508 - Avonside Engine Company, Bristol, England.  Makers # 1206/77 built 1877, 20 ton, 10.5 x 18 inch cylinders, 160lb BP,36 inch wheels TE 7000 lb.

This L class is one of 10 built by Avonside Engine Company for the New Zealand Railways . Subsequently sold to the Public Works Department in 1901 and renumbered 508, the locomotive worked on various construction projects in the North Island between 1903 and 1931.

In 1946 the 508 was sold to the Portland Cement Co. in Whangarei and kept in service until 1964.
In 1974 it was purchased by the Tauranga Historic Village where it worked for a further 14 years until the demise of the museum. It was then purchased by Shantytown with the assistance of a ‘Lottery – Environment & Heritage’ grant, and after an extensive overhaul returned to work in 2002.