#2644
NZR KA class
🇳🇿 New Zealand ·built by Hillside Engineering· from 1939· class of 35 New Zealand 4-8-4 locomotives
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Ka 942 "Nigel Bruce" in Kirwee with an excursion to Arthurs Pass in August 2014: TrainboyMBH· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. NZR Ka class 935 2013-11-30 01: nzsteam· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The NZR KA class of 1939 was a class of mixed traffic 4-8-4 steam locomotives that operated on New Zealand's railway network. They were built after the success of the K class to meet the increasing traffic demands of the New Zealand Railways Department. The locomotives first appeared with distinctive streamlining, mainly to hide their ACFI feedwater heater systems.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 87 years ago, in 1939.
- 1.1 MW is about 13 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 21 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 28 years (1939–1967).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1939–1950
- in service from
- 1939
- retired
- 1967
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 35
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- builders
- Hillside Engineering, Hutt Workshops
- operators
- New Zealand Railways Department
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- 1.1 MW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-4
- length
- 21 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6956216, Wikipedia: NZR KA class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.