Dear KiwiRail,

Our preservation group, Project Steam, is based in Middlemarch on the terminal of the Taieri Gorge Railway - better known as Dunedin Railways.

Most of our heritage rolling stock has close affiliation with Hillside Workshops and Otago Central Railway. Our oldest locomotive, under restoration, is P107 built in 1886 and was assembled in Hillside Workshops. We also have carriage A714 built in Hillside 1902 and the Guards Van F54 Hillside built 1908.

We are aware that the current Kiwirail Dsc fleet will be coming up for retirement at some point. We wish to make ourselves clear that we wish to preserve a Hillside built Dsc.

Our preference would be Dsc2325 nee Dsc428, this was the first example built at Hillside Workshops and we have good collection of photographs of the day it was released on 22 November 1962 taken by photographer George Emerson QSM.

Can you inform us as too when the Dsc class will be made available, preferably Dsc2325, for preservation?

Yours faithfully,
Richard Emerson
on behalf Project Steam.

Dear Chris Paice,

Thank for you for your response. We look forward to the time when Dsc2325 is withdrawn from service.
Can you inform us closer to the time to discuss options for preservation. It would be so good to preserve the first Hillside built example.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Emerson