A1962

Information on 1940 era 56' carriage A1962 (later modernised).

  • Running number:A1962 (TMS was 56635, 2234 & 56333)
  • Designed by:New Zealand Railways
  • Built at:NZR Addington workshops
  • Date built: 1940
  • Builders diagram:
  • Date entered service:
  • Date withdrawn:Disposed of by KiwiRail 2013
  • Current condition:certified for operation on the main line.
A1962 after Steam Inc overhaul.

Image: A1962 after Steam Inc overhaul.

Carriage details

  • Weight in working order: 25 tonnes
  • Overall Length: 17933mm
  • Bogies:

History

A1962 was completed in March 1940. The car was built as a 2nd class car of the period being 56ft long and having one passenger compartment with 59 seats, one toilet, steam heating and electric lighting. Running gear included roller bearings and automatic Alliance couplers. It was one of a batch of 22 cars built at Addington between 1939 and 1940 that were all 59 seat cars. All of these cars had an extra toilet compartment fitted between 1941 and 1943 giving them the standard 56 seat configuration.
A1962 had this modification in 1942

When built A1962 was assigned to Christchurch for use on the SIMT and branches. In 1979 was assigned to Wellington for use on Wairarapa services.  In 1990 was still  on Wairarapa services running between Wellington and Masterton.

Later it was upgraded with new recliner seats and air con and then used as a backpacker car on the daytime Overlander service and overnight Northerner service between Auckland and Wellington.

After a stint as a backpacker car it was assigned to the Auckland based charter fleet which saw it travelling all over the country on excursions and rail tours. The 28020 bogies it had been fitted with were removed and the car was retrofitted with the older  25330 bogies and the TMS number changed from 2234 back to 56333 to reflect the reduction in max speed.

oldr ailway carriage at Masterton

A1962 (A2234) at Masterton in 2007.

In December 2006  A1962 along with 3 other charter cars was transferred temporarily to Wellington to help out on the Masterton- Wellington services while the new SW cars were being introduced.  It returned to Auckland at the end of 2007.  A1962 was purchased from KiwiRail by tender in 2013.  It arrived at Paekakariki by rail from Auckland in June 2013.

After a refurbishment this vehicle was added  to our active main line fleet in Sept 2023.

Upgraded carriage saloon interior

Interior of A1962 with recliner seats that were fitted for Backpacker service

 

A1962 new numbering

 

Restored Carriage A1962 August 2023

 

 

 Thanks to Juliet Scoble and John Bovis for the information in these notes.

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