NZR Y class

Type and origin
Power type	Steam
Builder	Hunslet Engine Company
Serial number	1443-1445
Build date	1923
Total produced	3

Specifications
Configuration	0-6-0T
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Driver diameter	40 in (1.016 m)
Wheelbase	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Length	22 ft 10.5 in (6.97 m)
Loco weight	23 long tons (23.4 tonnes; 25.8 short tons)
Fuel type	Coal
Fuel capacity	0.85 sq ft (0.079 m²)
Water cap	500 imp gal (2,300 L)
Firebox: • Firegrate area	9 sq ft (0.84 m²)
Boiler pressure	160 lbf/in² (1,103 kPa)
Heating surface	522 sq ft (48.5 m²)
Cylinders	Two, outside
Cylinder size	13 in × 20 in (330 mm × 508 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaerts
Train brakes	Westinghouse compressed air

Performance figures
Tractive effort	10,140 lbf (45.10 kN)

Career
Operators	NZR
Numbers	542-544
Locale	Auckland area
First run	October 1923 (PWD), 1938 (NZR)
Last run	August 1945 (PWD), February 1958 (NZR)
Withdrawn	1957–1958
Preserved	1
Disposition	Two scrapped, one preserved

The New Zealand Railways Y class was a class of three 0-6-0T tank locomotives. Built by the Hunslet Engine Company for the Public Works Department in 1923, all three were sold to NZR between 1938 and 1945.^[1]

NZR service

The three Y class locomotives were sold by the PWD to NZR in two batches, N^O 543 being purchased in October 1938 and N^Os 542 and 544 in August 1945. Originally they were allocated to the Way and Works Branch for construction work, but later saw some use by the Mechanical Branch as shunting engines for hire to private industries whose own engines were under repair. The three engines were transferred to the Mechanical Branch in 1951 and received the class letter 'Y' in 1952.^[2] During their service life with the NZR, the locomotives retained their original PWD numbers.

In 1949, N^O 544 was loaned to the Whakatane Board Mills for use on their Matahina Tramway while their two ex-NZR F^A class locomotives were overhauled. This was the most notable use of one of these engines while on loan from NZR to a private industry. While in NZR service, the Y class locomotives tended to be based out of the Auckland locomotive depot and were used for shunting purposes there.

Withdrawal

As a splinter class with very little useful capabilities on a 'modern' railway, the Y class were relatively quickly withdrawn. Y 544 was noted at Wanganui in 1956 behind the locomotive depot with a worn-out boiler, before being finally written off on 17 August 1957.^[3] Y 543 remained in service as a working locomotive until withdrawn on 1 February 1958, but remained in semi-storage until sold to Pacific Steel at Otahuhu in early 1964 for scrap.

Y 542 was withdrawn in working order on 17 August 1957 but was then sold to Wilsons (NZ) Portland Cement for use on their private railway at Portland, south of Whangarei.

Industrial service

Aside from the locomotives' service to the Public Works Department, Y 542 was sold in 1957 to Wilsons (NZ) Portland Cement for use on their private railway between the cement factory near Portland station on the North Auckland Line and the company's quarries. Painted in the standard Wilsons livery of blue with red trim, 542 became the second Wilsons N^O 3 in place of an earlier ex-NZR locomotive, D 171, which was scrapped in 1957. 542 continued in industrial service until 1985, by which time it was held in store as a reserve for the company's fleet of Bagnall and Drewry diesel shunting locomotives.

Preservation

Y 542 (Hunslet 1444 of 1923) was sold to Wilsons Portland Cement in 1957 and was used on their internal railway network until 1985, by which time it was kept in reserve. The locomotive was purchased by MOTAT in 1985 and was restored to working order as Y 542. It is currently based on the museum's Western Springs Railway in occasional service.^[4]

References

↑ http://www.trainweb.org/nzsteam/y_class.html
↑ Palmer & Stewart, p. 108 (1965).
↑ Palmer & Stewart, p. 106 (1956).
↑ http://www.nzrsr.co.nz/view_page.php?page=3&search=false&sort=none&order=none

RM class	88 seater (also known as Fiats or twinsets) Clayton steam railcar Edison battery-electric railcar Leyland diesel railbus Leyland experimental petrol railcar MacEwan-Pratt petrol railcar Model T Ford railcar Sentinel-Cammell steam railcar Silver Fern Standard Thomas Transmission Vulcan Wairarapa Westinghouse

Others	A 88 Buckhurst petrol carriage

Steam locomotives

A of 1873
A of 1906 (inc. A^D)
A^A
A^B
B of 1874
B of 1899
B^A
B^B
B^C
C of 1873
C of 1930
D of 1874
D of 1929
E of 1872 & 1875
E of 1906
F
F^A (inc. F^B)
G of 1874
G Garratt of 1928 (inc. Pacific rebuild)
H
J of 1874
J of 1939
J^A
J^B
K of 1877
K of 1932
K^A
K^B
L
L^A
M
N
N^A
N^C
O
O^A
O^B
O^C
P of 1876
P of 1885
Q of 1878
Q of 1901
R
S
T
U
U^A
U^B
U^C
U^D
V
W
W^A
W^AB
W^B
W^D
W^E
W^F
W^G
W^H
W^J
W^S
W^W
X
Y

Locomotive hauled carriages

See also: Locomotives of New Zealand.

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