Only one of the final batch of 54 Phase III DA class locomotives was not rebuilt - DA 1517 had been scrapped in 1974 due to damage sustained when it ran into a landslip at the entrance to the Fordell tunnel in 1973. Two locomotives - DAs 1533 and 1470 were both rebuilt from heavily damaged conditions sustained in accidents running light engine. 1533 was damaged in an accident while returning from National Park on banking duty in 1975; due to a rivalry between locomotive drivers at Taumarunui depot, the locomotive entered a curve too fast and overturned, killing the locomotive engineer. 1470 derailed on the steep Pukerua Bay section in 1978 returning to Wellington due to speeding on a curve, and nearly ended up on State Highway 1 below the line; both of the crew were killed.