The two Ford Model T railcars originally operated on branch lines in Southland in the 1920s and 1930s. Here is a view of an original The Model T railcar. The railcar at Pleasant Point is not a preserved actual railcar, but a rebuild of a railcar according to the original plans from a real Ford Model T.
Ford rail motor, RM 4 (Rail Motor no 4), in 1926.. Godber, Albert Percy, 1875-1949 :Collection of albums, prints and negatives. Ref: APG-0334-1/2-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22560330

At the Pleasant Point end a small turntable is installed on the Fairlie side of the railway station. It is just large enough to fit the railcar and is let into the pavement of the town reserve. The railcar has just been turned to take more passengers for a ride on the railway. [Jan 2013].

At the end of the day RM 4 makes its way from the Pleasant Point railway station through the township back towards Keane's Crossing. [Dec 2023].

The Ford Model T railcar has turned on the turntable at Keane's Crossing and drives past the loco shed to the platform. [Dec 2024].

The Ford Model T railcar is leaving Keane's Crossing on its way to Pleasant Point. In the background is the class D steam engine and a diesel shunting tractor. [Jun 2016].

The entrance signal to Keane's Crossing is just visible in the background as RM 4 sets out on another trip back to Pleasant Point. [Dec 2023].

Ogilvie & Co operated the bush tram until 1959. However, the railcar was still used for shunting and the recovery of the rails and other materials from the bush in 1965. The Ogilvie & Co railcar was moved to Canterbury in 1970 and is now operated by Steam Scene at McLeans Island near Christchurch. Here it stands at the platform while the driver returns to the railcar. Today it runs on a flat section of track around the Steam Scene site. [Sep 2023].

Originally, there was a driving position at each end of the railcar; today only one end has controls. [Dec 2024].

One succesful model was the Vulcan railcar. From 1940 Vulcan railcars once ran throughout the South Island, both on the main lines and major branch lines. Several are now preserved by enthusiasts. One of them was seen at the Ferrymead Railway in Christchurch. [Feb 2005].

RM 50 has departed the station area and now picks up a bit of speed as it travels to the open country. This railcar set the official New Zealand rail speed record of 78 mph (125.5 km/h) in 1940. [Jan 2017].

RM 50 arrives back in the station area of the Plains Railway, located in Tinwald near Ashburton. The toilet was located in the middle of the railcar in the entrance area between the two passenger compartments. [Jan 2017].

RM 51 sits at Moorhouse Station waiting for passengers for the next run. It will depart southwards towards the turning triangle, before running from there to Ferrymead. [Dec 2021].

Another view of RM 51 at Moorhouse Station. Ten railcars were ordered from Vulcan Foundry in England, but one railcar was lost at sea when the ship that carrying it was sunk by a German submarine attack. [Jul 2022].

On a brilliant spring day Vulcan railcar RM 51 travels along the Ferrymead Railway. [Oct 2022].

The interior view of the driver's cab of RM 51, as it sits at the platform of Moorhouse Station. [Aug 2023].

RM 56 has arrived at Moorhouse Station in the evening. Even the moon can be seen in the sky. This railcar is not used as frequently as RM 51, but is in a similar condition. [Mar 2024].

The silhouette of Vulcan railcar RM 56 is seen against the Heathcote Estuary. The engine of the Vulcan railcars was mounted in a compartment above the three-axle bogie. The other bogie had just two axles. [Mar 2024].

RM 56 travels along the line connecting the Ferrymead Railway to the main line. On Sundays trains often travel the longer route across the triangle that forms part of the railway. [Apr 2025].

In March 2024 Standard railcar RM 31 was in the South Island for the first time ever to transport a tour group from Australia and run several excursions for locals. It was stabled at the Ferrymead Railway while in Christchurch. This was taken as an opportunity to run Standard and Vulcan railcars together. [Mar 2024].

Six Standard railcars were built by Hutt Workshops and entered service in the North Island from 1938 to 1939. They were used on lines between Wellington and Taranaki and Hawke's Bay, including to Gisborne. The two diesel engines were mounted on the bogies. The railcars were popular and effective but due to a full capacity in the NZR workshops no more railcars were built in New Zealand. [Mar 2024].

