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New Zealand Railways DA 1431

DA 1431 is unique in that she is the only surviving Australian-built DA. Clyde Engineering in Sydney - a subsidiary of General Motors - built 10 of these engines in 1957.

In the case of 1431, she entered service in April 1957. Curiously she never received the International Orange livery despite being given a TMS number - DA 345 - in 1979.

DA 345 remained in service with New Zealand Rail until March 1988, when she was withdrawn from service (at the time she was 33 years old). In the next year she was purchased for preservation by Steam Incorporated, the same people who bought classmate 1410. The engine reverted back to her original DA 1431 condition and loaned to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway in 1999.

Nine years later - in 2008 - 1431 returned to her old home in Paekakariki. By the next year she had been fully restored and certified for mainline running. Since 2009 DA 1431 has become a legendary excursion engine, and has since been to almost every corner of the KiwiRail system, even Greymouth (but of course, avoiding Tauranga like the plague, thanks entirely to that stupid tunnel)!

In May 2018, I went to see DA 1431 when she was in Hamilton. On this occasion the engine was hauling a hilariously short train as part of a ‘Reader’s Railtour’ (I can’t remember what newspaper this tour was affiliated with). That was the only time I have ever seen a DA running on the mainline.

More recently - in July 2020 - I saw DA 1431 again. This time it was at Steam Incorporated’s open day, for which she was displayed while coupled back-to-back with classmate 1410.

If you have a livery request for me, you may leave it in the comments. However, I will only accept your request if I like the idea.

And another thing, you MUST word it as a question, preferably without the word 'please' as I find it a bit cringe-worthy. One last thing, you HAVE to use proper punctuation, unlike some idiots I've seen who don't use punctuation and still think they can get a request done. You know who you are).

(I really can't stress this enough, following the rules correctly is essential if you want me to honour your request. If you don't get the rules Right First Time, your request WILL be denied).