Rolling Line Ep. 78 - New Zealand Railways EO class - (old quick mod)
14A while ago, I was notified of Stationmaster having plans to make the NZR EO class electric locomotive for Rolling Line. Around a month later, and the models are now finished.
This video is me showing the new EO's by taking them in an exhibition train around 'Sarf's Layout'. The engines pulling the train are DX's 5304 and 5356 (in NZR Blue and Flying Tomato respectively). Also seen in the consist are the exhibition wagons for Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington.
And now, a bit of history on the EO class:
The NZR EO class was a class of just five electric locomotives. They were built in 1922 by English Electric, with the intention of using them solely on the Otira to Arthur's Pass section of the Midland Line. This section is notorious for the Otira Tunnel, which is 8,566 metres long and has an incredibly steep gradient of 1 in 33. As such, it was deemed unsafe to use steam locomotives through the tunnel.
The EO's entered service in 1923, the same year that the tunnel was completed. The procedure on the Midland Line was to have the trains primarily steam-hauled, with electrics taking over between Otira and Arthur's Pass. The EO's had a top speed of just 40 miles per hour (64 kilometres per hour), and a power output of just 680 horsepower. They were 11.7 metres long, and their weight was bang on 50 tonnes. All of the locomotive's weight was available for adhesion, was extremely important on the 1 in 33 grade of the Otira Tunnel.
Typically the EO's ran in a trio, with two being set-aside for maintenance or as a back-up. The engines were originally built with two cabs, but were converted to single-cab in 1940. This was done because the locomotives spent most of their time running in multiple, and the second cab was - essentially - made redundant. I've been told that the second cab wasn't removed, just blanked off.
The EO's were retired in 1968, being replaced by a class of five new electrics built by Toshiba of Japan. These were originally classified as the EA class, but were reclassified EO's after the original engines of 1923 were retired.
Out of the five EO's built, one has been preserved. This is EO 3, and she is on the Ferrymead Railway (near Christchurch). The locomotive has had the 2nd cab re-instated, and now has both the original and modified cab designs. Fortunately EO 3 is fully operational., and is often used to haul tourist trains on the railway.
The Ferrymead line is unique in that it is the only electrified heritage railway in all of New Zealand.