Canterbury Railway Society Inc

News

EO Locomotives May Leave Ferrymead

20/1/2001

Tranz Rail's five EO locomotives which have been stored at Ferrymead since June 1998 and November 1999, may be leaving the site soon. Although earlier plans to use them as bankers on the steeply graded Wellington to Paekakariki section of the NIMT were originally ruled out as impractical, Tranz Rail staff recently re-examined the proposal as a way of reducing fuel costs and overcoming a critical shortage of locomotives in the national fleet. A Tranz Rail engineer is expected at Ferrymead in late January to inspect the locomotives so that their condition and the work needed on them can be assessed. The locomotives, originally classified EA, were formerly used on the Midland Line between Arthurs Pass and Otira, where they were commissioned in 1968. The section was de-electrified in 1997 and the EOs came to Ferrymead due to concern about vandalism at Linwood Loco where they were initially kept.