Addington Workshops

Addington Railway Workshops was a major railway facility established in Christchurch in May 1880 by the New Zealand Railways Department. The workshops were previously in Carlyle Street.

Steam locomotives, passenger carriages and goods wagons were manufactured at Addington. At the peak nearly 2000 men were employed there. In later years Addington specialised in carriage construction and overhaul and wagon construction. At times the shops also manufactured gold dredges and aeroplane components.

As part of the rationalisation of the New Zealand Railways Corporation following deregulation, the workshops closed on 14 December 1990.

On 5 April 1993 a new Christchurch Railway Station opened on the Addington site, and a direct connection was provided between the Main North and Main South Lines. The old main Christchurch Railway Station on Moorhouse Avenue, dating from 1960, was disposed of, see List of Christchurch railway stations.

Locomotive building

Addington Workshops built NZR's first locomotive, W 192. Locomotive building ceased in the 1960s with the DSC class, although four DSJ class locomotives were assembled from imported kitsets in the early 1980s.

Locomotive classes built at Addington

* A (8)
* A^B (38)
* B (6)
* B^A (10)
* DSC
* DSJ
* ED (2)
* F^A
* U
* W (2)
* W^A
* W^AB (2)
* W^F (10)
* X (18)

ee also

* List of Christchurch railway stations#Addington
* Hillside Workshops Dunedin
* Hutt Workshops Lower Hutt/Wellington
* Newmarket Workshops then Otahuhu Workshops Auckland
* New Zealand Railways Department

External links

* [http://www.trainweb.org/enzedrail/mainline/christchurch/01/ Railways of New Zealand - Addington]
* [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Heritage/Photos/Disc20/IMG0083.asp A new engine (1906) at the Addington Workshops]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/Gov08_10Rail-fig-Gov08_10Rail014a.html Photo of Wood Wagon Workshop c1934]