NZR RM class (McEwan Pratt)

It was built in 1912 at a time when the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) was seeking alternative methods of providing rural passenger transportation.

NZR began investigating whether railcars could provide a more efficient passenger service with low operating costs.

At the time, railcar technology was new and the rugged nature of New Zealand's terrain made the task of finding a successful design more difficult.

[1] The railcar's four-cylinder petrol engine and running gear were supplied by the English company McEwan Pratt, a predecessor of Baguley Cars Ltd. Its 4.87-metre long wooden body, which resembled a tram of that era, was built at the Railways Department's Newmarket Workshops.

A total of twelve people could be seated in the gas-illuminated passenger compartment, and driver's controls were at just one end despite the tram resemblance.