# NZR V class

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New Zealand V class V class tender locomotive. Picture from the AP Godber Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Nasmyth, Wilson and Company, Manchester, United Kingdom Build date 1885 Total produced 13 Specifications Configuration: ​ • Whyte 2-6-2 Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Wheel diameter 49 in (1,245 mm) Adhesive weight 23.7 long tons (24.1 t; 26.5 short tons) Total weight 53.5 long tons (54.4 t; 59.9 short tons) Fuel type Coal Firebox: ​ • Grate area 16 sq ft (1.5 m2) Boiler pressure 135 psi (931 kPa) Heating surface 862 sq ft (80.1 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 15 in × 20 in (381 mm × 508 mm) Loco brake Steam Performance figures Maximum speed 88 km/h (55 mph) Tractive effort 9,890 lbf (44.0 kN) Career Number in class 13 Locale Wellington and Manawatu Railway, Main South Line, Marton – New Plymouth Line. Disposition Two full locomotives recovered from the Oreti River; parts from several others in other locations also extant

The **New Zealand V class** [steam locomotive](/source/Locomotive#Steam) was used on [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand)'s [railway](/source/Railway) network from 1885 onwards. They were operated by [New Zealand Government Railways](/source/New_Zealand_Railways_Department)[1] and the [Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company](/source/Wellington_and_Manawatu_Railway_Company).[2]

## Introduction

The heavy increase in traffic by the early 1880s necessitated a design for a new class of passenger locomotive. The V class was conceived as an enlarged version of the [2-4-2](/source/2-4-2) [NZR K class of 1877](/source/NZR_K_class_(1877)). Instead of the K class's four coupled wheels, six coupled wheels were used. The order was placed with [Nasmyth, Wilson and Company](/source/Nasmyth%2C_Wilson_and_Company) of [Manchester](/source/Manchester). It took seven years for delivery to be made and then it was found that the engines were 5 and a half tons overweight without their tender.[1]

As a result, the NZGR refused to accept the locomotives until the weight was pared down to an acceptable level. However, by the time they were modified, the engines had been superseded by the American-built [NZR N class](/source/NZR_N_class) of similar dimensions.

The [Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company](/source/Wellington_and_Manawatu_Railway_Company) also ordered three of those locomotives, numbers 6, 7, and 8, at a cost of about £6,000 each (equivalent to about $1 million in 2011).[2][3] They were fitted with an ornate Rogers-styled wooden cab with Gothic windows, and an extended smokebox crowned with a copper-capped funnel. They could be fired with "any light fuel" including wood and were very slightly heavier than the NZR version. They had inside frames and journals on both pony trucks. When the WMR was taken over by the NZR in 1908, they were included in the V class.[2]

The locomotives had one weakness in their [frames](/source/Locomotive_frame), just behind the cylinders. This weak spot, when stressed, would break; this occurred when the Branxholme locomotives were dumped, thus rendering their frames beyond repair. The Mararoa Junction locomotives may have suffered similarly.

## Withdrawal

The first withdrawals of the V class began around 1925 and ended in the early 1930s. Most of the engines were dumped as stripped hulks comprising the boiler, frames, cylinders and wheels at the [Branxholme Locomotive Dump](/source/Branxholme_Locomotive_Dump) in 1927. V 126 and V 127 were dumped as substantially more complete hulks at Mararoa Junction, in October 1928,[4] complete with their cabs and tenders. V 132 was dismantled at the Bealey Quarry and its frames dumped there.

The three WMR engines were withdrawn the same time and their boilers removed for stationary use or sale. The fate of the 3 WMR V's is unknown, though there has been some speculation that one might have been dumped at Branxholme. One of the boilers from these engines was unearthed by [KiwiRail](/source/KiwiRail) in 2009 during construction of the Kai Iwi tunnel bypass.

V 127 at Lumsden

## Preservation

In 1999, enthusiast Tony Bachelor salvaged the remains of locomotives V 35, V 125, and V 136 from Braxholme. Due to the weakness in the frames, the frame of V 132 and a Nasmyth Wilson pony truck were recovered from the Bealey Quarry. It was intended that the locomotives would be restored by the Hooterville Charitable Trust at Waitara, but this later fell through and Bachelor moved the remnants to his property in Ashhurst.

In 2009, the parts of the four Vs, along with a boiler found during the Kai Iwi deviation construction, were donated to the [Feilding and District Steam Rail Society](/source/Feilding_and_District_Steam_Rail_Society). The parts were stored at the F&DSR depot in the Feilding yard, but now they were scrapped.

