In Service
Because of its small diameter driving wheels, the T class was typically limited to a speed of 29 km/h (18 mph). Accordingly, it was usually assigned to freight trains. In their heyday, the T class generally hauled services on the Otago Central Railway and the Main South Line between Dunedin and Oamaru. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the class received new boilers of a Belpaire design, fitted with Westinghouse air brakes and two were moved north to Auckland to assist on the newly opened North Island Main Trunk Railway. Most were also fitted with steel cabs in place of the original wooden ones, although the design fitted varied from locomotive to locomotive.
As time progressed, more powerful, newer locomotives progressively displaced the T class, with the four South Island-based members of the class (103-106) known to have been relegated to the quiet, lowly trafficked Tokarahi Branch. A number of the class were modified for use as yard shunters. This involved the fitting of a tender cab and moving the tender body back on the frame to provide more room for the fireman.
Read more about this topic: NZR T Class
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