F Class

There were eighty-eight of these locomotives produced. They were used for mainline running in their heyday and some members of this class had the longest running careers of all steam locomotives in New Zealand. Some were still in active service in the 1960’s as shunting locomotives with Harbour Boards and freezing works etc. This class of locomotive is restricted to about 50km/h because of the small size of its driving wheels which effectively ‘gears’ it down.
F163’s Technical Information