In 1877, the new Chief Mechanical Engineer of the NZR, Allison D. Smith, required additional motive power for the fledgling Government system.

K 87 "Lincoln" quickly distinguished itself by hauling the first bogie-carriage passenger train, and both the locomotives soon earned a reputation as fast and free runners with mild coal consumption.

K 88 "Washington" hauled the first train between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1878 on the newly opened Main South Line,[7] assisted by the Double Fairlie "Josephine" south of Oamaru until "Josephine" had to be taken off the train due to mechanical issues – caused by how K 88 was being driven.

The second batch of locomotives entered service in the South Island and were almost identical to the first two, albeit with no names and a more conventional livery (it is likely K 87 and K 88 had been repainted by this time as well).

It was during this time that some of the K class, having been relegated to the Kingston-Gore branch, gained a reputation for the Kingston-Invercargill express train which earned the name "Kingston Flyer".

[10] All remaining South Island engines lasted long enough to be dumped as embankment protection starting in 1926.

The first and most notable of these locomotives is K 88 Washington, which was removed from the river by the Southland Vintage Car Club on 19 and 20 January 1974.

[11] The other two locomotives also unearthed are K 94, removed by a private owner and moved to The Plains Railway on 21 April 1986 (currently unrestored in storage with no active plans for restoration) and K 92, recovered in 1985 by the Fiordland Vintage Machinery Club for their Museum's railway on the shores of Lake Te Anau.

Purchased by Colin Smith in 1998, the K 92's restoration was completed with intent to recreate the old "Kingston Flyer" trains of the early 1900s at the Waimea Plains Railway.