NZR Wb class
NZR WB class
| Type and origin |
| Power type |
Steam |
| Builder |
Baldwin Locomotive Works |
| Serial number |
16166–16177 (not in road number order) |
| Build date |
1898 |
|
| Specifications |
Configuration:
|
|
| • Whyte
|
2-6-2T |
| Gauge |
3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
|
Driver dia. |
39.75 in (1.010 m) |
| Length |
32 ft 9 in (9.98 m) |
| Adhesive weight |
29.5 long tons (30.0 t; 33.0 short tons) |
| Loco weight |
40.7 t (40.1 long tons; 44.9 short tons) |
| Fuel type |
Coal |
Firebox:
• Firegrate area |
17.3 sq ft (1.61 m2) |
| Boiler pressure |
170 psi (1,172 kPa) |
| Heating surface |
830 sq ft (77 m2) |
| Cylinder size |
14 in × 20 in (356 mm × 508 mm) |
|
|
|
|
|
| Type and origin |
| Power type |
Steam |
| Builder |
Baldwin Locomotive Works |
| Serial number |
16166–16177 (not in road number order) |
| Build date |
1898 |
| Specifications |
Configuration:
|
|
| • Whyte
|
2-6-2T |
| Gauge |
3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
|
Driver dia. |
39.75 in (1.010 m) |
| Length |
32 ft 9 in (9.98 m) |
| Adhesive weight |
29.5 long tons (30.0 t; 33.0 short tons) |
| Loco weight |
40.7 t (40.1 long tons; 44.9 short tons) |
| Fuel type |
Coal |
Firebox:
• Firegrate area |
17.3 sq ft (1.61 m2) |
| Boiler pressure |
170 psi (1,172 kPa) |
| Heating surface |
830 sq ft (77 m2) |
| Cylinder size |
14 in × 20 in (356 mm × 508 mm) |
The NZR WB class was a class of tank locomotives that operated in New Zealand. Built in 1898 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the twelve members of the class entered service during the first five months of 1899. Eight were withdrawn by the end of 1935, while four others survived with new boilers until the mid-1950s.
In the late 1890s, New Zealand's national network was expanding at a great rate and demand for services on existing lines was rising. However, the size of the locomotive fleet was inadequate to handle the demand - this was at least in part due to the economic difficulties created by the Long Depression. The New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) had built the WA class in its own workshops, but desperate for more engines, went shopping overseas for more. High prices and workers' strikes in England meant that the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Pennsylvania was contacted in 1898 to provide twelve locomotives built to similar specifications as the WA class. Delivery was swift and the locomotives entered service between January and May 1899. Although initially classified as WA, they were re-classified WB in 1900-01 to avoid any confusion with the earlier locomotives constructed in New Zealand.
Most were initially based at Wanganui's East Town depot, but two each went to Wellington and Westport and one to Whangarei. By World War I, they were equally distributed between Westport and Whangarei.
In their early years, WB locomotives ran all kinds of trains from their main base in Wanganui - the prestigious New Plymouth Mail passenger express, goods trains to Napier and through the Wairarapa, and local mixed trains of passengers and freight from Wanganui to Hawera and Palmerston North. Within a few years, more powerful locomotives displaced the WB class from many of these services and they were sent to join their class-mates in Westport and Whangarei.
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Wikipedia
