Back in 1908 the Gisborne Borough Council had a long standing problem in obtaining stone for its roading requirements. As a result the council decided to undertake the task themselves rather than rely on external contractors.
The Council resolved to obtain supplies of gravel from the Waipaoa River at Kaitera-tahi, 13 miles from town on the railway line, and to continue to look further afield for stone.
The Cook County Council owned a stone quarry at Patutahi, some 13 miles west of Gisborne, and the two Councils discussed the feasibility of their jointly constructing a tramway from the quarry to Gisborne. A steam wagon was then procured to move the stone but this failed to transport the amount of material required. It was considered to be more expensive than using a tramway.
During 1909 the Borough Council opened up a quarry at Gentle Annie which was some distance to the south-west of the Patutahi Quarry. The Gisborne Borough Council then decided to that a roadside tramway should be built to transport the stone from the quarry at Gentle Annie.
Once approval had been gained from the Cook County Council in September 1910 work began to construct a 12 mile tramway as the stone from the Gentle Annie quarry was then being transported by the steam wagon and horse drawn vehicles. The gauge of the tramway was 2ft 6in.
Two steam locomotives were purchased from W G Bagnall in Stafford to work on the line. The first arrived at Gisborne in January 1911 and was erected and tested before being employed on the construction of the tramway. The two locomotives were called Jack and Annie. This locomotive which was built in 1911 and was called Annie and was the second to arrive and was the smaller of the two locomotives. Annie was based at the quarry end of the tramway.
The quarry closed in 1915 and the tramway was only used between the gravel pit at Matawhero and Gisborne.
From 1916 until 1924 the locomotive was employed at the Motuhora Stone Quarries but remained there in a derelict condition 1976.
In 1976 the locomotive was acquired by Mike Collins at moved to Kerikeri where it remained until 1985when it moved to the Piha Tramway Trust which was a 3ft gauge bush tramway that had operated from 1906 until 1921. The tramway ran from the Anawhata Valley to Manukau Harbour and was used to transporting timber.
At some stage the locomotive passed into the ownership of Ken Pointon before it was acquired again by Mike Collins in 1992.
The locomotive was then acquired by the East Coast Museum of Technology ECMoT) where the locomotive remains. It is understood that the locomotive is being restored at the museum at Gisborne.
Preserved Outside Britain – By Country
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 