Ever since the recovery of the locomotive frames of No.9 we were puzzled by an old tender lying just behind the frames. This tender was of obvious Baldwin pedigree but it was assumed to be off a T class locomotive of 1879. However, further research showed that it was off an N class and more particularly off N453 a.k.a. No.9.

Having positively identified the tender, we set about finding a way to dig out and recover it. Luckily the tender was not buried on all sides probably due to river scour, however the coal space was full of coarse river gravels which were removed with pick and shovel over the course of a day. We discovered the handbrake handle amongst the debris in the process.

Another item that perked our interest was what appeared to be a bogie frame buried in the formation where the locomotive frames had been. With the help of the local ganger and a loader we removed not one or two but four hugely valuable items of No.9, these being the two locomotive pony truck frames and the two tender bogie frames. Each frame is essentially complete except for wheel sets and springs, the steel, like the that on the locomotive frames is in very good condition.

The loader was unable to lift the tender out of its hole, a 20 tonne digger was used for this a few weeks later.

Having been in the water of the Bealey River at some point the entire tank was full with fine silt, this would have to be removed if the tender was to be economically lifted on to a truck for transport to Christchurch. Cleaning the silt from the tank was left up to the smaller of our group with only two of our number able to fit inside, they scraped, pushed and generally toiled to get the silt to a point where it could be shovelled out via a rip in the tank side.

We roughly calculated that empty the tender tank and frame would weigh about eight tonnes. With this information  and the knowledge of what type of truck could get to the site we went about finding suitable transport eventually having success in Timaru. Onsite we were just able to get the tender loaded on to the truck, eight tonnes proving to be a good guess and about the limit of the hi-abs lifting capacity, the various frames being placed in the coal space or strapped on the top of the tank.

All items were transported back to Canterbury Steam Preservation Society (CSPS), McLeans Island where we also took the opportunity to move the locomotive frames to a less intrusive and more readily accessible location.

Today the locomotive frames, tender, pony truck and bogie frames and various other bits and pieces remain at CSPS ready to be moved north at the earliest opportunity.