NZR Wf class
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| Type and origin | |
|---|---|
| Power type | Steam |
| Designer | A. L. Beattie |
| Builder |
NZR Addington Workshops, Christchurch (10) NZR Hillside Workshops, Dunedin (16) A & G Price, Thames (15) |
| Serial number | 59 - 68, 74 - 79, 84 - 93 (NZR) 1 - 12, 121 - 123 (A & G Price) |
| Build date | 1904 - 1908, 1928 |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Configuration: |
|
| • Whyte | 2-6-4 T |
| Driver dia. | 45 in (1.143 m) |
| Wheelbase | 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m) |
| Length | 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m) |
| Adhesive weight | 26.9 long tons (27.3 t; 30.1 short tons) |
| Loco weight | 43.7 long tons (44.4 t; 48.9 short tons) |
| Fuel type | Coal |
| Fuel capacity | 2.2 long tons (2.2 t; 2.5 short tons) |
| Water cap | 950 imp gal (4,300 L; 1,140 US gal) |
| Firebox: • Firegrate area |
15.4 square feet (1.43 m2) |
| Boiler pressure | 200 psi (1,379 kPa) |
| Heating surface | 729 square feet (67.7 m2) |
| Cylinders | Two |
| Cylinder size | 14 in × 22 in (356 mm × 559 mm) |
| Performance figures | |
|---|---|
| Tractive effort | 15,330 lbf (68.2 kN) |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Number in class | 41 |
| Numbers | 62, 379 - 398, 400 - 405, 430 - 438, 467 - 468, 842 - 844 |
| First run | 20 December 1904 |
| Last run | March 1968 |
| Retired | May 1954 - March 1968 |
| Preserved | Three |
| Current owner | Steam Incorporated, Canterbury Railway Society, Nelson Railway Society |
| Disposition | 29 scrapped 8 sold to Tasmania (withdrawn) 3 preserved |
The New Zealand WF class were steam locomotives designed, built and used by New Zealand Railways Department. Their wheel arrangement is described by the Whyte notation 2-6-4T and the first members of the class entered service in 1904. The locomotives were tank engines designed by the Railways Department's Chief Mechanical Engineer A. L. Beattie, and were mainly built for suburban duties such as those between Christchurch and Lyttelton. They also saw main-line service in the Taranaki region, but most of the class members were assigned to branch line and local services throughout the country. Two were experimentally converted to oil burners in 1909-1910. The tests were satisfactory, but as coal was much cheaper than oil at the time, no further conversions took place.
There were 41 in the class; built by Addington Workshops (10), Hillside Workshops (16), and A & G Price of Thames (15).
In 1902, a drawing was made showing a 2-6-4T tank locomotive, based on a proposal to convert the NZR V class 2-6-2 tender locomotives to tank locomotives. It was noted that the tractive effort of the new engine was 10,260lbs, considerably less than the 12,890lbs of the slightly smaller NZR W class 2-6-2T, and that a new boiler with a greater working pressure of 140psi would be required to have made the conversion of any real use. It was considered uneconomic to fit new boilers to the old V class frames and running gear, which would have retained the obsolete Stephenson link motion and so the proposal lapsed in favour of developing the last three engines of the WA class 2-6-2T tank locomotives, nos. 50, 68, and 137.
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