The NZR class F was a 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotive built for mixed traffic between 1872 and 1888. A total of 88 locomotives were built by several British manufacturers: 26 by Avonside, 21 by Dübs, twelve by Neilson, also twelve by Robert Stephenson, eleven by the Yorksire Engine Co., five by the Vulcan Foundry and one by Black, Hawthorn & Co. Two similar locomotives were built for Spain and Australia each.
In passenger service, they could reach a speed of 43 mph (70 km/h) and freight trains of up to 800 tons could be hauled on the level. Originally they were only intended for service on the South Island, but later they came to virtually all lines in the NZR network on both islands. Originally they carried names from the works of Sir Walter Scott and the class designation F only came about in 1890. Between 1892 and 1897, twelve were rebuilt to the 0-6-2T class FA.
When larger locomotives had been introduced for passenger and freight service, the class F was used for branch line service and shunting. In these services, they were replaced by class DS diesel shunters. In their last years in NZR service, they were employed in the Lyttelton wharves before the last ones were withdrawn in 1963. The last two, F 13 “Peveril” and F 163 “Ivanhoe”, were overhauled for preservation and again got their original livery. Meanwhile some had been sold to industrial users like coal mines and bush tramways, where they were used longer. Nine have been preserved, some of which are still in running order.
