NZR C Class (1930) - History and Construction

History and Construction

In the 1920s, train loads were getting heavier as mainline locomotives became more powerful and increasingly capable of pulling larger loads, but the locomotives assembling and shunting these trains in railway yards were struggling to cope with the weight. Some old mainline locomotives that had been displaced by the newer locomotives were modified to perform shunting duties, but this was not an adequate solution. Therefore, the C class of heavy, powerful shunting locomotives was designed.

The twenty-four C class locomotives were built by the New Zealand Railways (NZR) themselves in their own workshops, twelve each from the Hutt (Petone) and Hillside (Dunedin) Workshops. The first of the twenty-four entered service in October 1930 and the last was operating by November of the next year. The locomotives were superheated and bore technical similarities to the WF class of tank locomotives but featured numerous modern features of the time, and with their sloped tender, they would not have looked out of place on an American railway.