International Railroad Discussion > New Zealand

I started this thread on the Passenger board by mistake but I'll add to it here. Our first attempt at long distance rail travel in NZ got off to a lumpy start. We were booked from Auckland to National Park, about half way to Wellington. About 30 minutes into the trip we were told that KiwiRail had put one on the ground somewhere on our route and we would be on the bus after Hamilton. The first photo is of our train, the Northern Explorer stopped at Pukekohe. This is the end of the Auckland suburban service and some people bailed out here to return to Auckland rather than continue by bus.

Photo two is Hamilton where the bustitution began. Hamilton is about 85 miles from Auckland and the fourth largest city in New Zealand, after Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with about 150,000. Its size and proximity to Auckland should rate some decent rail service but the tri-weekly Explorer is all there is. Some additional regional service used to serve the area but it has been gone since 2001.

Photo three is of a westbound freight tied down at National Park, waiting for the line to reopen.

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Photo one: The central part of the Auckland-Wellington truck line is electrified at 25kV50Hz AC. These units were built by the UK's Brush Traction in 1986-88. They deliver 4000hp and are known as toasters, for their shape.

#2 Kiwi handbrake
#3 New Zealand's last locomotive order was for these Chinese units, delivered about two years ago. They have recently been found to contain asbestos but even before that they were plagued with reliability issues and KiwiRail cancelled an order for a second batch.

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More freight action at Nation Park. Things are moving again after derailment was cleared up.

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That would be National Park of course, not Nation Park.

Second photo is of pen and ink drawing displayed inside the station. The Tangiwai tragedy refers to the Christmas Eve 1953 wreak of a Wellington-Auckland express train. A damn collapse washed away one of piers of the Whangaehu River bridge just ahead of the train. Of the 285 passengers and crew aboard, 151 perished. Twenty of the bodies were never found and were thought to have been carried down stream to the ocean.

Another historical touch inside the station, a roll of past stationmasters. The station is now a restaurant, and a very good one. Passengers can still use the former waiting room.

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On the way to Wellington again on the Northern Explorer. No buses this time.
A fairly typical small station along the way. KiwiScenic targets mostly tourists and local travel seems relatively light.
The station in Wellington, opened in 1937. It's my idea of how a railroad station should look.

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Do you have any more exterior and interior shots of the passenger cars? They look really interesting.

I was living in NZ just after they electrified the NIMT and those Electrics came to be. The Df's had just come from London ON but I am wondering if they are still around? One of your photos look like the Dx's which were GE U26's IIRC. Am I correct in seeing a rebuild of the Dx?

The big bridge north of Oakune was commissioned while I was there in the late 1980ies. They used to bungy jump off of the old one. Is the old one still there?

I had a cab ride from Te Rapa down to Taumranui and my friend was driving the train. He slowed the train down and told me to run up the hill and get my photo, kept the train rolling very slowly and I was able to run back and climb back into the cab. That was not real railfanning by having the driver helping you out with your photos but I got a great shot. For any Kiwi's reading this, the driver was John Bates, a wonderful person.

Rick

Wow, there passenger equipment has sure improved since my visit in 2008. At that time, things seemed to be going in the cost cutting route eliminating direction.

Latebeans Wrote:
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> A damn collapse
> washed away one of piers of the Whangaehu River
> bridge just ahead of the train. Of the 285
> passengers and crew aboard, 151 perished.

A damn collapse, eh? That damn collapse! ;-)

Tor, a lame American

rschonfelder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was living in NZ just after they electrified the
> NIMT and those Electrics came to be. The Df's had
> just come from London ON but I am wondering if
> they are still around? One of your photos look
> like the Dx's which were GE U26's IIRC. Am I
> correct in seeing a rebuild of the Dx?
>
> The big bridge north of Ohakune was commissioned
> while I was there in the late 1980ies. They used
> to bungy jump off of the old one. Is the old one
> still there?
>
> I had a cab ride from Te Rapa down to Taumranui
> and my friend was driving the train. He slowed
> the train down and told me to run up the hill and
> get my photo, kept the train rolling very slowly
> and I was able to run back and climb back into the
> cab. That was not real railfanning by having the
> driver helping you out with your photos but I got
> a great shot. For any Kiwi's reading this, the
> driver was John Bates, a wonderful person.
>
> Rick

Hi Rick,

It was great to read about your trip with John Bates.
He was a friend and Model railroader Club member in Hamilton
but have to say he pass away about a month ago.
As for the DF locos, Yes they are still around and all have been
fitted with Turbos now to get more power and are either DFT, DFB
T, is for turbo, and the B is for Brightstar for more traction's
via computer's wheel slip etc, they are around the 2400Hp since the turbo.
As for the DX class, they are still around also, most of the have been up graded
to either DXB, DXC, DXH, for the coal run in the south Island.
There are also 2 DXR locos R is for Rebuilt and New Cab Bull Bars numbers 8007, 8022
There is also a DX number 5310 which was rebuilt but not the same cab are the DXR locos.
B is again for Brightstar, C I think for Coal?? and H for heavy drawgear I think?
As for the DL locos, they are all parked up at the MO that's why you have seen
so many DX, DFT etc up in the North Island.
.Most of the DX class are around 3000, 3300Hp now also.
Some have the motors from the BN B30-7ab Locos from the USA..

Cheers Brian in Pukekohe New Zealand..



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/14 08:47 by RogersPass.

The Tangiwai disaster was caused by a Lahar which came from the crater lake on Mt Ruapheu. The lake wall collapsed Which allowed the lake contents to drain and gather mud and debris on its way down the mountain. It hit the railway bridge just before the express came along, and despite the efforts of one man to stop the train the train hit the missing bridge. The locomotive flew across the divide and buried itself in the other sides river bank, thanks to the efforts of the man waving the train, the crew managed to apply the brakes and slow the train which allowed some of the train to stay on the rails which helped to prevent a much greater loss of life. The gentleman also then climbed in to one of the carriages that was dangling on The bridge and helped rescue a lot of people. Would make a good movie. I have a book on the disaster which is a very good read. The gentleman's name who helps save so many was Cyril Ellis. No connection to any events except that I am a kiwi who was very interested as a kid (and an adult).
Jason