In Service
Upon entering service the class were used on heavy freight and express passenger trains. The K class were best known for spectacular running on the mountainous parts of the North Island Main Trunk in the central North Island and on the Marton - New Plymouth Line around Wanganui. In particular they took over from the X class locomotives which had been used particularly on the Raurimu Spiral.
While generally reliable, trouble at first was encountered with the long-travel Walschaerts valve gear, and with the plate frames. While the valve gear problems were largely solved, the plate frames continued to crack especially in the region of the firebox. While many repairs were undertaken to fix the frames, this problem was only solved by replacing the frame with the new design constructed for the KA and KB classes. This was only done as the replacement was required; as a result not all of the class received the new frames.
After the Second World War, a coal shortage occurred and NZR converted a large number of locomotives to oil burning. The K class were a prime candidate due to the large size of the grate. The conversion process was concurrent with that of the KA class.
As time went on members of the K class gained improvements and additions from the KA class, and some locomotives had the Westinghouse cross-compound pump added in place of the original twin single-phase pumps.
Read more about this topic: NZR K Class (1932)
Famous quotes containing the word service:
“For those parents from lower-class and minority communities ... [who] have had minimal experience in negotiating dominant, external institutions or have had negative and hostile contact with social service agencies, their initial approaches to the school are often overwhelming and difficult. Not only does the school feel like an alien environment with incomprehensible norms and structures, but the families often do not feel entitled to make demands or force disagreements.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching. How far off, how cool, how chaste the persons look, begirt each one with a precinct or sanctuary!”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)