RM 31 did two trips from Christchurch to Waikari and return. The railcar could not used the curved platformin Waikari, because it is slightly too wide. The Pahiatua Railcar Society did not want their nice railcar damaged by a tight platform. [Mar 2024].

One of the Eo locomotives was preserved at Ferrymead and now runs occasional trips on the Ferrymead Railway. Here it has arrived at Ferrymead Station. [Jun 2013].

In contrast, several months later, the Eo sits in splendid sunshine outside the electric engine shed near Moorhouse Station. Basking in the sun beside it is Ec 7, a locomotive that did its duty in Christchurch during NZR days. [Oct 2013]

That's what the inside of EO 3 looks like. The driver's stand was initially not separated from the engine comportment. Later the driver's controls were removed from one end and the other driver's stand was enclosed. When EO 3 came to Ferrymead the driver's stand on one end was re-installed in its open configuration, while the driving compartment at the other end was retained. [Aug 2023].

EO 3 heads along the Ferrymead Railway back towards Moorhouse Station. On this side, the locomotive is in the condition from 1940 onwards, when the cab design was changed. It has smaller, higher windows, the door was shifted to one side of the cab, and additional space was created at the driver's controls. This way the engines looked even more like European electric locos of the time. [Aug 2023].

In the late afternoon sun EO 3 departs Ferrymead Station with a goods train. [Aug 2023].

The next day, the EO was on duty again for the normal running day on the first Sunday of the month. Here the electric locomotive is ready to depart Moorhouse Station with a passenger train. At the back is EC 7, the loco that brought the train into the station. [Aug 2023].

The railway did not have many passengers on such a rainy day, but the weather made for some classic New Zealand working conditions. [June 2013].

And another photo of Ec7 about to depart Moorhouse Station at the Ferrymead Heritage Park. [Jun 2013]

A bike had been attached to one end of EC 7, representing the connection to Christchurch, which once was a bike city. The train is heading back towards Moorhouse Station. [Aug 2023].

The EC heads along the Ferrymead Railway on yet another trip during the Otira Tunnel centenary celebrations. [Aug 2023].

EC 7 stands at the platform of Moorhouse Station at night. The driver and station attendant have something to talk about - probably railways. [Aug 2023].

EC 7 and EO 3 stand together at Moorhouse Station. Due to staff shortage the electrics could not be operated and the electric multiple unit DM 27 was used instead to operate passenger service that day. [Oct 2025].

In early 2021 the front was repainted in the old red colour. With the D 2695 trailer leading, the train shuttles passengers about during the Ferrymead night markets. [Feb 2021].

With the Port Hills in the background, the English Electric multiple unit skirts along the estuary of the Heathcote River to Ferrymead Station. [Feb 2021].

The distance between Moorhouse Station and Ferrymead Station is only about 750 m. That's why the journeys are quite short and the trains run up to every 15 minutes (or 20 minutes when the EMU is not used). DM 320 returns with a late train to Moorhouse Station. [Feb 2021].

After the short trip to Ferrymead Station the electric multiple unit returns back along the Heathcote Estuary to Moorhouse Station. On a normal operating Sunday the electric multiple unit offers sufficient runs to move over 2,800 passengers between the two stations. However, only less than 10% of that count is normally travelling on opearting Sundays these days. [Apr 2024].

When these trains were still operating in Wellington, they frequently travelled along the Porirua Harbour and the Wellington Harbour. In Christchurch they still travel along the sea, but now along the Heathcote Estuary. [Apr 2024].

DM 320 now carries its original number DM 27 again. Here it travels along the Heathcote Estuary on a spring day above the blooming pink flowers that frame the railway line here. [Oct 2025].

With the driver sitting in a small compartment on the right hand of the train, passengers able to look at the track ahead through the other front windows. Here DM 27 is approaching Ferrymead Station. [Oct 2025].

This is the side-on view of the vehicle display at the locomotive sheds near Moorhouse Station: DM multiple unit; EC locomotive; EO locomotive; EA locomotive; ED locomotive; EW locomotive; ET multiple unit; PW 2; PW 1. [Aug 2023].