In 2018, the remains of two V class locomotives were investigated at Mararoa Junction with a view to recovery and static restoration by the [Lumsden Heritage Trust](/source/Lumsden_Heritage_Trust).[5]

During late January 2020, the [Lumsden Heritage Trust](/source/Lumsden_Heritage_Trust) successfully recovered 1885 V-class 127 from the dump site in the Oreti River after a recovery effort and planning that spanned six years. They had also wanted to recover V-class 126, but in the words of the Lumsden Heritage Trust, logistics got the better of them on the day, despite a mammoth effort. No. 127's recovered locomotive and tender are sitting on their wheels and bogies on a specially built siding at the [Lumsden Railway Precinct](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lumsden_Railway_Precinct&action=edit&redlink=1).[6] Then on Wednesday 26 February 2020, the Trust commenced a second attempt at recovering V-class No. 126. Learning from the first attempt they first winched 126 and tender closer to the river bank and onto gravel prior to re-attempting the lift, which was reported as being easier than lifting 127. The recovery of the two V-class locomotives has garnered media attention as far away as the UK and the Trust's Lumsden base has seen an influx of interested tourists and visitors.[7]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPalmerStewart196553_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPalmerStewart196553_1-1) [Palmer & Stewart 1965](#CITEREFPalmerStewart1965), p. 53.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPalmerStewart196589_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPalmerStewart196589_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPalmerStewart196589_2-2) [Palmer & Stewart 1965](#CITEREFPalmerStewart1965), p. 89.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["New Zealand Inflation Calculator"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100701190957/http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/0135595.html). [Reserve Bank of New Zealand](/source/Reserve_Bank_of_New_Zealand). 11 January 2012. Archived from [the original](http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/0135595.html) on 1 July 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 9 (January 1, 1929) "The Long Day Closes"](http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov03_09Rail-t1-body-d12.html#n30). *New Zealand Electronic Text Collection*. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Trains unearthed in Southland for the first time in nine decades"](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109051796/trains-unearthed-in-southland-for-the-first-time-in-nine-decades). Stuff (Fairfax). 3 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Rare locomotive pulled from river bank in Northern Southland"](https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/119115296/rare-locomotives-pulled-from-river-bank-in-northern-southland). Stuff (Fairfax). 29 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Second locomotive buried in river bed has been recovered"](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/119847636/second-locomotive-buried-in-river-bed-may-be-recovered). Stuff (Fairfax). 26 February 2020.

### Bibliography

- [Heath, Eric](/source/Eric_Heath_(artist)); [Stott, Bob](/source/Bob_Stott) (1993). *Classic Steam Locomotives Of New Zealand*. Grantham House. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1869340361](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1869340361).

- Cassells, Ken (1994). *Uncommon Carrier: The History of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, 1882-1908*. [New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society](/source/New_Zealand_Railway_and_Locomotive_Society). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-908573-63-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-908573-63-4).

- Stewart, W. W. (1974). *When Steam was King*. Wellington: [A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd](/source/Reed_Publishing). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-589-00382-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-589-00382-1).

- Palmer, A. N.; Stewart, W. W. (1965). *Cavalcade of New Zealand Locomotives*. Wellington: [A H. & A W. Reed](/source/Reed_Publishing). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-207-94500-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-207-94500-7).

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [NZR V class](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:NZR_V_class).

- [NZR Steam locomotives - V class](http://www.trainweb.org/nzsteam/v_class.html)

v t e Rail vehicles of New Zealand Diesel locomotives Mainline DA (inc. DAA, DAR) DB (inc. DBR) DC (inc. DCP) DF (English Electric) DF (General Motors) inc. DFT, DFB, DFM DG (inc. DH of 1956) DI DJ DL DM DQ and QR DX (inc. DXB, DXC, DXR) Shunt DE DH of 1978 DS DSA DSB DSC DSG DSH (on order) DSJ TR Electric locomotives 1500 V DC EA (later EO of 1968) EC ED EO of 1923 EW 25 kV AC EF Battery E EB Diesel multiple units ADK/ADB class diesel multiple unit ADL/ADC class diesel multiple unit Electric multiple units 1500 V DC (Wellington) "English Electric" DM (inc. D trailers) "Ganz Mavag" EM (inc. ET trailers) "Matangi" FP (inc. FT trailers) "Tūhono" BEMU (on order) 25 kV AC (Auckland) AM (inc. AMP, AMT, AMA) Railcars RM class 88 seater (also known as Fiats or twinsets) Clayton steam railcar Edison battery-electric railcar Red Terror railcar Midland railcar Leyland experimental petrol railcar McEwan Pratt petrol railcar Model T Ford railcar Sentinel-Cammell steam railcar Silver Fern railcar Standard railcar Thomas Transmission railcar Vulcan railcar Wairarapa railcar Westinghouse railcar Others A 88 Buckhurst petrol carriage Steam locomotives A of 1873 A of 1906 (inc. AD) AA AB B of 1874 B of 1899 BA BB BC C of 1873 C of 1930 D of 1874 D of 1929 E of 1872 & 1875 E of 1906 F FA (inc. FB) G of 1874 G Garratt of 1928 (inc. Pacific rebuild) H J of 1874 J of 1939 JA JB K of 1877 K of 1932 KA KB L LA M N NA NC O OA OB OC P of 1876 P of 1885 Q of 1878 Q of 1901 R S T U UA UB UC UD V W WA WAB WB WD WE WF WG WH WJ WS WW X Y Locomotive hauled carriages 50-foot carriage 56-foot carriage AC class (Grassgrubs) ex-British Rail Mark 2 carriage AK carriage FM class guards van SX carriages Track evaluation, cranes, and maintenance ETM class track evaluation car EL class rail cranes ETM class rail maintenance equipment Locomotives of New Zealand Rail transport in New Zealand Railway preservation in New Zealand.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [NZR V class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NZR_V_class) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NZR_V_class?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.