NZR V class were ordered in 1883. The tank engines were averaging about 24,000 miles each in 1887-88 but about 17,000 miles each in 1889. By 1892, half of the running of Nos. 2, 3 & 5 was for track maintenance work (some 25,000 miles) and half for shunting and Wellington-Paekakariki banking. No. 5 required repairs in 1887-88 and 1892. Disposals Two locomotives, WMR Nos. 3 and 5 (Manning Wardle Nos. 922 and 924), were sold to the Timaru Harbour Board in 1901. No. 5 was sold for £1000, and arrived in Timaru on 26 February 1901. No. 3 was reassembled at Addington, and reached Timaru on 22 April 1901. They were written off by WMR at the end of the 1900-01 financial year (No. 5) and in the 1901-02 financial year (No. 3). The mileage to 29/2/1908 (but presumably only for WMR service) is given as 219,999 miles (No. 3) and 211,602 miles (No. 5). Later, one was sold to the Mount Somers Tramway in the 1930s, and the other scrapped. Later service Three remaining locomotives, WMR Nos. 1, 2 and 4 (Manning Wardle Nos. 920, 921, and 923) were taken over by the NZR in 1908, and classified as the WH class. The NZR numbers were Nos. 447 (305,825 miles), 448 (319,724 miles), and 449 (346,162 miles) respectively; with the WMR mileage to 29 February 1908 given in brackets. References Bibliography External links Steam locomotive 449, Wh class, ca 1901 - National Library Wh class 2-6-2T locomotives Manning Wardle locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1885 3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of New Zealand Scrapped locomotives