International Railroad Discussion > A Casual US Railfan Tours New Zealand: 4 - Wellington

I apologize for the long hiatus between the last part and this one, which I attribute to attention deficit disor - SQUIRREL!

Our Northern Explorer trip terminated at Wellington, where we stayed two nights before climbing aboard a ferry for a ride across the strait to Picton, on the tip of the South Island.

Here’s a hotel recommendation for those of you with a tight travel budget. I’m normally adverse to staying at any lodging with the word “backpacker” in its title, so I was a little leery when my wife told me that she had found a very reasonably priced room in the heart of Wellington right across the street from the train station: The Hotel Waterloo Backpackers. It’s youth-hostel-like lodging occupied the lower floors, but the upper floor or two had conventional rooms. Ours was spotless! Everything was brand new! Their restaurant’s kitchen sparkled, as well, and had a nice variety of well-prepared, reasonably priced food. Bomus, the hotel has a bar, and you are about a three minute walk from the trains, if the latter is your thing.

Wellington’s population is less than 200,000, but its train station impresses one as sized for a city three or four times larger. Commuter trains are a big deal here, and although freight and long distance passenger service are both shadows of their former selves, there is still enough activity to satisfy any fan who has not succumbed to a pub crawl or the Waterloo's bar.

To commence with our iPhone camera tour:

1)Entering the Wellington terminal area near the football (rugby) stadium, we encountered another one of the ubiquitous Chinese double-cabs, DL class 9141. KiwiRail has taken delivery of 48 DL’s since 2010, and has 15 more on order for delivery in 2018 to replace the remaining electric locos. Forty DL’s were temporarily withdrawn in 2014 due to asbestos contamination in their cabs, and a couple of years later, more asbestos was found after the “all clear” had been given. They also suffer from reliability issues and supposedly are not liked by crews, but they are cheap to buy.

2) Entering the Wellington terminal area near the football (rugby) stadium, we encountered DFB class # 7307, which was constructed by GMD in 1970 as DF 1664. Over the years it was rebuilt into a DFT and sported four different paint schemes. About 10 years ago it and many of the DFTs received upgraded braking systems, were reclassified as DFBs and became the preferred passenger train power. The remaining unmodified DFT’s are now being retired, due to the influx of the Chinese double-cabs.

3) North American rail fans might suspect that DSC class 2624 was built by GM, judging by the “Blomberg”-appearing trucks, but the unit was actually turned out by NZR’s (now closed) Addison Workshops in 1967. The first of the class were constructed in England in 1959, while the balance were built at NZR’s Addison and (also closed) Hillside Workshops through 1967. All of the 18 Brit-built locos were retired in the 1980’s, when NZR turned away from goods wagons towards intermodal, and many of the Kiwi-built locos have been retired since. Like all the DSCs that I saw, 2624 was set up for remote control.

4) Nearing the station, you a good idea of the extensive nature of Wellington’s commuter operations.

5) Here, a guard (?) is coupling his (Hillside) DSC 2665 prior to making a pull on a cut of commuter equipment.

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6) Wellington’s train station is substantial, eh?

7, 8, 9) We arrived on the eve of Chinese New Year, and at left we see a New Years Day float featuring Japanese Taiko Drumming, apparently performed mostly by people of European descent. New Zealand’s overall population is so small (5 million+-) that I’m guessing that the Chinese community are too few to fill out a parade. Likewise, NZ’s Japanese community is apparently too small to fill out a float. Or, it just could be that Kiwis are Kiwis, no matter their ancestry. The drummer’s enthusiasm may be explained by a prior visit to the Brewbar in the background. On the far right is a mandatory attraction for railfans, the funicular that leads to a museum reminiscent of San Francisco’s cable car museum, as well as a gorgeous botanical garden (center).

10) Here we see Wellington from the top of the funicular - my second favorite Kiwi city behind Dunedin.

EO
Next: across stormy seas to Picton



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/17 11:56 by hogheaded.

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hogheaded Wrote:
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> 6) Wellington’s train station is substantial,
> eh?

The view from Bunny Street.

J.

To correct some stats, Auckland is 1.3 million, Wellington close to 400,000 and Christchurch around 400,000. The rest are scattered between the other little towns and villages. The majority(71%) are ethnic European, mainly British. The Maori, or native NZ are around 14%. The rest are small groups. My impression of NZ is that due to it's isolation from the rest of the world, it is in a time warp. It's still the 1950's there. People don't lock their cars or houses. It's an amazing place. It would be a great place to retire too, but NZ doesn't want you unless you have plenty of money.

On the 2665, what is the yellow basket / bucket on the front for ??? Doug

jfrank39 Wrote:
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> To correct some stats, Auckland is 1.3 million,
> Wellington close to 400,000 and Christchurch
> around 400,000. The rest are scattered between
> the other little towns and villages. The
> majority(71%) are ethnic European, mainly British.
> The Maori, or native NZ are around 14%. The rest
> are small groups. My impression of NZ is that due
> to it's isolation from the rest of the world, it
> is in a time warp. It's still the 1950's there.
> People don't lock their cars or houses. It's an
> amazing place. It would be a great place to
> retire too, but NZ doesn't want you unless you
> have plenty of money.


Without checking, I think you are quoting figures for metropolitan areas, whereas I am quoting the figure for the city of Wellington only. Regardless, my wife and I had exactly the same impression of New Zealand as you. It IS the equivalent of the U.S. 50's there - the good parts with very little of the bad. I would attribute their lack of need to lock their doors to something else, however: They take care of their own, meaning everybody, something that we've never been good at in the U.S.

EO

When I was there about 10 years ago I felt that it wasn't so much a throwback to the 50s so much as the place felt a bit fragile. What do I mean? It was partly about the economy which seemed to rely on tourism in so many places. It was also about infrastructure with many roads following contours rather than cutting through hills using fills and cuttings; almost no divide highway. I think my view was reinforced by the earthquake that happened a couple of years later that destroyed Christchurch cathedral. Superficially it all looks quite modern with coffee shops(!) everywhere and most cars being newish Japanese but I came away with the feeling of a veneer.