#0970
NZR B class
🇳🇿 New Zealand ·built by Sharp, Stewart and Company· from 1899· class of 10 New Zealand 4-8-0 locomotives, built 1899–1903
what is it?
The NZR B class of 1899 was a class of steam locomotives that operated on New Zealand's national rail network. An earlier B class of Double Fairlies had entered service in 1874, but as they had departed from the ownership of the New Zealand Railways (NZR) by the end of 1896, the B classification was free to be re-used. Despite early difficulties, they were amongst NZR's most influential designs.
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 127 years ago, in 1899.
- Weighs about as much as 12 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 15.9 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 68 years (1899–1967).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1899–1903
- in service from
- 1899
- retired
- 1967
- status
- retired
- number built
- 10
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- builders
- Sharp, Stewart and Company, Addington Railway Workshops
- operators
- New Zealand Railways Department
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-0
- length
- 15.9 m
- weight
- 69.1 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6956185, Wikipedia: NZR B class (1899) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.