C864 was built by New Zealand Government Railways at Hillside Workshops in Dunedin in 1931. She is one of 24 built as heavy shunting engines for use at major freight terminals of both islands. They were also used on short haul trains and saw service on many of the branch lines that used to exist in the Christchurch area.
C864 was purchased by the Canterbury Branch of the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society in 1971, and was moved to Ferrymead the following year. After some minor work the locomotive began running in June, 1972, with further repairs in 1976-77. For many years it was the main operating locomotive on the Railway.
Because of higher running costs, in recent years the locomotive has only run on special days, including various steam shuttles between Christchurch and Ferrymead. It visited the Weka Pass Railway in conjunction with the National Federation of Railway Societies Convention in 1989 and operated further shuttle services in 1990.
