NZR C class (1930)

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The C class consisted of twenty-four steam locomotives built to perform shunting duties on New Zealand's national rail network. It is sometimes known as the big C class to differentiate it from the C class of 1873.

[edit] History and construction

In the 1920s, train loads were getting heavier as mainline locomotives became more powerful and increasingly capable of pulling larger loads, but the locomotives assembling and shunting these trains in railway yards were struggling to cope with the weight. Some old mainline locomotives that had been displaced by the newer locomotives were modified to perform shunting duties, but this was not an adequate solution. Therefore, the C class of heavy, powerful shunting locomotives was designed.

The twenty-four C class locomotives were built by the New Zealand Railways (NZR) themselves in their own workshops, twelve each from the Hutt (Petone) and Hillside (Dunedin) Workshops. The first of the twenty-four entered service in October 1930 and the last was operating by November of the next year. The locomotives were superheated and bore technical similarities to the W^F class of tank locomotives but featured numerous modern features of the time, and with their sloped tender, they would not have looked out of place on an American railway.

[edit] Operation, withdrawal, and preservation

Employed in both islands, the C class satisfied the shunting requirements placed upon it and occasionally also worked local freight services. Not long after its introduction, the very powerful K class began operating, and their sheer power meant they could haul even heavier trains than other locomotives before. It soon became apparent that these trains required a shunter even more powerful than the C, and for this reason, ten members of the B^B class were modified for shunting duties.

However, the K class was not ubiquitous like the A^B class and there was still plenty of work for the C class locomotives to perform. All twenty-four members worked for over three decades, with the first two withdrawn in July 1963. A total of ten were withdrawn by the end of 1963 and the remainder were progressively removed from service over the next few years. Only three were left at the start of 1968, and in May, C 846 and C 864 were both retired, with the latter saved for preservation by the Ferrymead Railway and it is currently being overhauled. The last to be withdrawn was C 847 in October 1968 and it passed into the possession of the Silver Stream Railway. It is currently operational and in use by the Railway.

[edit] See also

• C class of 1873
• Locomotives of New Zealand

[edit] External links

• New Zealand Railways Steam Locomotives - Class C
• Silver Stream Railway locomotives - includes information on C 847