To help celebrate national Children's Day, on the 3rd of March we are offering free entry for all children under 15 when accompanied by a fare paying adult from 11am till 4pm.
A2010 was built in the Addinton workshops in Christchurch in 1943 being a 56' steel clad, timber framed Carriage which was originally built as Ambulance car. These had a sterilising room in one end , bunks for 20 paitents and large doors and the oppisite end to the sterilising room for loading and unloading the stretchers. In 1948 is was converted to single compartment first class cars with seating for 32 passengers.
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.
A1833 was built in the Otahuhu Workshops in Auckland in 1935 one of 10 similar carriages out shopped that year. It has retained its as built appearance for its entire life having 2 compartments with seating for 18 passengers in one and 21 in the other in a 2+1 seating arrangement and is now the sole survivor of this type of car although a similar car is at MOTAT in Auckland.
A1448 was built in 1915 at the Newmarket Workshops in Auckland . It is a narrow body 47'6" high capacity surburban carriage with seating for 72 passengers and was based in Auckland for most of its working life. In 1970 it was converted for Way and Works service and Classified Ea3872. This conversion consisted of removing all the seats, blanking some of the windows and installing 2 large sliding doors. In this guise it was used by the Thermit Welding Gang in Wellington untill it was Purchased by SSR member Keith Magnussen in the late 1970's.
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.
Aa1235 was built in 1912 in the Petone Workshops in Wellington as a wide body 50' car mainly for use on the North Island Main Trunk Railway. Originally built with a centre toilet it was rebuilt to its present form in 1922 with a end toilet and seating for 46 passengers. In 1235's later life it was used on Suburban trains around Wellington. It was withdrawn in 1975 and after negotiations with NZR, was donated to SSR. Originally taken to the Seaview site 1235 became the first passenger carriage moved to SSR in 1980 joining L4246 as a passenger carrying vehicle behind L509 .
Aa1601 was built in 1925 at the Newmarket Workshops in Auckland originally as a 1st class car. 1601 is similar to Aa1235 being a 50' wide body car just with a few slight differences most notably the seats and bogies, 1601 being fitted with the later style of flip over scarret seating and BP 25140 bogies. Based in Auckland for its working life 1601 was stored for a couple of years before being purchased by SSR and moved to the Seaview site before it was leased by Steam Incorporated in Paekakariki from 1982 till 1997.
