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The Mainline Steam Heritage Trust is a New Zealand organisation devoted to the restoration and operation of historic New Zealand Railways mainline steam locomotives. Regular day excursions and multi-day tours are operated over rail lines throughout New Zealand. These excursions provide travellers with the unique opportunity to relive the days when steam was king while experiencing the magnificent New Zealand countryside. Excursions are operated by the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch branches.
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About the organisation
The Trust began in 1988 after the Ferrymead 125 events in Christchurch. Based around the collection of steam locomotives that were privately owned by Mr Ian Welch, the first of which had begun operating on the main line with J 1211 with excursion to Timaru and Arthurs Pass double heading with the Glenbrook Vintage Railway's JA 1250 for the Ferrymead 125 which was based in Christchurch. Depots sprang up in Parnell, Middleton and later Plimmerton. The Auckland depot used to be based in the old Parnell diesel depot. It was in the past the organisation’s primary restoration base and most of Mainline Steam's currently active locomotives were restored there. It closed in 2015. The Wellington depot, located at Plimmerton, is a purpose-built building which replaced the formerly leased Upper Hutt goods shed. It has now become the primary restoration base for the organization. The depot in Christchurch is a former industrial building that used to be located at Studholme, it was relocated to land on the premises of CWF Hamilton.
Mainline Steam is notable for having imported a number of African steam locomotives from South Africa and Zimbabwe (including a GMA/M Garratt), with more South African locomotives still overseas. It has also imported former British Rail Mark 2 carriages for use on its steam-hauled excursions, and is in the process of overhauling them for NZ use – it currently relies on spare carriage stock being available from Tranz Scenic. The organisation regularly operates excursions out of Auckland and Christchurch, the latter operating excursions primarily along the highly scenic Midland Line. Mainline Steam also has a number of diesel and electric locomotives in its care.
NZR steam locomotives
List of overseas locomotives
In addition to their core fleet of NZ locomotives, Mainline Steam owns a number of ex-South African and Zimbabwean locomotives. Four are stored in South Africa at Bloemfontein and one near Pretoria, while several engines have been shipped to the Auckland and Wellington depots. It is anticipated that some will not be shipped to New Zealand but remain in South Africa.
Passenger rolling stock
Mainline Steam rosters a large fleet of carriages which will be formed into three trains:
At present the stock for these trains are kept at Plimmerton and Middleton (with some MkII coaches stored at Feilding).
Freight rolling stock
Mainline Steam has a large collection of freight rolling stock, mostly consisting of tank wagons used for oil and water storage, some of which are main line certified. These wagons are largely of the UC class, although there are one example each of the UCA and URK wagons preserved. The group also has a number of KP, ZA, and ZL class box wagons for use as secure storage for locomotive and carriage parts, along with several other general-use goods wagons.
Excursions
Mainline Steam operate regular excursions using steam locomotives from the trust's collection. These run from Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch to a number of destinations. These range from short half day excursions to an annual national tour lasting several weeks and covering much of KiwiRail's rail network.