The “Corsair” and Others.

In Southland the original lines (Bluff-Winton), were of 4ft. 8 ½in. gauge. There were three locomotives of the gauge mentioned which were sold on the conversion of the lines to the standard (3ft. 6in.) gauge. There were also, in Southland, three locomotives of the Davies pattern. These latter were intended to run on a wooden tramway between Invercargill and Makarewa. They were not a success. One of the Davies engines which was in commission for a time was named “Lady Barkly.” This engine was sold subsequently to a sawmiller, and was used to run the mill. (The name, “Lady Barkly,” is perpetuated in the siding of that name on the Kingston line, where the sawmill was situated.) So far as is known no other engine of the broad gauge type had a name. Replacing the “Lady Barkly” was a locally built engine (which ran on the tramway for a time), but there is no record of its having been named. The standard (3ft. 6in.) gauge engines of the M class were named “Werner,” “Manfred,” “Mazeppa,” and “Corsair.” The first two were numbered 3 and 4 respectively. The other two were transferred to Christchurch as previously mentioned.