NZR RM class (Model T Ford)
Encyclopedia
The NZR RM class
NZR RM class
The RM class is the classification used by the New Zealand Railways Department and its successors given to most railcars and railbuses that have operated on New Zealand's national rail network. As NZR and its successors has operated many diverse types of railcars, alternate names have been given...

 Model T Ford railcar was a type of railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

 that operated on New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's national rail network
Rail transport in New Zealand
Rail transport in New Zealand consists of a network of gauge railway lines in both the North and South Islands. Rail services are focused primarily on freight, particularly bulk freight, with limited passenger services on some lines...

. Only two were built, classified as RM 4 and RM 5, and they were experimental railcars designed in an attempt to offer improved passenger services on quiet country branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

s that served regions with small populations.

Technical details

The engine and transmission used for Ford Model T
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to May 1927...

 car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...

s served as the basis of these railcars, which came to resemble a red box on wheels. The passenger compartment was a mere eleven feet long and seven feet wide and seated eleven plus the driver. At the front of the railcar, a small front hood extended out from the boxy compartment and housed the engine, and from the bonnet hung large pannier bags for luggage. The railcar weighed two and a half tons, ran on four wheels, and could reach speeds of up to 30 mph (50 km/h), a speed that was relatively fast for country branch lines of the time. It was designed so that one person could operate it rather than three that were required for a conventional carriage train.

Greytown Branch

After being built in 1925-26 at the Hutt Workshops in Petone
Petone
Petone is a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the narrow triangular plain of the Hutt River, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour...

, the railcars were sent to the Greytown Branch
Greytown Branch
The Greytown Branch was a five-kilometre branch line railway off the Wairarapa Line at Woodside in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand's North Island. It followed an almost straight course over flat terrain...

 in the Wairarapa
Wairarapa
Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...

 for trials. The Greytown Branch was a short line that provided a link between the town of Greytown
Greytown, New Zealand
Greytown or Te Hupenui, population 2,001 , is a town in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It lies in the Wairarapa, in the lower North Island...

 and the Wairarapa Line
Wairarapa Line
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city of Wellington with the Wairarapa region. The line ends at Woodville, where it joins the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line...

, which bypassed the town by some four kilometres. Services ran from Greytown to connect with services on the Wairarapa Line at the junction in Woodside, but they were woefully under-patronised; often, the steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 working the service would pull just a guard's van and a single passenger carriage containing a handful of passengers. The costs to operate such a service meant that the line made a significant financial loss, but it was hoped that the small Model T Ford railcars would slash operating costs while providing a satisfactory service for the travellers who did use the line. Unfortunately, they did not prove as successful or as popular as hoped, so after their trial period, steam-hauled carriage trains were reinstated for all services and the railcars were sent to work in Southland.

Southland branches

In Southland, the Model T Ford railcars were assigned to the Waikaia
Waikaia Branch
The Waikaia Branch, also known as the Switzers Branch, was a branch line railway in Southland, New Zealand. Proposed as early as the 1870s, it was not opened until 1909 and was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department for half a century until its closure in 1959.-Construction:In the late...

 and the Wyndham (Glenham)
Wyndham Branch
The Wyndham Branch, also known as the Glenham Branch, was a branch line railway in Southland, New Zealand. The first section was opened in 1882 and it operated until 1962. Although its name would imply that it terminated in Wyndham, an extension to a terminus in Glenham operated for forty years...

 branches and began operating in late May 1926. These two lines were similar in some ways to the Greytown Branch; although they did not have multiple shuttle services to connect with mainline trains, they served small towns with insufficient demand for locomotive-hauled carriage passenger trains. Previously, the two lines had been served by mixed train
Mixed train
A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...

s that carried both passengers and freight, and as they had to load and unload freight along the way, trip times were slow and thus unpopular. It was hoped the Model T Ford railcars would rejuvenate traffic and provide some measure of profitability, especially on the section of the Wyndham Branch from Wyndham to Glenham, which was so under-utilised that it was facing closure.

The Model T Ford railcars worked on the two branch lines for the latter half of the 1920s, but not to any notable degree of success. This was in part due to their wheel arrangement; bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...

s give a more comfortable ride than the two separate axles used by these particular railcars. The railcars were also prone to overheating as the luggage bags hung from the bonnet blocked the motor's ventilation, and this led some members of the public to nickname the railcars "tea pots" or "coffee pots". Other nicknames were "glasshouses" and "pie carts". On the Waikaia Branch, the Model T Ford railcars were unpopular with the local residents and were neither successful themselves nor able to generate enough traffic to warrant replacement with a more popular carriage service. On the Wyndham Branch, they failed to achieve the desired success as well, and were unable to keep the section from Wyndham to Glenham open. The line to Glenham was closed on 14 July 1930, and the railcars were removed from service the next year. Their retirement meant that the numbers RM 4 and RM 5 were free to be re-used later - in 1936, they were allocated to the first two Wairarapa railcars
NZR RM class (Wairarapa)
The NZR RM class Wairarapa railcar was the first truly successful class of railcars to operate on New Zealand's national rail network...

, the first truly successful railcar type in New Zealand.

Preservation

Although both Model T Ford railcars were dumped, a replica was built by the Pleasant Point Museum and Railway
Pleasant Point Museum and Railway
thumb|right|Pleasant Point Museum and Railway YardThe Pleasant Point Museum and Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway located in the small country town of Pleasant Point in southern Canterbury, New Zealand, inland from Timaru. Its main terminal is located at Pleasant Point station, which was...

 and is a popular attraction. Its popularity is enhanced by the fact that while Model T Ford railcars and railbuses of various types were built around the world, it is one of only two replicas in the world (as all originals were scrapped) and the only built to New Zealand's specifications. During summer and other holiday seasons, it runs services from Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point, New Zealand
Pleasant Point is a small country town in southern Canterbury, New Zealand, some 19 km inland from Timaru. A service town for the surrounding farming district, it has a population of 1,222 and one of its main attractions is the heritage railway, the Pleasant Point Museum and Railway, which...

 station multiple times daily.

The replica was given the number RM 4 by the Pleasant Point Railway and was built between 1981 and 1999 by volunteers. Members of the Railway have recently discovered the original body of RM 5 (not to be confused with the Wairarapa class
NZR RM class (Wairarapa)
The NZR RM class Wairarapa railcar was the first truly successful class of railcars to operate on New Zealand's national rail network...

 RM 5 currently being restored by the Pahiatua Railcar Society
Pahiatua Railcar Society
The Pahiatua Railcar Society is a society located in Pahiatua, New Zealand, dedicated to the restoration of railcars and other locomotives and rolling stock formerly operated by the New Zealand Railways Department...

), but there are presently no plans to restore or otherwise utilise it. The final resting place of the real RM 4 remains unknown.

External links

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