New Zealand Railways Today

[Nick Gough]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Surprised the on-board commentary didn't mention it.

It probably did though I would have had to be sitting in my seat with the headphones on to hear it.

At that point, and for much of the coastal section, I was in the open-air car.

[Nick Gough]

A slight digression:

 

Bilbo Baggins' house:

 

Passing the mill:

 

On the way to the pub:

 

For a simple pint:

[Nick Gough]

Meanwhile - back to leaving Kaikoura:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A last view of the Pacific:

[Nick Gough]

All too soon darkness was descending again:

 

 

The observation car emptied:

 

There was a final bit of colour:

 

 

 

 

 

And the rest of the journey was in darkness.

[Nick Gough]

On arrival, in Christchurch, it was a quick coach trip to our hotel (opposite the cathedral) before another early start, back to the station in the morning. This time it was for the 'TranzAlpine' train, to cross the South Island, for the Tasman Sea/west coast at Greymouth.

 

Unlike Auckland and Wellington there is no suburban rail network in Christchurch. The station is nearly three miles drive from the city centre and to get there involves travelling through an out of town retail park/industrial estate.

 

We arrived at the station at about 07:30 to find the train, in the station, ready for the 08:15 departure:

Again with an open-air observation car at the front of the formation.

 

Having found our seats and stowed our bags, I was granted permission to (quickly) go and photograph the motive power. There was a handy observation platform to view our two locomotives from alongside:

 

 

 

 

 

Before very long I was summoned to re-join the train.

[Nick Gough]

Having returned to my seat I noticed a shunting locomotive in a small yard, on the other side of our train:

The day was starting gloomy and misty so not one of my best shots.

 

A few minutes later and our journey began heading south from Christchurch, for the first 30 or so kilometres on the Main South Line, until turning west, on to the Midland Line from Rolleston.

 

A little further and the mist started to clear as we began the more scenic part of the journey:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Annie]

4 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Having returned to my seat I noticed a shunting locomotive in a small yard, on the other side of our train:

An old survivor.  I can remember regularly seeing those when they were painted in scruffy NZGR maroon when I was travelling on the train to high school, - and that was a while ago.

[Nick Gough]

12 hours ago, Annie said:

An old survivor.  I can remember regularly seeing those when they were painted in scruffy NZGR maroon when I was travelling on the train to high school, - and that was a while ago.

We saw a few others here and there on our travels.

I suppose that they are a bit like the remaining BR class 08s in that nothing has been built, to replace them, on the few shunting duties that still exist.

[Nick Gough]

Continuing to climb into the mountains:

 

 

 

At 10:30 we arrived at the summit station of Arthur's Pass, where there was a chance to step off the train for about ten minutes:

 

 

 

A number of passengers left the train here as it is a popular hiking and visitor centre for the National Park. They would have the opportunity to re-join the train here, later in the day, on its return journey to Christchurch

[Nick Gough]

The stop at Arthur's Pass also allows Kiwi Rail to add additional locomotives to the front of the train to assist with the 1 in 33 descent through the nearby Otira tunnel:

Unfortunately, this operation took place off the end of the platform, around a curve!

 

The open-air observation car was also locked to passengers, for the passage through the tunnel, due to limited clearances and the dangers of exhaust fumes:

The tunnel is 5.3 miles long and was originally worked by electric traction. This was decommissioned in 1997 and replaced by diesel traction. To deal with the fumes doors were installed, at the tunnel entrances, together with extractor fans. 

 

Seen in the sidings here:

 

 

Another look at the passenger carriages used on the three tourist trains in New Zealand:

17 of these were built in the railway workshops in Dunedin between 2010 and 2012.

 

Inside there are panoramic views from the large side and roof windows:

The seating is arranged either in bays of four, with a central table, or in twos (bus/airline style). However, there is plenty of room and the seats are comfortable - unlike 'modern' British trains. The Kiwi engineers have also mastered the difficult problem of positioning ALL the seats next to windows and not solid bulkheads.

 

The overhead screens shew the route, in conjunction with the recorded commentary - which can be heard through (supplied) headsets.

[Annie]

When I was last at Otira nearly 20 years ago now the overhead catenary  wires for the 1500v DC electric locomotives were still in place.  The locomotives themselves were long gone unfortunately.

 

English Electric Co. NZGR 'Eo' class locomotive No.3  the only survivor and now safe in preservation.

[Nick Gough]

On 12/07/2023 at 19:24, Annie said:

When I was last at Otira nearly 20 years ago now the overhead catenary  wires for the 1500v DC electric locomotives were still in place.  The locomotives themselves were long gone unfortunately.

 

English Electric Co. NZGR 'Eo' class locomotive No.3  the only survivor and now safe in preservation.

 

A nice looking, vintage loco.

