Old timers

A big day at Ferrymead. This is a little D class loco under steam.

The NZR D class was a class of tank steam locomotives that operated on New Zealand's national railway network. The first members of the class entered service in 1874, and all had left the service of NZR by the end of 1927, which allowed the D classification to be used again in 1929.The order for the last of the original D class locomotives , placed with Scott Brothers in 1884, was the first large-scale construction project of locomotives in New Zealand. This little loco is one made by Scotts.

It has particular appeal to our family as my husband made a 5" scale model of a D class loco which under steam has carried people on the tracks at Canterbury Society of Model and Experimental Engineers, which now runs at Halswell in Christchurch.

The trains were in full swing today as a celebration of 150 years of railways in NZ.