NZR OA class

NZR OA class
Power type	Steam
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Serial number	13908
Build date	1894
Configuration	2-8-0
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Length	51 ft 8 in (15.75 m)
Locomotive & tender combined weight	57.4 long tons (58.3 t)
Fuel type	Coal
Boiler pressure	180 psi (1.2 MPa)
Tractive effort	15,177 lbf (67.51 kN)
Career	Wellington and Manawatu Railway, New Zealand Government Railways
Number in class	1
Number	WMR 13 NZR 457
Locale	Wellington - Longburn section
Disposition	Withdrawn

The O^A class, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR) in New Zealand, consisted of a solitary steam locomotive. Ordered in 1894, it entered service in August of that year as No. 13 and was the first narrow gauge Vauclain compound in the world. In 1908, the WMR and its locomotive fleet were purchased by New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) and incorporated into the national rail network, and, although No. 13 bore a likeness to members of the O class, it was sufficiently different to warrant separate classification. Accordingly, the designation of O^A was created and it was numbered O^A 457. It operated for another two decades until it was withdrawn in December 1929 in Auckland. The locomotive was known to Manawatu men as The Lady.

In 1896 a locomotive similar in appearance was ordered by the WMR, No. 16. Its technical specifications were such that when it was acquired by NZR it was classified separately and became the sole member of the O^C class.

See also

Locomotives of New Zealand

External links

• Baldwin Steam Trust's page of Baldwin locomotives built for the WMR - includes O^A class
• Drawing of an O^A/O^C class locomotive from Derek Brown