Three preserved, twelve rebuilt as JB, remainder scrapped
The NZRJ class steam locomotives were a class of locomotive used in New Zealand. Following the success of the K class on NZR main lines, there was an urgent need for a modern, powerful locomotive capable of running over secondary lines laid with lighter rails. Thus a new "Mountain" 4-8-2 type locomotive was designed and classified by NZGR as the new class J. The 40 locomotives were all built by North British Locomotive Works, Scotland. They should not be confused with the members of 1874's J class, the first tender locomotives to operate in New Zealand. 30 Js were initially allocated to the North Island, the other 10 to the hilly Dunedin-Oamaru section in the South Island where with Wab tank banker engines they provided extra power for wartime freight and passenger loads. By 1950 with a large number of Hillside JA in service the South Island allocation of J and Wab tanks had been returned to Auckland.
The class had a notable appearance with the boiler being partly streamlined after the style of the New Haven Railroad's J400 class, and was also similar to the Norfolk and Western Railway class J and the NSWGR 38 class. The J class incorporated all the latest ideas of the KA class but a noteworthy departure was the use of the Baker valve gear. The tender was of the Vanderbilt type.
Twelve J class locomotives were converted to oil burning and reclassified as JB class, and the bullet nose streamlining was gradually removed. In 1962 ten J were transferred back to the South Island to replace the A class on the steep Greymouth-Otira section and another 6 Js were transferred in the mid 1960s to the SIMT. Some J class locomotives were reboilered with boilers transferred from the first North Island JA withdrawals in 1964-66 and others from the remainder of 12 JA boilers supplied by North British in 1954 for the construction of the last ten Hillside JA. The first reboilered J was used on the Otira route while the rest were reboilered in 1967. The three J engines that were used with the JA class on the South Island Limited in its last years in 1969-70 and later preserved were effectively a new 'JC' class with JA boilers and North Island JA tenders, reconstructed for coal rather than oil supply and had North Island JA trailing trucks, under the cab. The original J had been mainly freight and banking engines on the NIMT and had only powered a few provincial passenger trains, the Opua Express, the Auckland- New Plymouth night express and the Tanetua express. J 1211 and J1234 with JA 1267 were the usual engines on the fast South Island Limited on the Christchurch-Oamaru section, in its last year, their 'JC' conversion having made them NZRs final mainline steam flyers.
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1200.
1201
North British
October 1939
July 1969
1202
North British
October 1939
April 1966
1203
North British
November 1939
October 1964
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1203. Tender held by Steam Incorporated.
1204
North British
November 1939
January 1966
1205
North British
November 1939
October 1967
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1205.
1206
North British
November 1939
May 1965
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1206.
1207
North British
November 1939
April 1966
1208
North British
November 1939
July 1969
1209
North British
November 1939
July 1969
1210
North British
December 1939
March 1969
1211
North British
December 1939
November 16, 1971
Preserved, Mainline Steam. Converted to an oil burner, 1995.
1212
North British
December 1939
July 1969
1213
North British
December 1939
December 1967
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1213.
1214
North British
December 1939
January 1965
1215
North British
January 1940
January 1965
1216
North British
January 1940
July 1969
1217
North British
January 1940
March 1969
1218
North British
January 1940
April 1967
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1218.
1219
North British
January 1940
April 1966
1220
North British
February 1940
January 1966
1221
North British
February 1940
May 1966
1222
North British
February 1940
January 1965
1223
North British
February 1940
January 1966
1224
North British
February 1940
August 1967
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1224.
1225
North British
February 1940
January 1966
1226
North British
February 1940
July 1969
1227
North British
February 1940
March 1969
1228
North British
March 1940
March 1968
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1228.
1229
North British
March 1940
January 1965
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1229.
1230
North British
March 1940
October 1964
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1230.
1231
North British
March 1940
July 1969
1232
North British
March 1940
July 1969
1233
North British
March 1940
December 1967
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1233.
1234
North British
March 1940
November 16, 1971
Preserved, Steam Incorporated. J 1234 was on loan to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 1998. Returned to Steam Incorporated over the weekend of 6–7 June 2015.
1235
North British
March 1940
September 1967
1236
North British
March 1940
November 16, 1971
Preserved, Mainline Steam . Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1236, 2001.
1237
North British
March 1940
March 1969
1238
North British
March 1940
February 1967
1239
North British
March 1940
March 1968
Converted to an oil burner and reclassified as JB 1239.
References
^Oil-burning J class locomotives were classified JB. Restored J class locomotive 1211 Gloria originally burned coal, but was converted to oil-burning during restoration. Oil capacity is 1,350 imp gal (6,100 L; 1,620 US gal).