Canterbury Railway/SAR 2-4-0 Locomotives in New_Zealand

Class 2 / E (Locobase 5883)

Data from Douglas Colquhoun's entries presented in the Australian national railway museum site: [] (visited 14 Feb 2004). Works numbers were 532 in 1864, just before Slaughter & Gruning was reorganized as Avonside Engine Company, Ltd. and supplied works numbers 699 in 1867 and 742 in 1868,

The histories of this class are as complicated and show the interaction between Australian and New Zealand railways as both developed in the 1860s through 1880s.

As the Canterbury was taking delivery of the 0-4-2Ts that would later be the South Australian's M class (Locobase 5882), it was building up its stock of these larger 2-4-0 tanks. Slaughter & Gruning produced #1 in 1864, changed its name to Avonside and added #2-3 in 1867 and #4 in 1868.

Meanwhile the same builder built two more for Australia's Melbourne & Essendon that soon wound up on the South Australian Railways and another that went to the SAR directly. See Locobase 5884.

Charles Rous-Marten, then a resident of New Zealand, said in "Good rolling stock was supplied, and some creditable speeds were run. Personally, I have timed the engines at 56 to 60 miles an hour on favourable gradients." Rous-Marten acknowledged the generally easy operating conditions: "As a rule the gradients were very easy, and the permanent way was good, the whole line being laid with 75 lb. rails./ As a rule the gradients were very easy, and the permanent way was good, the whole line being laid with 75 lb. rails.

All of the New Zealand Canterburys went across the Tasman Sea to the South Australian Railway in 1880-1882 as E-class locomotives; 4, 3, & 2 became 51, 50, and 49 respectively. Two of the three were rebuilt in 1884 (51) and 1885 (50).