page_title: 2-6-2
section_title: New Zealand
hierarchical_section_title: 2-6-2 / Usage / New Zealand
caption_attribution_description: English: NZR N class seen before NZ Rail days as Number 9 of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway, at Paekakariki
context_page_description: Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie.
context_section_description: A fleet of five tank engines, built by Manning Wardle of Leeds in England, were supplied to New Zealand in 1884-85. The private Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR) used them for construction, maintenance and local service work. Three were later taken over as the New Zealand Railways (NZR) Wᴴ class in 1908.
  The second batch of Prairie locomotives was built to an order for the New Zealand Railways Department, with the initial order for ten being let to Nasmyth, Wilson and Company of Manchester, England. This later became the NZR V class which, due to political interference and their being overweight, did not go into traffic until 1890.
  New Zealand's third batch of Prairie locomotives was ordered by the WMR in 1884. Their design was almost identical to that of the NZR V class, though they were slightly heavier. They could burn any light fuel, coal or wood as available, and entered service in 1886, soon after the WMR started operating. In 1908, with the purchase of the company by the NZR, they were also awarded the V classification.
  In 1885, Baldwin Locomotive Works built New Zealand's fourth batch of Prairie locomotives. These were to become the NZR N class. Six were delivered in 1885 and were of an almost identical design to the previous, but altered to utilise off-the-shelf components supplied by Baldwin. In 1901, four more were built for the NZR, but these were fitted with piston valves actuated by Walschaerts valve gear. In 1891, two of these locomotives had also been built to the same design for the WMR. In 1908, with the purchase of the WMR by NZR, all of these engines were classified as N class.
  Between 1894 and 1904, four similar engines were built by Baldwin for the WMR. In 1908, these became the NZR's NA class and NC class, with two units each.
  The NZR's Addington Workshops joined the list of Prairie suppliers in 1889, producing the first of two NZR W class tank engines. These were followed between 1892 and 1901 with eleven similar NZR WA class tank engines.
  Baldwin followed this up with ten similar NZR WB class Prairie tank engines in 1898.
  In 1930-31, after nearly thirty years of 4-6-2 Pacific and 4-6-4 Baltic locomotive production, New Zealand dusted off its Prairie plans with the release into service of twenty-four NZR C class 2-6-2 locomotives, designed primarily for shunting and branch line work.
caption: NZR N class prior to its NZR service, as No. 9 of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway, at Paekakariki
exif: {}