Locomotives To Make Last Trip

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32360, 28 July 1970, Page 18

Locomotives To Make Last Trip

llngton on September 28 for Taihape. The next day it will go to Taumarunul, and the next day will arrive at Frankton, its destination. Mr K. G. Brown, the secretary of the Canterbury branch of the Railway and Locomotive Society, says the locomotives will be preserved by the Waikato branch of the society, which has bought them from the New Zealand Railways at scrap metal S rices of about 8900 each, oth engines are in good running order. During the journey the engines will be manned by New Zealand Railways crews, and both will be at the head of the train. They will carry their own coal in tenders and will be carrying water pumps so that water can be obtained from streams if water vats are not available.

Steam engines will be heard again when the only surviving BA-class locomotive and one of the last A-class engines haul their last train through the South Island and up the North Island in September. Pulling five carriages and about 200 passengers, the engines will start their last ourney at Greymouth on the morning of August 29 and arrive at Christchurch that evening. The next stage of the trip will begin on September 19 when the locomotives leave Christchurch, stopping over night at Kaikoura and arriving at Picton the next day. The engines will be stripped of cowcatchers and other fittings and go across to Wellington on the ferry. The train will leave Wel-

Precautions have been taken The BAs worked in the against sparks from the Dunedin and Greymouth locomotives’ smoke stacks set- areas and were written off in ting fire to the countryside, 1964, when all except one especially in the Canterbury were broken up for scrap, area. Fire tenders will accom- With its tender, the locomopany the engines by road and tlve weighs 66.8 tons, the line will be patrolled by The A-class engine, weighrailways gangers. Ing 78.2 tons with tender, was Spark arresters may be one of 22 built at Thames fitted to the locomotives, and at the Addjngton Workalthough Mr Brown says there shops in 1907. The A-class Is little risk of fires being locomotives were intended started. for passenger train service

The BA-class locomotive was built at the Railways Department Addington Workshops with seven others in the period 1911-1913. Built for goods train service on branch lines, the engines had particularly small, 42jin, driving wheels so they could pull heavy trains at low speeds. They were rebuilt in 1948 to give them a boiler pressure of 2001 b per sq. in.

but were later relegated to hauling goods trains and doing shunting. They have a boiler pressure of 1801 b per sq. in. and have Min driving wheels. In later years, the A-class locomotives worked in the Invercargill, Dunedin, Greymouth and Christchurch districts. A few remain on the West Coast but they are no longer being used.