This locomotive is one of two built by John Fowler in Leeds in 1925 for the Napier Harbour Board. The other locomotive (Works No 16343) has also been preserved.
Napier is the capital of the Hawke’s Bay province and was first sighted by a European when Captain Cook visited in 1769.
Early development was generally confined to the hill and to the port area of Ahuriri but Napier soon flourished and became a well established commercial centre with a growing port, servicing a wide area.
The location of the port was the source of fierce public debate in the late 1800s, with many arguing that it should be shifted from Port Ahuriri to deeper waters off Bluff Hill. In February 1931 the devastating earthquake put an end to the issue, raising large areas of the seabed by eight feet and making the port at Ahuriri unusable. 258 people were killed in the Hawke’s Bay area as a result of the earthquake.
As Hawke’s Bay was rebuilt, the breakwater under Bluff Hill was settled upon as the new location for the port.
The Napier Harbour Board was established in 1875 and ran the port until the end of the 1980s although in 1976 its name changed to the Hawke’s Bay Harbour Board.
The locomotive has operated in preservation on the Silver Steam Railway.
The locomotive was sold by the Silverstream Railway prior to its overhaul to return it to working order, however it remained at that railway for a time.
It has since been sold to “Mainline Steam” and resides at their Plimmerton Depot.
Preserved Outside Britain – By Country
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 