| NRGR 4-8-4 Class Ka 941 on Train J31 climbing the 1 in 40 grade out of Taumarunui, New Zealand on an unknown date (likely in 1958), scanned from a 3.5 X 5.5 Agfa print by J. A. T. Terry, Chuck Zeiler collection. There is a nine page article by Roy Sinclair about this class of locomotive in the June 1986 issue of Trains Magazine. Briefly, the 71 K class (K, Ka, Kb) 4-8-4's were built by the NZGR Hutt Workshops between 1932 and 1950, most were built between 1936 and 1939. They were designed to replace three 4-6-2 + 2-6-4 Beyer-Garratt's imported from England in 1928. The Garatt's had tested unsucessfully, exceeeding coupler strengths on the railroad. The Garratt's running gear was re-used under six Pacific-type locomotives. The following is a paragraph from the Trains article: Following World War II, North Island coal was in short supply and, as an experiment, K 927 was converted into an oil-burner in October 1945. Results were so successful that all K and Ka locomotives were converted, much to the delight of the firemen. Ka's 958 and 959 were the only 4-8-4's built as oil-burners. In the South Island quality West Coast coal was in good supply, and the six Kb's remained coal burners. In 1953 when the North Island coal was again plentiful and oil prices escalated, K's 901, 915, and 925 were converted back to coal burning, but the engine crews refused to work them. They were converted back to oil in 1954 when oil prices fell. |
