The Locomotive
Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia in 1891, Maker's No. 12104, Baldwin ID 10 24 1/4 D9 was one of two 2-6-2 wheel arrangement locomotives constructed for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway, and was given the road number 9. No.9 and sister No.10 were constructed to a virtually identical design as the NZR N class of 1885, with notable differences including lengthened smokeboxes, spoked carrying wheels and no air brakes. They were based at the WMR's Paekakariki depot, and were used primarily to haul mixed passenger and freight trains over the relatively easily graded Paekakariki - Longburn section of the company's line. In 1892, No.10 set a World Speed Record for the Cape Gauge of 64.4mph (103.6 km/h), underlining the type's pedigree.
In 1901 No's 9 & 10 were retrofitted with Westinghouse air brakes as part of the company's drive to fit continuous braking to its entire fleet, completed in 1902. All other changes to the two locos during WMR service were minor, such as replacement of the original pressed steel & copper funnels in cast iron. In December 1908 the Wellington and Manawatu Railway was purchased by the New Zealand Government and incorporated into the government railway system. No.9 was then classified and renumbered N 453. For this role, her WMR insigia was removed, NZR numberplates added, tablet hooks were fitted to the cab and the smokebox front replaced with a standard NZR design.
She continued to based at Paekakariki until 1916 when she was shipped to Greymouth in the South Island, where she saw service hauling the Greymouth - Otira mail trains. Her wooden cab was replaced at this stage in steel, and acyetelyne lighting replaced the original kerosene. In the early 1920s she was relegated to shunting and banking duties at Otira. For work in this role, 453 was fitted with back up sanding and a tender-cab, with the tender coal flare cut off and ladders fitted to access the tender body. In 1925 N 453's original boiler was removed and replaced with a new NZR built boiler. Despite this, in November 1926 No.9 was withdrawn from service, dismantled and tipped into the Bealey River on the Midland Line to check erosion. Why the locomotive was removed from service is not known, however all useful and re-usable components from the locomotive were removed, including the boiler which saw further service on Wb 300.
Read more about this topic: Wellington And Manawatu Railway Trust
Famous quotes containing the word locomotive:
“The American people have done much for the locomotive, and the locomotive has done much for them.”
—James A. Garfield (1831–1881)
“I walked on the banks of the tincan banana dock and sat down under the huge shade of a Southern Pacific locomotive to look at the sunset over the box house hills and cry.”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)