The inside view of the cab of EW 1806. [Aug 2023].

With red fronts in the night light. EW, DM and EO units at the Otira Tunnel centenary in Ferrymead. [Aug 2023].

Diesel shunting tractors were introduced into New Zealand from 1924. TR 111 was built in 1963 by A&G Price in Thames for New Zealand Railways and was in service for TranzRail until 2004. Here, TR 111 shunts goods wagons in the Moorhouse Station yard. [Aug 2023].

The DE class was supplied by English Electric. DE 511 is owned by the Diesel Traction Group, based at Ferrymead. This group owns examples of all English Electric diesels operated in New Zealand. The locomotives are occasionally run on the Ferrymead Railway operated by the Canterbury Railway Society. [Sep 2022].

DE locomotives normally drove on the main line with the long hood leading. The union made this a requirement, apparently for safety reasons, but also so that one-man crewing was not seen as a possibility. On the Ferrymead Railway DE 511 is used in both directions. Here it hauls a train past Moorhouse Station. [Sep 2022].

DE 511 travels along the Ferrymead Railway. In the background are the electricity transmission lines that carry voltage to the Bromley substation, connecting the large hydrodams to the city. [Sep 2025].

The two DG locomotives haul their train through one of the many curves of the Weka Pass Railway. This is probably the most scenic, but also the most curvey section of the former Waiau Branch. [Oct 2025].

The line now stops at Waikari. Originally, the preservation group wanted to keep the line all the way to Hawarden and the Huruni River, but the Highway Board wanted to get rid of the railway crossing at Waikari, so that the line could only go so far. The two DGs are running around their train in Waikari and are seen coming back to couple onto the carriages. [Oct 2025].

At the end of the day DG 770 and DG 791 push their train from Glenmark Station to the depot in Waipara. [Oct 2025].

Five locomotives of the DI class were built by English Electric in Australia in 1966. They operated in the South Island and in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island. They were withdrawn by 1989, partly due to the fact that with the high hood they were not suitable for single crewing. This preserved DI heads a train with the long hood leading. [Aug 2022].

The Diesel Traction Group is an independent group based at the Ferrymead Heritage Park. It restores heritage diesel locomotives built by English Electric and operates them together with other operators. Here at Ferrymead DI 1102 is operated together with the Canterbury Railway Society. It rounds the curve in front of the locomotive sheds near Moorhouse Station. [Aug 2022].

The diesel locomotive stands at Moorhouse Station with a passenger train. [Aug 2023].

DA 1431 came to the South Island again on another tour. In between tour duties the train offered trips for locals. On a Saturday it ran three return trips from Christchurch to Rangiora. Here, DA 1431 is in Rangiora with a crowd of admirers around the engine, while the a guard checks everything is in order. [Apr 2023].

Later in the day DA 1431 is reflected in a flooded lineside drain as it passes through the autumn landscape in Papanui. [Apr 2023].

In 1979 the Traffic Monotoring System TMS was introduced and all rolling stock received new numbers. The DA class got numbers 1 to 99 with an additional check digit, so that most DA locomotives had numbers with three digits. DA 1431 was renumbered DA 345. For some time DA 1431 ran again with its TMS number 345 in large numerals on the long hood and small numbers adjacent to the lights. The old number remained on the headstock. [Mar 2024].

After running an excursion to Arthur's Pass, DC 4818 brought the empty train to Waipara to store the consist at the Weka Pass Railway for a week. Here the train is rounding a curve near Sefton, North Canterbury. [Mar 2025].

Here the train is on its return to Christchurch at the end of the first trip. It passes over the Waipara River. [Mar 2025].

Both trains on the day were booked out. It seems that Christchurch people like to go on train excursions. [Mar 2025].

The train was leased to Pounamu Tourism, which operated trains in Marlborough and around Christchurch, mainly for cruise ship passengers. Here DC 4375 is in charge of a public excursion train from Christchurch to Kaikoura. Passengers were able to go to the Kaikoura Races over a long weekend. [Nov 2025].