NZR Wb class
Encyclopedia
The NZR
WB class was a class of tank locomotive
s that operated in New Zealand
. Built in 1898 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works
, the twelve members of the class entered service during the first five months of 1899. Eight were withdrawn by the end of 1935, while four others survived with new boilers until the mid-1950s.
was expanding at a great rate and demand for services on existing lines was rising. However, the size of the locomotive fleet was inadequate to handle the demand - this was at least in part due to the economic difficulties created by the Long Depression
. The New Zealand Railways Department
(NZR) had built the WA class in its own workshops, but desperate for more engines, went shopping overseas for more. High prices and workers' strikes in England
meant that the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Pennsylvania
was contacted in 1898 to provide twelve locomotives built to similar specifications as the WA class. Delivery was swift and the locomotives entered service between January and May 1899. Although initially classified as WA, they were re-classified WB in 1900-01 to avoid any confusion with the earlier locomotives constructed in New Zealand.
's East Town depot, but two each went to Wellington
and Westport
and one to Whangarei
. By World War I
, they were equally distributed between Westport and Whangarei.
In their early years, WB locomotives ran all kinds of trains from their main base in Wanganui - the prestigious New Plymouth Mail
passenger express, goods trains to Napier
and through the Wairarapa
, and local mixed train
s of passengers and freight from Wanganui to Hawera
and Palmerston North
. Within a few years, more powerful locomotives displaced the WB class from many of these services and they were sent to join their class-mates in Westport and Whangarei.
On the isolated Westport section, the dominant traffic was coal from the various inland mines served by rail, and the WBs worked these services for a number of decades until they were displaced in the 1950s by the WW class. During their years of operation, the WB class was seen as ideal for operations on the lines that fanned out from Westport, and four were overhauled and given new boilers in the mid-1920s to prolong their lives.
. During the 1940s, the extent of the operations of the WBs decreased markedly, and by 1955, they were little more than shunters in Westport's yard. In the second half of 1955, WB 298 and WB 300 were withdrawn, and during the next year, the final two, 292 and 299, were removed from service, though they were not officially withdrawn until January 1957. WB 300 was towed to Dunedin
to be scrapped, but this was not an economical procedure and the other three were dumped in two Westland
rivers to stabilise river banks and halt erosion. WB 298 was dismantled in Westport and its boiler was dumped at the "locomotive graveyard" in Omoto, near Greymouth
, while in 1958, WB 292 was taken to Seddonville
and toppled into Coal Creek. Eventually, it was joined by WB 299 on 1 January 1960.
88 from the Oreti River
in Southland, the Baldwin Steam Trust was established to recover WB 292 and WB 299 from their resting place near Seddonville. The Seddonville Branch
between Seddonville and Mokihinui Mine had closed in 1974, and by the late 1980s, nature had grown over the old formation and there were no roads within a mile of where the two locomotives lay. Nonetheless, a plan was formulated and in mid-1989, the engines were successfully recovered. The Baldwin Steam Trust ultimately plans to restore both locomotives back to full operational condition. 292 & 299 are stored at the Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust
's Maymorn depot awaiting restoration.
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
WB class was a class of tank locomotive
Tank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...
s that operated in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Built in 1898 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
, the twelve members of the class entered service during the first five months of 1899. Eight were withdrawn by the end of 1935, while four others survived with new boilers until the mid-1950s.
History
In the late 1890s, New Zealand's national networkRail transport in New Zealand
Rail transport in New Zealand consists of a network of gauge railway lines in both the North and South Islands. Rail services are focused primarily on freight, particularly bulk freight, with limited passenger services on some lines...
was expanding at a great rate and demand for services on existing lines was rising. However, the size of the locomotive fleet was inadequate to handle the demand - this was at least in part due to the economic difficulties created by the Long Depression
Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...
. The New Zealand Railways Department
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
(NZR) had built the WA class in its own workshops, but desperate for more engines, went shopping overseas for more. High prices and workers' strikes in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
meant that the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
was contacted in 1898 to provide twelve locomotives built to similar specifications as the WA class. Delivery was swift and the locomotives entered service between January and May 1899. Although initially classified as WA, they were re-classified WB in 1900-01 to avoid any confusion with the earlier locomotives constructed in New Zealand.
Operation
Most were initially based at WanganuiWanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
's East Town depot, but two each went to Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and Westport
Westport, New Zealand
-Economy:Economic activity is based around fishing, coal mining and dairy farming. Historically, gold mining was a major industry, and coal mining was much more extensive than today . However, the region still is home to New Zealand's largest opencast mining operation in Stockton...
and one to Whangarei
Whangarei
Whangarei, pronounced , is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. Although commonly classified as a city, it is officially part of the Whangarei District, administered by the Whangarei District Council a local body created in 1989 to administer both the...
