page_title: NZR RM class (88 seater)
section_title: Preservation
hierarchical_section_title: NZR RM class (88 seater) / Preservation
caption_attribution_description: English: RM 133 being restored by the Pahiatua Railcar Society. This is the half that has been created by welding together RM 119 and RM 121 (notice the slight colour change in the middle where the join was made), and is shown here next to the loading bank outside the Pahiatua goods shed. Behind the loading bank is the Thames turntable, and in the distance can be seen RM 31 at the end of a siding. Photographed by Matthew25187 on en:2007-12-16.
context_page_description: The NZR RM class 88-seaters were a class of railcar used in New Zealand. New Zealand Government Railways classed them RM, the notation used for all railcars, numbering the 35 sets from RM100 to RM134. They were the most numerous railcars in NZR service, and were known unofficially as "Articulated", "Eighty Eights", "Twinsets", "Drewrys" or "Fiats". Their purchase and introduction saw the demise of steam-hauled provincial passenger trains and mixed trains.
context_section_description: Following withdrawal from service, a number of the 88 seaters were stored around the country. Several units along with a Vulcan railcar were sold to the  Southern Rail preservation project at Christchurch where they were later scrapped; the cab and baggage car section of the No.1 end of RM 119 on the leading bogie together with some engines and gearboxes were kept at this time. After the project was wound up, the partial section of RM 119 was moved to Linwood Locomotive Depot where it remained in storage for several years. Subsequently, the further abbreviated RM 119 consisting of just the cab and part of the baggage compartment was stored in a Bromley scrapyard, where it was found and purchased by the RM 133 Trust Board.
  By the early 1990s, the only known survivor was RM 133 in its "Grassgrub" form as AC 8140, used for fire training at Auckland Airport. In 2001 the RM 133 Trust Board was able to obtain this car, which was later found to be the No 1 end of RM 133 and the No 2 end of RM 115. Before the railcar could be removed a fire broke out in the No 2 half of the railcar, damaging the body. The RM 133 Trust decided to look for any other extant railcar halves to pair with the No 1 end of RM 133, which had been moved to the Pahiatua Railcar Society's site.
  In late 2002, the trust located the No 2 end of RM 121 in a quarry at Kerikeri. Although the car was in a weathered condition and had been cut in half at some point, it was still relatively complete despite missing the seats, bogies (removed in the late 1970s at Otahuhu Workshops), and its diesel engines. This railcar was purchased to become the replacement for the damaged half of RM 133 and moved to Pahiatua where restoration work began.
  The other half of RM 121 had been separated in the mid-1980s after the railcars were used as offices at a former theme park in the Auckland area and had ended up at a holiday camp in Waitomo. The Trust negotiated with the owners to buy the car body and were eventually able to purchase the car in 2011 in exchange for two former wooden passenger cars. The No 1 end of RM 121 was then trucked to Pahiatua to be reunited with the No 2 end at Pahiatua.
  The two halves of RM 121 are now being restored at Pahiatua; the two halves of the No 2 end have been welded together again and a new cab structure and cowcatcher built. The No 1 end has been stripped of any fittings from its time spent at Waitomo and various reconstruction work is taking place. The resultant car will utilise the bogies from AC 8140.
  The remnants of the No 1 end of RM 133 and the No 2 end of RM 115 as AC 8140 are in covered storage at Pahiatua.
caption: RM 121 being restored by the RM 133 Trust Board.
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