Ocean Beach Railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ocean Beach Railway (OBR) is a heritage railway that operates in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located between John Wilson Drive^[1] in the suburb of Saint Kilda and sports grounds near Forbury Park Raceway, and runs parallel with the city's main beach, Ocean Beach. This is near where the Ocean Beach Branch once ran, but not on the same formation.

The OBR can claim three notable distinctions. The first is that it was the first organisation to preserve a steam locomotive in New Zealand with the intention of operating it. The second is that it was the first operating heritage railway in New Zealand, with the first train running in 1963.^[2] The third is that it possesses A 67, a member of the 0-4-0 A class of 1873 built by Dübs & Co., and it is currently the oldest operational locomotive in New Zealand.^[3]

A67 at Ocean Beach Railway

History

In 1960, the late S. A. Rockliff and a small group of members of the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Otago Branch placed a bid of $20 to purchase a small 9-ton Fowler 0-4-0T tank locomotive, Maker's N^O 15912 of 1921 and used by the Public Works Department as their N^O 540, from the Otago Harbour Board. Their bid was successful, making this locomotive the first to be preserved by a heritage railway in New Zealand. The locomotive whistle was first heard near the site of the former Ocean Beach railway station in August 1961.^[4]

Permission was granted by the Ocean Beach Domain Board to lay some 60yds of track at Kettle Park in Saint Kilda, alongside the Otago Model Engineers' Club grounds. Surplus tram rails were obtained from the Dunedin City Council. Passenger operations began during Festival Week in 1963 with PWD 540 and a four-wheeled wagon fitted with high sides, carrying some 2,700 passengers. It was decided to extend the line to the nearby locality of Saint Clair, following part of the route of the Dunedin Peninsular and Ocean Beach Railway.^[5]

During this period the OBR extended both their line and their collection with other locomotives donated by or purchased from Milburn Lime & Cement, the Otago Harbour Board, and McDonalds Lime among others. More rolling stock including examples of historic passenger carriages and goods wagons were purchased from the NZR, including the remains of two Dunedin & Port Chalmers Railway vehicles. A locomotive shed and later carriage shed were built, and protected by an eight-foot high, vandal-proof fence.

List of Locomotives

Key:	In Service	In Service, Main Line Certified	Under Overhaul/Restoration	Stored	Static Display	Scrapped

Number	Builder	Builder's Number	Year Built	Acquired by Ocean Beach	Notes
A 67	Dubs & Co.	647	1873	1967	Acquired from Milburn Lime & Cement, 1967. Currently the oldest operational locomotive in New Zealand.
A 66	Dubs & Co.	648	1873	1973	Plinthed next to Josephine outside the Otago Early Settlers Museum until 1973. Leased to Caenarvon Restaurant from 1981 until damaged by a fire in 1988. The loco was given a cosmetic overhaul and moved to Middlemarch for display until 2000 when it was leased to the Waimea Plains Railway.
D 6	Neilson & Co.	2564	1880	1965	Sold by NZR to Taratu Coal in 1917, and on-sold in 1940 to McDonalds Lime, Oamaru. Used by McDonalds until 1965 when acquired by Ocean Beach Railway. Stored awaiting eventual restoration.
F 111	Dubs & Co	1233	1879	?	Purchased from the Oamaru Harbour Board, 1966. Restored 1975, withdrawn for overhaul 1985. Overhaul commenced 2007, F 111 will need a new boiler before it can return to service. Named Rob Roy in preservation.
F 150	Dubs & Co	1371	1880	1974	Displayed in an Invercargill park from 1961 until obtained by the OBR in 1974. F 150 was leased to Plains Railway in 1986 and remains in storage at their Tinwald Domain site near Ashburton.
PWD 540	John Fowler & Co.	15912	1921	1960	First Preserved Steam Locomotive with intent to use in working condition. Obtained from Otago Harbour Board, in whose ownership it had been working at the Aramoana Mole since 1951. Stored awaiting overhaul.
Traills Tractor	A&T Burt.	126	1926	1997	Built for Milburn Cement. Displayed at a Kindergarten until 1997, to Ocean Beach Railway. Stored.
Haig 4815	Kerr Stuart.	4815	1929	?	Built for Kempthorne Prosser. In service.
T^R 81	Drewry	2097	1939	?	Originally built to NZR "Baby Drewry" type for Ohai Railway Board. Sold to NZR, became their T^R 81 (later TMS TR 309). Sold to Ocean Beach Railway, and later restored to Ohai Railway Board appearance. In service.
D^SA 252	Hunslet	4530	1954	2005	Formerly D^SA 252, later TMS DSA 549. Owned by Silver Fern Farms ex the former Burnside freezing works and on loan to Ocean Beach Railway, under the proviso that should it be needed it must be returned.^[6] In service.
D^SA 256	Hunslet	4534	1954	2000	Formerly D^SA 256, later TMS DSA 592. Purchased by Fiordland Vintage Machinery Museum for proposed railway at Te Anau. Owned privately and stored at Ocean Beach Railway. Now owned by Ocean Beach Railway
D^S 203	Drewry/Vulcan	2527	1955	1982	In service, occasionally used on passenger trains.
Price 185	A&G Price	185	1958	1993	Built for Alliance Freezing Works, Lorneville. To Ocean Beach Railway 1993, stored.

