LA 312 is one of many locomotives and wagons that New Zealand Railways dumped at Omoto.

Omoto locomotive dump is a New Zealand Railways locomotive and rolling stock dump site located near Greymouth, New Zealand. The dump site is located on the southern bank of the Grey River, close to the Midland Line and State Highway 6.

History of locomotive dumps

All locomotives and rolling stock inevitably reach obsolescence. When the cost of scrap metal dropped below an economic level, the New Zealand Railways found other uses for withdrawn locomotives and rolling stock. Some were discarded in locomotive dumps to protect the railway formation against erosion or soft ground. The railway line at Omoto suffered from severe erosion caused by flooding of the adjacent Grey River. During the 1950s, many obsolete locomotives and wagons on the South Island's West Coast were, accordingly, dumped here. Since disposal, Omoto, along with other locomotive dumps, has provided a treasure trove to many people interested in Railway archaeology.

The first conclusive locomotive dumpings to occur at Omoto began in 1957 and continued up to 1961. It is believed, however, that the dumpings started at an earlier date, as LA 312 was dumped in 1929, while the remains of P 135 were dumped in 1933. Large scale dumping did not take place until 1957, when a number of withdrawn locomotives, components of locomotives, and withdrawn wagons of various classes were dumped there.

Locomotives dumped at Omoto

Class and
Road number		TypeBuilderBuilder's
number		Notes
F 50-6-0STRobert Stephenson and Company2611
F 2770-6-0STRobert Stephenson and Company2597Built for Hungerford & McKay Ltd, to NZR stock 1895. Fitted with a larger cab in the 1920s.
LA 3124-4-0TNasmyth Wilson322Ex NZ Midland Railway Co, NO 3. Recovered 2005. Awaiting restoration at Midland Rail Heritage Trust, Springfield, NZ.
P 1352-8-0Nasmyth Wilson275
UB 3304-6-0Baldwin Locomotive Works18576Located beneath UC 365.
UB 3314-6-0Baldwin Locomotive Works18577
UC 3614-6-0Sharp, Stewart and Company4745
UC 3624-6-0Sharp, Stewart and Company4746
UC 3654-6-0Sharp, Stewart and Company4749
UC 3694-6-0Sharp, Stewart and Company4753Recovered 2005. Awaiting restoration at Midland Rail Heritage Trust, Springfield, NZ.
UC 3704-6-0Sharp, Stewart and Company4754Recovered 2005. Awaiting restoration at Midland Rail Heritage Trust, Springfield, NZ.
WB 2982-6-2TBaldwin Locomotive Works16174Boiler only.

[1][2]

Other locomotive dump sites

References

  1. ↑ New Zealand Railfan. Wellington: Triple M Publications. 1999. pp. 46–54. ISSN 1173-2229.
  2. ↑ "OMOTO LOCOMOTIVE DUMP". Retrieved 24 January 2013.
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