#1321
NZR E class
🇳🇿 New Zealand ·built by New Zealand Railways Department· from 1906· class of 1 New Zealand 2-6-6-0T locomotive
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. E66 Petone Workshops 1906: Photo by Albert Percy Godber (1875-1949).· Public domain
what is it?
The New Zealand E class locomotive comprised a single Mallet steam locomotive operated by New Zealand Railways (NZR) from 1906 until 1917. Classified as E 66 and nicknamed Pearson's Dream after its designer, it was an experimental Mallet locomotive designed to work on the Rimutaka Incline. The "E" classification was previously used by the Double Fairlie E class of 1872-75, but the classification was free as they had all been withdrawn by the time E 66 entered service.
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 120 years ago, in 1906.
- Weighs about as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 11.3 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 11 years (1906–1917).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1906
- in service from
- 1906
- retired
- 1917
- status
- retired
- number built
- 1
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- builders
- New Zealand Railways Department, Petone Workshops
- operators
- New Zealand Railways Department
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 2-6-6-0T
- length
- 11.3 m
- weight
- 66 t
- nicknames
- Pearson's Dream
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6956205, Wikipedia: NZR E class (1906) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.