16 August 2005
For immediate release

Rare loco on display in Wellington this Sunday

Toll New Zealand’s last EW electric locomotive will be handed over to Mainline Steam this Sunday, marking the end of an era for a very special class of locomotive.

The EW1805 is the last remaining from a fleet of seven EW class locomotives, which entered service in 1952. For 20 years these were the most powerful locomotives in the New Zealand Rail fleet, hauling heavy suburban trains with ease and assisting with freight trains to Paekakariki.

Since the arrival of a new fleet of multiple units in the early 1980’s the EW fleet slowly vanished into storage and preservation, and hasn’t been officially seen since.

The EW locomotives were retired between 1981 and 1990 following the introduction of the Ganz Mavag electric multiple units in the early 1980’s with one (EW 1806) being preserved at Ferrymead in Christchurch while EW 1805 remained with Toll as part of the heritage fleet.

Before making the journey to Mainline Steam Plimmerton, the locomotive will be on Platform 9 at Wellington Railway Station this Sunday morning, August 21, from 10.30am to midday.

It will then travel to Paekakariki reaching there at around 1pm where there will be another photo opportunity before a final shunt to Plimmerton at 1.30pm.

The driver will be one of Toll Rail’s most experienced, this being Fred Hamer who has just celebrated 50 years with rail.

The public is welcome to view and photograph the locomotive on this historic day.

ENDS

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