NZR J class (1874)

The NZR J class was a group of steam locomotives with a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement, first built in 1874 for the New Zealand Railways. It was the first class of locomotive in New Zealand to carry a tender, since every earlier class had been a tank engine. Six engines from the Avonside Engine Company entered service in Canterbury in 1874, ten more followed in 1879 and a dozen from Vulcan Foundry in 1883. One engine was lost at sea during delivery and was replaced the following year. The class spread to Auckland, Waikato and Hawke's Bay and handled both long goods trains and important passenger services on the early Main South Line. As heavier locomotives arrived, four were rebuilt in 1917 and 1918 as 2-6-2 tank engines of the WA class for yard shunting. By 1935 all had been discarded and none was preserved, though relics survive at sites where the railway dumped withdrawn equipment.