Rolling stock

The OBR possesses numerous historic passenger carriages, an assortment of freight wagons, and a hand crane. The collection includes the following vehicles:

A 193 and A 210, two 43' 0" passenger carriages built at Addington Workshops in 1886 and 1883 respectively to BP 91. They are the most complete examples of their type in preservation. As of 2013, A 193 is in regular service while A 210 is being restored.
A 529, a 41' 0" gallery or 'birdcage' coach built by Addington Workshops in 1897. It was converted into a Ministerial carriage in 1904, before being converted in 1939 to E^A 1564, the South Island Plumbers and Fitters coach. The body is in storage at Ocean Beach while the underframe was sent to Pleasant Point in 1975 for their 'half-birdcage' coach, A 421.
A^F 874, a 47' 6" 'carvan' or combination passenger carriage and guards' van. Converted from 1904-built passenger carriage A 874 in 1948, this carriage was purchased by the Taieri Model Club in 1968 and was donated to the OBR in 1977. This carriage is currently in regular service.
D 139, a 21' 6" four-wheeled passenger carriage built by the Dunedin firm of Hyslops in 1877. One of only three D class carriages preserved, its last use was as Way and Works hut E 897. It is currently in storage awaiting restoration.

Ocean Beach is well renowned for its active restoration of freight rolling stock, some examples of which are very rare and have earnt the railway numerous restoration awards. The railway also owns 5-ton Ransome & Rapier hand crane 287 of 1874, and restoration work on the crane earned the OBR a Rolling Stock Award from the Federation of Rail Organisations NZ.^[7] The Ocean Beach Railway is one of very few railways in New Zealand which can produce an accurate late 19th century period train.

The OBR also owns the underframes of two ex-Dunedin & Port Chalmers Railway Company vehicles. It is thought they are possibly goods wagons although carriage historian John Agnew believes that they may be from passenger carriages.

Operation

The Ocean Beach Railway has traditionally operated a summer schedule with services every Sunday. In 2006, the OBR commenced operating a reduced winter schedule, featuring services on the last Sunday of every month.^[8] Trains are operated by a mix of steam and diesel locomotives. Currently T^R 81, Kerr Stuart 4185 and D^SA 252 are used to pull trains, with A67 out of service for its 10 year boiler examination. Most restoration work takes place on Saturdays and visitors are welcome to view the workshops and restoration work in progress.

References

↑ John Wilson Drive
↑ History - The Story of the Ocean Beach Railway
↑ Vehicles - Steam locomotive A 67
↑ Dunedin’s Matchbox Railway: The Dunedin, Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway Company and Other Suburban Transport Ventures p102-3 by J. A. Dangerfield (1986, New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society. Wellington) ISBN 0-908573-45-6
↑ http://www.obr.org.nz/history/home.html
↑ OBR's November/December 2004 news update and January/February 2005 news update
↑ Vehicles - Hand Crane 287
↑ OBR News - Winter Operation Announced

External links

v t e Railway preservation in New Zealand New Zealand railway heritage and preservation groups

Upper North Island	Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Bush Tramway Club Driving Creek Railway Glenbrook Vintage Railway Goldfields Railway Mainline Steam Museum of Transport and Technology Papatoetoe Railway Station Preservation Trust Railway Enthusiasts Society Waikino Victoria Battery Tramway and Museum

Lower North Island	Feilding and District Steam Rail Society Fell Locomotive Museum Gisborne City Vintage Railway New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Ormondville Rail Preservation Society Paekakariki Station Precinct Trust Pahiatua Railcar Society Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust Silver Stream Railway Steam Incorporated SteamRail Wanganui Wairarapa Railway Restoration Society Waitara Railway Preservation Society Wellington and Manawatu Railway Trust Wellington Heritage Multiple Unit Preservation Trust Wellington Tramway Museum

South Island	Blenheim Riverside Railway Canterbury Railway Society Diesel Traction Group Ferrymead Railway Ferrymead Two Foot Railway Kingston Flyer Midland Rail Heritage Trust Nelson Railway Society Oamaru Steam and Rail Ocean Beach Railway Ohai Railway Board Plains Vintage Railway Pleasant Point Museum and Railway Project Steam Taieri Gorge Railway (inc. Otago Excursion Train Trust) Tramway Historical Society Weka Pass Railway West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society (inc. Shantytown) Westport Railway Preservation Society

Coordinates: 45°54′24.73″S 170°30′35.04″E / 45.9068694°S 170.5097333°E / -45.9068694; 170.5097333

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.