Preservation
Ten locomotives of the class survived into preservation, with nine being owned by preservation groups, with the tenth, DJ 3096, remaining on the books as a member of New Zealand Rail Ltd's Heritage Fleet. This locomotive was used latterly in service at Whangarei running woodchip trains along the Dargaville Branch along with DC class locomotives, which are the heaviest allowed on the line. It was believed that the Taieri Gorge Railway would purchase the unit when it was withdrawn. In February 2008, national rail operator Toll Rail sold the DJ to Taieri Gorge, rounding out 40 years of service by DJ 3096 for New Zealand Railways.
On arrival in Dunedin, the locomotive was given an overhaul, before appearing in service, repainted in the early 1970s 'Southerner Blue' livery, with original road number DJ 1209 in late October 2009. It was repainted from the DJ variant of the 'International Orange' livery into the 'Southerner Blue' livery it wore from 1971 to 1978; as an aside, DJ 1209 was the first unit to be painted in this livery, in 1971.
However, on 19 August 2010, while on a Taieri Gorge passenger service with DJ 3107 (1210), DJ 1209 suffered a major failure when its turbocharger disintegrated. This then caused the engine to over-speed uncontrollably at an estimated 3000rpm (more than twice its designed operating speed of 1300 maximum). This was because lubricating oil to the turbo poured into the cylinders via the inlet manifold, thus burning like copious amounts of diesel, causing self-destruction inside the motor, and damage to alternator as well. A fire broke out immediately after the motor seized when lubricating oil poured onto the overheated engine block, causing further, serious damage. The locomotive finally returned to service in 2011 after being fully rebuilt with a new D398 diesel engine to replace the old one, which was beyond repair.
Apart from DJ 1209, Taieri Gorge Railway owns six other DJ class locomotives. These locomotives are DJ's 1202, 1210, 1221, 1222, 1227 and 1240 (TMS DJ 3021, 3107,3211, 3228, 3286, and 3424). Of these, DJ 3021 was stripped of its mechanical parts, and placed on display at the former Ranfurly station on the Central Otago Rail Trail. It is now stored in the Middlemarch goods shed, and is the last DJ in NZR blue with the old Railways Corporation logo and white numbers on the long hood.
The remaining other DJ locomotives are all operational, and run in daily service on the Taieri Gorge Limited and Seasider trains. They are all painted in a modified blue livery, with two notable exceptions. In 2006, DJ 3424 was repainted in NZR red and renumbered as DJ 1240 for the Dunedin station centenary (it has now been repainted in the TGR 'modified blue' scheme), while in 2010 DJ 3286 was painted in the 'Southerner Blue' livery (which it never wore in service) and renumbered as DJ 1227 to replace DJ 1209.
Four other DJ class were purchased by Mainline Steam, with two, DJ 3580 and DJ 3044, going to Parnell and the other two, DJ 3292 and former Ohai Railway Board unit DJ 3303, which had seen no use by NZR after it was returned with the ORB operations in 1991. However, the two Parnell locomotives were never going to run and were only intended as sources of spare parts for the other two. As a result of this decision, DJ 1254 (TMS DJ 3580) was scrapped in April 1980 for spare parts for the other three units owned or leased by Mainline Steam, DJ's 1204, 1228, and 1229 (TMS DJ 3044,3292, and 3303).
In May 2011, DJ 3044 was removed from its outside long-term storage at the Mainline Steam Parnell depot, as its siding was needed to hold five 56' A/AO class carriages purchased from KiwiRail to reduce dependency on the Tranz Scenic charter fleet. DJ 3044 was in poor condition, and was purchased by Taieri Gorge Railway as a source of spare parts for their seven DJ class locomotives (six operational and one stored), and was dismantled to provide spare parts for the fleet. DJ 1228 and DJ 1229 are at Plimmerton, where they are being rebuilt for mainline service - both have received a new black and blue scheme, and will presumably be fitted with ditch lights. Both have regained their original numbers. One of the locomotives is privately owned, but leased to Mainline Steam.
Read more about this topic: NZR DJ Class
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—John Locke (1632–1704)