| Driving Wheels | 2ft 9in |
| Weight | Circa 17 tons |
| Boiler Pressure | 200psi |
| Cylinders | Outside – 10in x 18in |
This locomotive was built by Andrew Brclay at Kilmarnock and dispatched to New Zealand in April 1912. It was delivered new to work at the Taupo Totara Saw Mills for the Taupo Totara Timber Company (TTT) on the Putaruru – Mokai line.
TTT had been formed in 1901 by a group of Wellington Business men who had been persuaded by local chief Hitiri te Paerata to commercialise several isolated podocarp forests northwest of Taupo. These forests were considered among New Zealand’s finest remaining stands of totara and matai trees.
The TTT constructed the The Mokai Tramway as a bush tramway to link their milling centre at Mokai with the New Zealand Government Railways line (NZR) at Putāruru in the Waikato region on the North Island of New Zealand. The tramway also connected up with a number of sawmills the company operated along the route. The line was more than 50 miles long and operated from 1903 until 1944 – it was handed over to the New Zealand Railway in June 1950.
Although the following is not part of the history of the locomotive I found it interesting so have included it below.
At Ongaroto on The Mokai Tramway the TTT built a large timber bridge of locally sourced totara wood. The timber bridge deteriorated over the years and was condemned, but the company could not afford to replace it immediately because its sawmill had burned down in 1928. In the last few years of service, trains arriving at the bridge stopped and the passengers and fireman walked across while the driver gently opened the throttle and then jumped off. The train then slowly moved across the bridge before being stopped on the other side by the fireman. Everyone then reboarded the train. The bridge was replaced in 1931 by a steel truss bridge with a central pier.
At some stage the locomotive was converted from a 0-4-0ST to a 2-4-2St and the bunker was extended.
The locomotive was sold to the Auckland Gas Company in 1925. Here the front and rear trucks were removed to restore the locomotive to a 0-4-0ST. The extended frame and bunker at the rear were retained.
In 1944 the locomotive was fitted with a boiler made by A&G Price of Thames who had started building locomotives in New Zealand in 1882.
The Auckland Gas Company ended rail operations in 1959 and the locomotive was sold in the following year to Pukemiro Colleries Ltd who had a mine at Waikato west of Huntley.
After operating there for seven years the locomotive was donated the Museum of Transport & Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland..
After this it was stored at the Museum of Transport & Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland. It is currently under restoration there.
Preserved Outside Britain – By Country
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 