workshops%2C_Otahuhu%2C_Auckland_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Otahuhu Railway
Workshop
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
s were a major rolling stock construction, maintenance and repair facility operated 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 the
south Auckland
South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...
suburb of
Otahuhu in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
's North Island. The workshops were opened in 1928 and were closed in 1992 as part of a rationalisation of workshop facilities throughout the country.
Otahuhu Workshops were built following a report that highlighted the inadequacies of the
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 ...
, the central Auckland facility that the Otahuhu Workshops replaced. Originally it was proposed that Otahuhu would carry out locomotive work and Wellington's
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. ...
would be the Car and Wagon Workshop. This was reversed when it was found that the land on which Otahuhu was to be built was not suitable for the heavy machinery required for locomotive work.
Though officially a Car and Wagon Shop, Otahuhu did some repair and maintenance work on steam and diesel locomotives and railcars.
History
![Otahuhu Railway Workshops (AM-39932-1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Otahuhu_Railway_Workshops_%28AM-39932-1%29.jpg)
NZR called for tenders for "new Car and Wagon Shops at Otahuhu near Auckland" on 30 September 1926, following the Fay-Raven report on New Zealand's railways of 1925. By 1928, the new facility was completed, and some men from the Newmarket Workshops were tasked with installing new equipment at the site. The workshops officially opened for business following the Christmas holiday period of 1928–1929, at which time the Newmarket Workshops closed.
Though the buildings for the new facility were all on the same site, there was a Midway that separated two groups of buildings. On the western side of the yard were the Wagon Shops, Machine Shop, Blacksmiths Shop, Reclaim, Powerhouse and Stores. To the east were the Structural Shop, Trimming Shop, Car Shops No. 1 and 2, and the Woodmill. Increasing demands for rolling stock and new requirements necessitated the extension or modification of the Structural Shop and the Machine Shop, and the installation of an Electroplating Shop and Battery Shop in the Trimming Shop. Other buildings included an administration block, schoolroom and canteen.
The workshops played their part in the war effort. Prior to New Zealand's involvement in
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 ...
there was a building known as the Air Force building. It was intended to be used to train apprentices in aircraft maintenance, but 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 ...
occupied the building for the duration of the war. The war saw many workshop staff seconded to places such as the
Devonport Naval Base
Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and has been in use as a navy base since 1841. The b ...
and local engineering firms that were contracted to the military for the production of war supplies and equipment. Work undertaken during the war included the production of slat beds for the Army, small-arms ammunition machines for the Colonial Ammunition Company, dual flying yokes for Air Force craft, and tugboat hulls for the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. One special job was the conversion of six second-class carriages into ambulance cars, for the transport of wounded soldiers.
A program for the construction of carriages intended for
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 ser ...
service prompted the construction of a new workshop building about 1940, known as Car No. 1 Extension. Though the program was cancelled after much of the material needed for their construction had been imported, the infrastructure proved useful in the 1950s when the D class electric coaches from Wellington were overhauled there.
Other new buildings at the site included a Diesel Shop in 1962 and a new woodmill to replace the old one that was destroyed in a major fire on 31 May 1955. The machines installed in the new Woodmill were more modern than those available in the old building, resulting in much-improved output.
Production of carriage stock began soon after opening in 1929, the first of which were 10 50 foot "Aa" class suburban carriages. Another batch of carriages was completed for the new Rotorua Limited Express service, including two observation cars. A large number of cars were built prior to the introduction of
NZR 56-foot carriage
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR 56-foot carriage is a class of long railway passenger carriage formerly used on almost all long-distance passenger rail transport in New Zealand. 88 carriages have been preserved.
1927: prototypes and ...
s built between 1937 and 1945. Otahuhu built 207 carriages, 75 guards vans, 3 steam vans, 3 postal vans, and many wagons.
Some of Wellington's fleet of
D class electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
carriages were overhauled there. Other work included light maintenance on steam locomotives, with particularly busy periods being 1929–1930 when 37 locomotives received overhauls and boiler repairs, and 1947–1949 when Otahuhu was called on for the urgent conversion of 19
K and
KA class locomotives to oil burning. Locomotive work was also carried out in 1931, 1933, 1942, 1945 and 1946.
With the onset of the diesel age, Otahuhu became involved in the maintenance of diesel locomotives. This started with the small
TR class shunting tractors in the early 1940s, with the work being carried out in Car Shop No. 2. As the use of diesel locomotives increased it was necessary to provide dedicated facilities, with the Steel Wagon Shop being converted for this purpose. In 1958, Otahuhu received the first of its
Fiat twin-set railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a 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 coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
s for an overhaul, and in 1962 RM 125 was repaired at the workshops following a level crossing accident in
Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
.
Other diesel work conducted at the Steel Shop included the readiness for service of 12 D
A class locomotives in 1961, and the restoration of
DA 1405 following a major accident. Minor repair work on
DE class locomotives was done by the Machine Fitting Group.
The ability of Otahuhu to handle diesel-electric locomotive and railcar repair work was much improved in 1962 with the opening of a new Diesel Shop. Prior to entering service, many D
A,
DB,
DH, and
DX class locomotives first made a visit to Otahuhu for preparation. 88-seater "Fiat" railcars were also maintained, repaired and overhauled in this new facility. In 1971, 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 ...
carriages were tested and commissioned in the Diesel Shop, as were the
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 the following year. Several cars for the new
Southerner service were overhauled at Otahuhu in 1970.
In its later years, Otahuhu carried produced more specialist wagons, including for containers (UK class container wagons) and coal hopper wagons (CA class), as well as many other variants.
Demise
The Railways Department was replaced by the
New Zealand Railways Corporation
New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) is the state-owned enterprise that owns the land beneath KiwiRail's Rail transport in New Zealand, railway network on behalf of the Crown. The Corporation has existed under a number of guises since 1982, wh ...
in 1982. In an effort to alleviate its financial problems the Corporation underwent a major restructuring program, which included a review of all its workshops in the 1990s. It was decided to focus the rail engineering resources at two sites: in the North Island at
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. ...
, and in the South Island at
Hillside Engineering
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 ...
in
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 ...
. This resulted in the closure of both the
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 ...
in Christchurch and the Otahuhu Workshops.
Employees at Otahuhu were informed that the workshops were to close on 30 June 1992. A team of up to 22 employees was kept on for a further six months to decommission the facility. Machines that could be sold were stored in the Structural Shop pending sale by auction. At the time the workshops site was believed to be destined to become an industrial park. Most of the workshops buildings were knocked down by 1997.
Today
Over half of the original workshops buildings have been demolished since the facility closed. Part of the site is now used as a container storage yard.
See also
*
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 ...
, replaced by Otahuhu Workshops
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
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. ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
Car and Wagon Workshops layout plan c1926
Rail transport in Auckland
Railway workshops in New Zealand
Defunct railway workshops
Buildings and structures in Auckland