NZR NC class

NZR NC class
Power type	Steam
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Serial number	19797, 23594
Build date	1901, 1904
Configuration	2-6-2
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Length	54 ft 10 in (16.71 m) (462)
Weight on drivers	27.7 long tons (28.1 t)
Locomotive weight	39.7 long tons (40.3 t)
Tender weight	23.8 long tons (24.2 t)
Locomotive & tender combined weight	63.5 long tons (64.5 t) (462)
Fuel type	Coal
Boiler pressure	180 psi (1.2 MPa) (462)
Career	Wellington and Manawatu Railway, New Zealand Government Railways
Number in class	2
Number	WMR 5, 18 NZR 461, 462
Locale	Wellington - Longburn section, Wairarapa Line
Retired	September 1928, March 1931
Disposition	Withdrawn

The NZR N^C class was a class of two steam locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works built for service on New Zealand's private Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR). They did not acquire their N^C classification until the publicly owned New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) purchased the WMR and its locomotive fleet.

The first member of the N^C class was ordered in 1901 and entered service in May 1902 as WMR No. 5. Another locomotive built to a very similar design was ordered in 1904 and entered service that same year as WMR No. 18. When the locomotives passed into NZR ownership in 1908, they were considered to be similar enough to be classified together, and while they also bore strong similarities to the members of the N class, they were sufficiently different that a separate classification of N^C was used. Their main distinguishing feature was a wider firebox. They were Vauclain compound locomotives.

The two engines served NZR for just over two decades. No. 18, now N^C 462, was retired in September 1928, while No. 5, now N^C 461, remained in service until March 1931. Their final region of operation is believed to be the Wairarapa, and they are known to have worked the line from the Hutt Valley up the western slope of the Rimutaka Range to the western end of the Rimutaka Incline. Together with O^B 455 (ex-WMR No. 11) and U^D 465 (ex-WMR No. 20), N^C 461 was one of the last surviving locomotives of WMR heritage. All three were withdrawn in March 1931.

External links

• Photo of Nc loco on Trainweb
• Baldwin Steam Trust's list of Baldwin locomotives used on the WMR - includes the N^C class
• Drawings of the Nc class locomotives from Derek Brown: WMR No. 5/NZR N^C 461 and WMR No. 18/NZR N^C 462