Canterbury Provincial Railways

The Canterbury Provincial Railways were an early part of the railways of New Zealand. Built by the Canterbury Provincial government to the broad gauge of 5 feet 3 inches (1600 mm), the railway reached most of the Canterbury region by the time the province was abolished in 1876. Edward Dobson, the Provincial Engineer from 1854 to 1868, was the designer and overseer.

History

New Zealand's first public railway was opened at Ferrymead in 1863. In 1867, the line to Ferrymead was made redundant when the Lyttelton Line through the Lyttelton rail tunnel to the port of Lyttelton was opened in 1867. Until 31 July 1868, the contractors who built the lines operated the trains; after that date the Canterbury Provincial Railways took direct control. [T. A. McGavin, "Steam Locomotives of New Zealand, Part One: 1863 to 1900" (Wellington: New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1987), 9.]

Once this connection was established, linking Christchurch to its harbour, the Canterbury Provincial Railways proceeded to expand into rural regions. Two lines were proposed, the Main South Line down the east coast to Timaru and eventually Dunedin, and the Main North Line up the east coast towards Marlborough. Both lines were initially built to the broad gauge; the furthest extent of the Main South Line's broad gauge was Rakaia, reached in June 1873; the furthest extent of the Main North Line was Amberley 50km north of Christchurch.

By the time the provinces were abolished and the Provincial Railways absorbed into the national network, the entire Canterbury network had been converted from broad gauge to narrow gauge (RailGauge|42).

Motive power

During its existence, the Canterbury Provincial Railways operated a total of ten steam locomotives of varying types, though they were not divided into separate classes. They were all tank locomotives whose designs were based on contemporary British practice and were built by the Avonside Engine Company, except for one that was built by Neilson and Company. Nos. 1 to 4 had the wheel arrangement of 2-4-0T. No. 1 was originally built for the Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company of Australia in 1862 but was quickly on-sold to the contractors building the Ferrymead line, and it entered revenue service when the line opened. No. 2 joined it in April 1864; No. 3 in March 1867; and No. 4 in May 1868. No. 4 was delivered together with Nos. 5 and 6, which had been ordered in March 1867. These two locomotives had an 0-4-2T wheel arrangement and were considerably smaller than the previous four. Three more 0-4-2T locomotives followed, each ordered independently from Avonside and numbered 7, 8, and 10, entering service in August 1872, March 1874, and June 1874 respectively. No. 9 was a diminutive 0-4-0T ordered from Neilson and Company that, although ordered after No. 8, entered service before it in January 1874. Its duties were confined to shunting on Lyttelton's wharf.

Only one of the ten locomotives was withdrawn while in Canterbury Provincial Railways' service. No. 1 was withdrawn in 1876, and when the conversion of the Canterbury lines to narrow gauge was completed, its frame and the other nine locomotives were sold to the South Australian Railways. Despite being involved in a shipwreck near Foxton on the North Island's west coast on their initial journey to Australia, they ultimately were safely delivered to South Australia and - with considerable modifications - seven of them remained in service until the 1920s. [McGavin, "Steam Locomotives of New Zealand, Part One", 9-11.]

ee also

* Rail transport in Christchurch

References