Basic 0-4-0T works loco from 1876, NZ

One of three Public Works Department locomotives built by the Wellington based firm E.W. Mills for working the branch line from Foxton to Longburn. These were named Opossum, Wallaby and Skunk, although it's unclear if these were official names. Apparently, Skunk was so-called because of the smell it left as it chugged its way up and down the line. About 1880, Opossum and Skunk were used for Greymouth Harbour construction while Wallaby was used on the Sanson Tramway between the settlement of Himatangi at an elbow bend on the line and Sanson to the north of it. Opossum is now preserved at Shantytown south of Greymouth. (Palmerston North Library collection)