International Railroad Discussion > New Zealand's Taieri Gorge Railway

On the southeast coast of New Zealand's South Island lies the university town of Dunedin. It is a beautiful city and worth a visit in its own right. One of its major draws is the Taieri Gorge Railway. The TGR uses the east 60km of what was originally the Otago Central Railway which was closed 1980. The TGR runs several types of excursions out of the very impressive station.

The TGR owns eight DJ class locomotives, of which six are serviceable. These 900hp Bo-Bo-B0 units were built in 1968-69 by Mitsubishi and were used to retire the last of the steam fleet on the South Island.

Our train to Pukerangi. The closest carriage is one of their home built panorama cars. This one was fitted out as a buffet car. Behind it are wood bodied vehicles dating from 1915-23.

The open vestibule of one of the wooden cars.

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Some examples of the older stock, in virtually as-built condition.

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A bit of contrast between the World War 1 era stock and one of the panorama cars.

The Silver Fern. This is a three car DMU built by Kawasaki in 1972. The train was used in a variety of mainline services and is now being leased to TGR.

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My wife in front of Pukerangi Union Station.

The locomotive being coupled up for the return after running around our train.

A coupling system that I am not familiar with. It seems that it is rather like our old link and pin system in that the device on the left has to be lifted while advancing into the slot on the locomotive and requiring standing between the cars.

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The TGR has a wonderfully eclectic collection of rolling stock. Sort of reminded me of the early days of Amtrak when you never knew what you might find on a train.

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Train with a load of cruise ship passengers going back to the boat.

At 500 meters, this is said to be the longest station platform in New Zealand.

Another former intercity car.

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The station was opened in 1906. This is "revived Flemish Renaissance" I am told. The TGR keeps the place hopping and buses use it also but, alas, no intercity service. The Southerner ran the Christchurch-Dunedin-Invercargill route until 2002.

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A few more of the station. An outstanding example of Victorian excess and I thought it was fascinating.

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And a few more. I would have loved to have bought a ticket through the portal in the first photo but the TGR uses a separate area for its functions.

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End of the line. Another bus ride brought us to Invercargill. We spent a night at the Victorian Railway Hotel. The guest rooms are modern but everything else is restored as much as possible to the original state. Excellent food and service.

It is across the street (as a railway hotel should be) from the railway station. Second photo is of the old station and the third is of the decidedly awful 1970's version that replaced it. From here the tracks go another 30km or so to Bluff where you catch the ferry to go to Stewart Island.

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I hope you went to Stewart and then Ulva Islands.

Yes we did. It was a great trip.

Latebeans Wrote:
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> Yes we did. It was a great trip.


Did you happen to sample the Bluff Oysters by chance.A real treat .
Regards,DK

Oysters, mussels and blue cod, all good.

I sampled a Bluff Oyster just to say I had done it. For a brief second, while it was in my mouth, I thought of spitting the horrible tasting thing out or swallowing. I decided I did not want to go through that again and I certainly wanted to say I had had at least one after having lived in NZ for two years.

I'll never understand why people find those slimy things tasteful. Been there - done that. Never again; hand me a Rheineck please or better yet, Montieth's.

Rick

Here's the Taoero Gorge train under steam in 2006 during the 100th anniversary of the Dunedin station celebrations. Sadly, this was the only photo runpast performed on this spectacular line.

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Looks like it would have been a fun trip. Do you know where the locomotive is now?

Sorry. No clue. On this trip, we did take two locos from the North Island on the ferry over to Pickton. But I don't recall if this is one of them. It was dark when we arrived so no photos available. The tender says "Mainline Steam" so it may well be one of Ian Welsh's locos.

Dunedin also has a very active model railroad club that has bought a lot of American stuff from me over the years.

Tom Y

Interesting to see the Silver Fern is still around. I rode it Auckland to Wellington in March 1978. We had a lunch stop at Taihapi (sp?) where we met the northbound train. First time I experienced a cold spaghetti on white bread sandwich.