A-class locomotive number 427 on a railway turntable.

KA class locomotive number 963 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

BB class engine number 629 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

A Class locomotive 601 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

KA class engine number 960 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

J class engine number 1227 and tender (coal car) 1279 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

BB class engine number 629 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

KA class engine number 930 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

Ka class engine number 960 at the Palmerston North railway yards. circa August,1963-August 1964.

AB class engine number 758 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

DA class engine number 1468 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

DA class engine number 1468 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

J class engine number 1238 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

The Da and Dxr locomotives at the Esplanade Scenic Railway dressed for the running of the Halloween night trains.

A train is running through The Square while people sit on seats alongside. At this time The Square was divided into 5 areas. The central strip contained the train lines, gardens, and a Band Rotunda and the King Edward VII Coronation monument (now Coronation Fountain), built in August 1902, on either side of the tracks. The building on the right is the Child's Commercial Hotel, which stayed on this site until around 1930. The band rotunda was moved to the Esplanade in 1907 and replaced with a new one.

KA class engine number 932 at the Palmerston North railway yards.

BB class locomotive 626 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

An unidentified worker standing on DA class engine number 1434 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

J class engine number 1227 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

DA class engine number 1461 in the Palmerston North railway yards. J class engine number 1277 is in the background.

A railway service between Wellington and Palmerston North began in 1886. The line ran through the Square until after the Milson Deviation was completed in 1959. In 1964 the last passenger train ran through the Square and the tracks were removed.

A traction engine hauling felled trees. This traction engine [ see 2014N_Stu4_009085] has been temporarily converted to run on rails. The large back wheels have been removed and a chain taken from the drive gear via chain to the wheels of the rear bogie. This bogie, like the one replacing the traction engine’s front axle, is made from heavy beams of wood to which plain metal bearings have been fixed. This arrangement suggests a solution necessitated by a lack of engineering workshops in the area, as rail bogies were normally made from iron or steel. The rails themselves are timber and unlikely to last more than a season’s felling. After the job was done the traction engine would be jacked up and the original wheels replaced after which the owner could go back to regular contract work.

This photograph shows people photographing and watching as a train passes by. It is perhaps one of the last trains to run down Main Street (hence the crowd), which would put mean this image was taken in 1964.

Wd 360 was derailed at Halcombe on 14 November 1902. It was a 'special' train running from Wanganui to Palmerston North to the West Coast and Manawatu A&P Show. There were 290 people on board. Only minor injuries were incurred in the accident.

A wooden A class carriage (number 1802) at the Palmerston North railway yards.

DA class locomotive 1459 in the Palmerston North railway yards.

The "Weka" locomotive engine was built by James Davidson of Dunedin in 1876. It was in use from 1889 till 1922.

This image was taken for a story that ran in The Manawatu Evening Standard on 10 March 1958, page 11: "A student from Jamaica studies a bacterial specimen under a microscope in the recently extended laboratories at Massey Agricultural College."

AB class engine 737 next to a coal pile in the Palmerston North railway yards.

J class engine number 1231 in the Palmerston North railway yards.