D 16

While the D doesn’t look her age, the little 2-4-0 engine was built in 1878 by the Scottish locomotive manufacturers Neilson and Company of Glasgow. It carries their maker's number 2306.

After being shipped to New Zealand, the engine worked in various South Island locations on the New Zealand Railways system, from Christchurch to Bluff, along with stints in Timaru, Oamaru and Gore. While in those days rail was considered a swift mode of transport, a trip on the D to Christchurch took eight hours. Now, it is a two-hour journey by car.

In 1913, a new boiler was fitted and the little loco worked for another five years before being sold in September 1918. It was bought by the New Zealand Refrigerating Company [later to become Waitaki International Limited] for use as a shunter at the Pukeuri Freezing Works, north of Oamaru.

There it remained, giving faithful service to its new owners, until it was made redundant in the early 1970s and placed on a concrete plinth in the yard.

Come 1985, and the engine was on the move once more. The management of Waitaki International Limited donated the D to the Pleasant Point Museum and Railway on the condition that it was restored to full working order. Work began immediately after it was transported to Timaru on March 23, 1985.

Restoration to full working order took just over two years and cost something in the order of $15,000. After being given a new lease of life, D16 then re-commissioned at Pleasant Point on May 13, 1987.