Af941 was built in the Petone workshops in Wellington in 1906 the first in a group of 5 60' carvans. It had seating in two compartments for 72 passengers and a large guards compartment at one end and had a closed in balcony on the other end. 941 was originally used between Wellington and Upper Hutt behind a small D class locomotive as a fore runner to the self propelled railcar. Of all the carriages in the SSR collection this is the most historically important to the Hutt Valley. Af941 was based in Wellington all its life.
A382 was built in 1900 in the Petone Workshops in Wellington. Originally built as a straight passenger car with longitudinal seating for 36 passengers, 382 was converted in 1911 to a Af Carvan, meaning that one end had a small guards compartment built into it. It was also fitted with sliding doors on either side at the guard end. 382 remained in this form for the rest of its life with NZR. In 1955 A382 became Ea2935 and was used in non revenue Way and Works service until 1975 when it was purchased by SSR and was subsequently restored in the early 1990s back to its original form.
Ww571 was built at the Hillside workshops in Dunedin in 1914 with makers number 147 and entered service on the 4th of November of that year. Initially based in Wellington, 571 was also based in places as far away as Thames and Napier before returning to Wellington in 1936, where it was mainly used on suburban passenger trains until withdrawn from service in 1953 following the introduction of the De class diesel electrics in 1952. 571 was stored along with other withdrawn engines at Hutt Workshops, its future uncertain.
Entering service in October 1941, Ka 935 maker’s number 318 was built at Hutt Workshops in Wellington. When built 935, along with most of the rest of the Ka class were coal fired but was converted to oil firing in 1948. They were also fitted with a “streamlined” casing over the front of the smoke box, boiler and running boards. The purpose of this was to hide the ACFI feed water pump and associated piping. 935 had its casing and ACFI pump removed in 1950 and was fitted with an exhaust steam injector.