[Nick Gough]

Having travelled through the tunnel there was a brief stop at Otira, to remove the additional locos, before continuing on the journey:

 

Our penultimate station stop was at Moana, next to Lake Brunner:

 

With an important safety reminder:

 

Just 15 minutes before journeys end we passed a reminder of previous mining activity at Dobson:

 

 

Arrival at Greymouth, on the west (Tasman Sea) coast:

 

With a nice heritage station:

 

 

A quick chance to grab a photo of the old signal box, in a very familiar style:

 

Before boarding a coach to take us to our next destination - heralded by a mural seen in the town:

 

 

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Having travelled through the tunnel there was a brief stop at Otira, to remove the additional locos, before continuing on the journey:

 

Our penultimate station stop was at Moana, next to Lake Brunner:

 

With an important safety reminder:

 

Just 15 minutes before journeys end we passed a reminder of previous mining activity at Dobson:

 

 

Arrival at Greymouth, on the west (Tasman Sea) coast:

 

With a nice heritage station:

 

 

A quick chance to grab a photo of the old signal box, in a very familiar style:

 

Before boarding a coach to take us to our next destination - heralded by a mural seen in the town:

 

 

Your pics don't seem to have loaded, Nick.

[Nick Gough]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Your pics don't seem to have loaded, Nick.

Thanks, they are showing for me, both in my original post and your reply.

Can anyone else see them?

[St Enodoc]

5 minutes ago, Nick Gough said:

Thanks, they are showing for me, both in my original post and your reply.

Can anyone else see them?

Still not showing - just that post, all the others are fine!

[Jeremy Cumberland]

There's a problem with that post that one of the admins might need to sort out. If you scroll using up-arrow, when you reach that post it sends you down to the bottom again, and the hyperlinks (where the pictures should be) are continually flashing.

[ChrisN]

7 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Thanks, they are showing for me, both in my original post and your reply.

Can anyone else see them?

 

Nick,

Fine for me, and have been from last night.

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by ChrisN

[31A]

16 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Can anyone else see them?

Fine here Nick, on Safari on my Apple laptop.

[Annie]

On 16/07/2023 at 04:49, Nick Gough said:

A nice looking, vintage loco.

Yes it most certainly is.  I should have mentioned in my original post that when I visited Otira 20 years ago all the old railway infrastructure was still in place including the engine sheds and everything else the steam era MPD would have needed.  Quite honestly it was like walking back in time.  I can see from your photos though Nick that nearly everything is gone now.

Because Otira was a government works dept created railway town that was there primarily to support the railway the whole town was up for sale to any interested buyer with deep pockets at one point since NZ Railways no longer needed it.  Just the town, - the trainset didn't come with it unfortunately.

 

Edit: Sorry I can't see any of your recent pictures either.  Chrome browser in Win 10.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Annie
More information

[Nick Gough]

Having travelled through the tunnel there was a brief stop at Otira, to remove the additional locos, before continuing on the journey:

 

Our penultimate station stop was at Moana, next to Lake Brunner:

 

With an important safety reminder:

 

Just 15 minutes before journeys end we passed a reminder of previous mining activity at Dobson:

 

 

Arrival at Greymouth, on the west (Tasman Sea) coast:

 

With a nice heritage station:

 

 

A quick chance to grab a photo of the old signal box, in a very familiar style:

 

Before boarding a coach to take us to our next destination - heralded by a mural seen in the town:

[Nick Gough]

I have repeated my previous photo post due to the problem.

Hopefully everyone can view it okay now?

[Jeremy Cumberland]

The new post is fine. The old one still doesn't display properly for me on this computer (Windows 10, Firefox with uBlock Origin), but does on a different computer (Windows 11, Firefox).

[Annie]

4 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Arrival at Greymouth, on the west (Tasman Sea) coast:

You were lucky to have had reasonable weather at Greymouth.  When I was there last it was raining like it was the place in the world where rain is stored when it's not being used elsewhere.  The rain was coming down like it was a solid wall of water and I was told by a couple of the local folk sheltering at a corner shop that this is fairly usual for Greymouth.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Annie
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[St Enodoc]

13 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

I have repeated my previous photo post due to the problem.

Hopefully everyone can view it okay now?

Yes - thanks! Pity you didn't have time for lunch in the pub opposite Greymouth station.

 

8 hours ago, Annie said:

You were lucky to have had reasonable weather at Greymouth.  When I was there last it was raining like it was the place in the world where rain is stored when it's not being used elsewhere.  The rain was coming down like it was a solid wall of water and I was told by a couple of the local folk sheltering at a corner shop that this is fairly usual for Greymouth.

It was glorious sunshine when we were there in April! We had weather like you've described a couple of days earlier though, driving across the Haast Pass.