Pahiatua Railcar Society


The Pahiatua Railcar Society is a society located in Pahiatua, New Zealand, dedicated to the restoration of railcars and other locomotives and rolling stock formerly operated by the New Zealand Railways Department. It is notable for possessing the sole remaining examples of the RM class 88 seater and Wairarapa railcars.
Having restored Standard class railcar RM31 to mainline standard for use on the national railway network, the Society ran its first revenue services on the Wairarapa Line at an open day on.

Infrastructure

The PRS is based at Pahiatua's railway station on the Wairarapa Line and has preserved the station building, goods shed, and surrounds. The railway station is a wooden structure that dates from 1971 and was built to replace a former building from 1897 that had been demolished. It is one of the last wooden stations built by the New Zealand Railways Department and one of the few remaining examples of its type. The goods shed dates from 1897 and is one of the larger rural goods sheds to survive in New Zealand. The PRS has added its own structures to the station precinct: a railcar shed for storage and restoration work, and another shed to provide shelter for the society's rolling stock.

Rolling stock

NZR Railcars

Original class
and number
NameBuilderYear BuiltArrivedNotes
RM 5MahuhuNZR Hutt
Workshops
19361992Leased from Silver Stream Railway
RM 31TokomaruNZR Hutt
Workshops
19382001
RM 121Drewry Car Company1956200?Owned by the RM 133 Railcar Trust Board
RM 133Drewry Car Company19562002Owned by the RM 133 Railcar Trust Board

Diesel locomotives

Original class
and number
BuilderYear BuiltArrivedNotes
TR 36Drewry Car Company1939
TR 160A & G Price19592004
PWD D 5971937

Wagons

Original class
and number
TypeYear BuiltNotes
Bc 704 wheel cement wagon1963
Jc 48574 wheel sheep wagon1967
Kp 27144 wheel steel box wagon196?
La 150974 wheel highsided wagon1920
Lb 32174 wheel highsided wagon1976
Lb 28544 wheel highsided wagon197?
Mc 23834 wheel lowside wagon1967
Mcc 20234 wheel motorcar wagon1941
Rb 558Bogie highside wagon1952
T 218Bogie cattle wagon1965
Ub 1208Bogie flat wagon1950Supporting No. 1 end of RM121
Ur 1953Bogie flat wagon1964Supporting No. 2 end of RM121
Uc 824Bogie tank wagon1928
Vr 20Bogie insulated wagon196?
W 12354 wheel insulated box wagon1960
Yb 5814 wheel ballast wagon1942
Za 1327Bogie steel box wagon1976

RM 31 is the society's only operating railcar and is one of four preserved railcars of the Standard class. The PRS is actively restoring RM 5, which has had to be largely rebuilt due to its rotten wooden frame, and RM 121. Parts of RM 119 and RM 133 are being used on RM 121. It used to be believed that no 88 seater railcar would survive for preservation, but the PRS and the RM 133 Trust recovered RM 133 from its resting place at Auckland International Airport where it had been used by the rescue services for training. As both ends were affected by a fire, it has subsequently been decided to dedicate all efforts to the restoration of RM 121. Both ends of RM 121 have now been recovered and other parts have been sourced from the remnants of RM 133 and RM 119. The society aims to fully rebuild an operational 88 seater.
The two TR locomotives are small shunting locomotives, and the PWD D class is another shunting locomotive that was solely operated by the PWD on its construction projects and never owned by the Railways Department. The Society also possesses three jiggers, two motorised and one hand-powered, and the turntable from Thames. The society's collection of rolling stock includes both four-wheel and bogie wagons of an array of types, from a guard's van to cement and sheep wagons.

Footnotes