page_title: New Zealand Railways Department
section_title: Modernisation
hierarchical_section_title: New Zealand Railways Department / History / Modernisation
caption_attribution_description: DJ Class No 3107 on the Taieri Gorge Railway. Note Otago Daily Times plaque.
context_page_description: The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was corporatised on 1 April 1982 into the New Zealand Railways Corporation. Originally, railway construction and operation took place under the auspices of the former provincial governments and some private railways, before all of the provincial operations came under the central Public Works Department. The role of operating the rail network was subsequently separated from that of the network's construction. From 1895 to 1993 there was a responsible Minister, the Minister of Railways. He was often also the Minister of Public Works.
  Apart from two experiments with independent boards, NZR remained under direct ministerial control for most of its history.
context_section_description: The General Manager of NZR, Frederick Aicken, was an advocate for electrifying the entire North Island Main Trunk to alleviate the shortage of coal and the cost of importing diesel fuel; though he also recognised that steam and diesel traction would be required on other lines. NZR's first diesel-electric locomotives, the English Electric built DE class, were introduced in 1951. The locomotives gave good service, but were not powerful or numerous enough to seriously displace steam traction.
  In 1954, the New Zealand railway network reached its zenith in terms of distance with 5,600 km (3,500 mi), 60% of it on gradients between 1 in 100 and 1 in 200 and 33% steeper than 1 in 100. The EW class electric locomotives introduced for the Wellington electric system. They were the second class of electric locomotive to be used on this section of electrification.
  Aicken went as far as negotiating a tentative contract for the construction of electrification and locomotives for it, but fell out with the Government in late 1951 and resigned. His successor, H.C. Lusty, terminated the contract and entered into an agreement with General Motors for the supply of 40 EMD G12 model locomotives, designated by NZR as the DA class. The first of these locomotives entered service in September 1955, with all of this initial order running by September 1957.
  On Christmas eve 1953 the worst disaster in NZR's history, and one of the worst in New Zealand's history occurred. 151 people died when the Wellington-Auckland express was derailed due to a bridge collapse north of Tangiwai due to a lahar from a volcanic eruption, in what became known as the Tangiwai disaster.
  The following year NZR introduced the dual-cab DF class in 1954, the first main-line diesel-electric locomotives in service. However, they proved to be unsuccessful in service and original order of 31 was cancelled, and DG class locomotives, also built by English Electric, were ordered instead. While the DG class proved more successful than the DF class, steam remained the dominant form of traction.
  This led to the introduction of the DA class in 1955, the largest fleet of diesel-electric locomotives NZR ever introduced. The DA, more than any other class, displaced steam locomotives from the North Island. On 3 November of the same year the 8.798 kilometres (5.467 mi) long Rimutaka Tunnel opened, greatly reducing transit times between the Wairarapa and Wellington. This led to the closure of the Rimutaka Incline and its unique Fell railway system. Because steam locomotives could not be operated through the new tunnel, the Wairarapa Line was the first to be fully "dieselised". Amid much protest, the isolated Nelson Section was closed, although future Nelson Railway Proposals resurfaced from 1957.
  The RM class "88 seater" or "Fiats" also began entering service from 1955. The railcars were designed to take over provincial inter-city routes but proved to be mechanically unreliable.
  Despite large orders for diesel-electric locomotives, NZR was still building steam locomotives until 1956, when Jᴬ1274 was completed at Hillside Workshops, Dunedin. The locomotive is now preserved in Dunedin near the railway station.
  During the 1950s New Zealand industry was diversifying, particularly into the timber industry. On 6 October 1952 the Kinleith Branch, formerly part of the Taupo Totara Timber Company's line, was opened to service a new pulp and paper mill at its terminus. NZR's first single-purpose log trains, called "express loggers", began to operate on this branch. The Kinleith Branch was shortly followed in 1957 by the 57 kilometres (35 mi) long Murupara Branch, which was opened running through the Bay of Plenty's Kaingaroa Forest. The branch is the last major branch line to open in New Zealand to date. The line was primarily built to service the Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill in Kawerau, with several loading points along its length. The line's success led to several Taupo Railway Proposals being put forward, with extensions of the branch being mooted at various times.
caption: The DJ class, introduced from 1968, led to the end of steam traction in the South Island, and the whole of New Zealand, by 1971.
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