#1403
NZR X class
🇳🇿 New Zealand ·built by New Zealand Railways Department· from 1908· class of 18 New Zealand compound 4-8-2 locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Kakahi about 1910 with NZR X Class: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
what is it?
The New Zealand X class was a pioneering class of eighteen 4-8-2 steam locomotives built for New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) and designed by A. L. Beattie that operated on the national rail network of New Zealand. In 1908, a heavy and powerful locomotive was required to haul traffic on the newly completed mountainous central section of the North Island Main Trunk Railway, and as a logical progression of the 4-6-2 Q class design, the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement was created for the X class.
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 118 years ago, in 1908.
- 17.1 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 48 years (1909–1957).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1908–1949
- in service from
- 1909
- retired
- 1957
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 18
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- builders
- New Zealand Railways Department, Addington Railway Workshops
- operators
- New Zealand Railways Department
- top speed
- 48 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-2
- length
- 17.1 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6956261, Wikipedia: NZR X class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.