#2838
NZR JA class
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by New Zealand Railways Department· from 1946· class of 51 New Zealand 4-8-2 locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Ja1271 on approach to Ahuriri - 14 February 2003: J.christianson· CC0
what is it?
The NZR JA class is a class of fifty-one 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). The locomotives were built in two batches; the first batch was constructed at the Hillside Workshops at Dunedin between 1946 and 1956, while the second batch was constructed by the North British Locomotive Company (NBL) of Glasgow, Scotland in 1951. To differentiate between the two batches, the locomotives were identified by their builder.
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 80 years ago, in 1946.
- 20.1 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 24 years (1947–1971).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1946–1956
- in service from
- 1947
- retired
- 1971
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 51
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- New Zealand Railways Department, Hillside Engineering, North British Locomotive Company, Hillside Railway Workshops
- operators
- New Zealand Railways Department
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-2
- length
- 20.1 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6956211, Wikipedia: NZR JA class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.