SteamRail Wanganui

SteamRail Wanganui is a railway preservation society based in Wanganui, New Zealand. It owns heritage railway locomotives, rolling stock, and structures in the Wanganui area. It also operates occasional excursions in conjunction with other societies and provides a base for excursions passing through Wanganui to stop and visit while replenishing supplies. Its goal is to establish a railway precinct in Wanganui as a historical and tourist attraction.

Society history and infrastructure

The society was formed around 1990 with the express goal of restoring the old Wanganui turntable, which was then facing scrap. SteamRail Wanganui successfully saved the turntable and restored it over a period of three years with the assistance of Steam Incorporated. The first locomotive to use it was Steam Incorporated's K^A 945 and the turntable now sees daily use by regular trains, as well as occasional use by visiting excursions.^[1] The society subsequently acquired other railway infrastructure in the Wanganui area, including the Aramoho signal box, East Town Workshops staff buildings, and a shed converted into a storage depot for the society's rolling stock.^[2]

Locomotives

The organisation possesses three small diesel locomotives, all of which were used in private industrial service rather than by the New Zealand Railways Department. They are:^[3]

Drewry 0-6-0, built 1950, 102 hp motor.
Price 0-4-0, built 1944, 87 hp motor
Price 0-6-0, built 1964, 196 hp motor

Rolling stock

The society has a small collection of general freight wagons and "way and works" rolling stock, including fuel tankers, box wagons, and a railway crane.^[4] In addition, they possess a passenger wagon rescued from a farmer's field outside Wanganui. It is one of only three built at the Petone Workshops in 1896 and is believed to be the only one of its type to still exist. It is currently partly restored with the goal of returning it to its original condition.^[5]

References

External links

SteamRail Wanganui

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 Helensville Railway Station Precinct Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Museum of Transport and Technology Papatoetoe Railway Station Preservation Trust Railway Enthusiasts Society Rotorua Ngongotaha Railway Trust Waikino Victoria Battery Tramway and Museum Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club

Lower North Island	East Coast Museum of Technology Feilding and District Steam Rail Society Fell Locomotive Museum Gisborne City Vintage Railway Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Main Trunk Rail Ohakune 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 Tokomaru Steam Museum 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 Canterbury Steam Preservation Society Diesel Traction Group Ferrymead Railway Ferrymead Two Foot Railway Kingston Flyer Lumsden Heritage Trust Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Midland Rail Heritage Trust National Railway Museum of New Zealand Nelson Railway Society Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society Ocean Beach Railway Ohai Railway Board Heritage Trust Pleasant Point Museum and Railway Project Steam Reefton Historic Trust Board Dunedin Railways (inc. Otago Excursion Train Trust) The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum Tramway Historical Society Waimea Plains Railway Weka Pass Railway West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society (inc. Shantytown) Westland Heritage Park Westport Railway Preservation Society

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