. By World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, they were equally distributed between Westport and Whangarei.
In their early years, WB locomotives ran all kinds of trains from their main base in Wanganui - the prestigious New Plymouth Mail
New Plymouth Express
The New Plymouth Express was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Wellington and New Plymouth. It ran from 1886 until 1955 and was sometimes known as the New Plymouth Mail due to the Railway Travelling Post Office carriages included in its consist...
passenger express, goods trains to Napier
Napier, New Zealand
Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...
and through the Wairarapa
Wairarapa Line
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city of Wellington with the Wairarapa region. The line ends at Woodville, where it joins the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line...
, and local mixed train
Mixed train
A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...
s of passengers and freight from Wanganui to Hawera
Hawera
Hawera is the second-largest town in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight, 75 kilometres south of New Plymouth on State Highway 3 and 20 minutes' drive from Mount Taranaki/Egmont.It is also on State Highway 45,...
and Palmerston North
Palmerston North
Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...
. Within a few years, more powerful locomotives displaced the WB class from many of these services and they were sent to join their class-mates in Westport and Whangarei.
On the isolated Westport section, the dominant traffic was coal from the various inland mines served by rail, and the WBs worked these services for a number of decades until they were displaced in the 1950s by the WW class. During their years of operation, the WB class was seen as ideal for operations on the lines that fanned out from Westport, and four were overhauled and given new boilers in the mid-1920s to prolong their lives.
Withdrawal
The first withdrawals of WB class locomotives occurred in the late 1920s, when Whangarei-based WB 301 was retired in March 1928. By the end of 1932, all six WBs that had been based in Whangarei were withdrawn - they were 290, 293, 295, 296, 297, and 301. In Westport, the two that did not receive new boilers were withdrawn around the same time: WB 291 ceased operations in December 1931 and was followed by WB 294 in May 1935. Until the Westport section was linked to the national network in 1943, the remaining four had secure roles; although members of the superior WW class had been introduced to Westport in 1929-30, they did not arrive in sufficient quantities to seriously displace the WBs until the opening of the Stillwater - Westport LineStillwater - Westport Line
The Stillwater Ngakawau Line , formerly the Stillwater - Westport Line and the Ngakawau Branch, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand's national rail network. It runs between Stillwater and Ngakawau via Westport on the West Coast of the South Island...
. During the 1940s, the extent of the operations of the WBs decreased markedly, and by 1955, they were little more than shunters in Westport's yard. In the second half of 1955, WB 298 and WB 300 were withdrawn, and during the next year, the final two, 292 and 299, were removed from service, though they were not officially withdrawn until January 1957. WB 300 was towed to Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
to be scrapped, but this was not an economical procedure and the other three were dumped in two Westland
West Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...
rivers to stabilise river banks and halt erosion. WB 298 was dismantled in Westport and its boiler was dumped at the "locomotive graveyard" in Omoto, near Greymouth
Greymouth
Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coast's inhabitants...
, while in 1958, WB 292 was taken to Seddonville
Seddonville
Seddonville is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry.-Geography:...
and toppled into Coal Creek. Eventually, it was joined by WB 299 on 1 January 1960.
Preservation
Inspired by the recovery of locomotives from riverbeds such as KNZR K class (1877)
The NZR Rogers K class was the first example of American-built locomotives to be used on New Zealand's railways. Their success coloured locomotive development in New Zealand until the end of steam.-History:...
88 from the Oreti River
Oreti River
The Oreti River is one of the main rivers of Southland, New Zealand, and is 170 kilometres in length.The Oreti has its headwaters close to the Mavora Lakes between Lake Te Anau and Lake Wakatipu, and flows south across the Southland Plains to its outflow into Foveaux Strait at the southeastern end...
in Southland, the Baldwin Steam Trust was established to recover WB 292 and WB 299 from their resting place near Seddonville. The Seddonville Branch
Seddonville Branch
The Seddonville Branch, now truncated and operating as the Ngakawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction of the line began in 1874 and it reached its final terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonville in 1895...
between Seddonville and Mokihinui Mine had closed in 1974, and by the late 1980s, nature had grown over the old formation and there were no roads within a mile of where the two locomotives lay. Nonetheless, a plan was formulated and in mid-1989, the engines were successfully recovered. The Baldwin Steam Trust ultimately plans to restore both locomotives back to full operational condition. 292 & 299 are stored at the Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust
Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust
The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust is a non-profit, charitable trust in New Zealand that was established in 2003 with the objective of reinstating an operating heritage railway over the Rimutaka Ranges using the original route of the Wairarapa Line between Maymorn and Featherston,...
's Maymorn depot awaiting restoration.
- Wb292 Baldwin No. 16172 of 1898
- Wb299 Baldwin No. 16175 of 1898