Canterbury Railway Society Inc

News

W 192 To Visit Ferrymead Railway

8/2/2002

Steam locomotive W 192, owned by the Rail Heritage Trust and operated by a group of ex-Tranz Rail employees based at Linwood Depot, Christchurch, is to visit the Ferrymead Railway between 23 February and 2 April, 2002.

W 192 will fill in for our main running locomotive WD 357 which will be taken out of service at the end of February when its boiler ticket expires. 357 is due for a 10 year survey that is unlikely to be completed this year.

W 192 is a notable historical locomotive, being the first engine built at the former Addington Workshops in Christchurch. It worked all over New Zealand before being retired in 1959. It was then returned to Addington to be restored for the 1963 Railway Centennial. 192 was then placed in storage until the early 1970s when it travelled to the North Island to be displayed at district centennial events. Returning to Christchurch, it was restored to working order for the 1979 Addington Workshops centenary, along with F 163.

W 192 remained in Christchurch while F 163 went eventually to Palmerston North to be maintained by a group of NZR employees there. Since the Addington Workshops closed in 1990, W 192 has been based at Linwood Locomotive Depot. 192 has operated in a number of local railfan events including the 1988 Ferrymead 125 festival and the 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001 Waipara Vintage Festivals.

Ownership of both W 192 and F 163 passed to the Rail Heritage Trust recently as a result of Tranz Rail's decision to dispose of its historic vehicle collection. F 163 recently left Palmerston North to become part of the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society's operation. It is not known at this time whether W 192 will be leaving Linwood Depot in the future and where it might end up from there. W 192 has visited the Ferrymead Railway before, at Easter 1997 or 1998.