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Mainline Steam on South Island, New Zealand 2002 |
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In October 2002, I accepted an invitation from John Raby to take advantage of his temporary posting to New Zealand to have a look at the steam/railway scene there. Links to the various preservation scheme's web pages are given in my introductory notes. You should also refer to Mainline Steam on North Island, New Zealand 2002 Steam Holiday on North Island, New Zealand 2002 Steam Holiday on South Island, New Zealand 2002 Mainline Steam ran a tour of both islands of New Zealand during my stay and we dropped in on it from time to time. After the train had run from Auckland to Wellington and then on from Picton to Christchurch, our first attempt (11th October) was to see Ab 663 'Sharon Lee' arriving in Dunedin from Christchurch, but it had failed en route..... Three days later (14th October) the locomotive had been restored to good health and set off from Dunedin in funereal light with a stiff breeze behind. We were heading north too anyway, and the fact that the coaches were a dirty pale blue and there were only three of them only added to the photographic problems... The first picture was taken near Goodwood, the second at Waianakarua and the third approaching Katiki. Along the way we were treated to the sight of 'Sharon on the Shag'.....
On 15th October, 663 ran up the 'Midland line' to Arthur's Pass and Greymouth. This scenic line supports a daily tourist train, the pictures below on a cloudless day show why....
We stayed overnight north of Arthur's Pass in the Okira Hotel, an historic wooden building dating from the opening of the line - as it seemed did most of the customers. Outside loaded coal trains needed no less than 5 diesels for the 1 in 33 ascent through the narrow tunnel to the summit.
The west coast of South Island bears more than a passing resemblance to the west coast of Wales back home. Wonderful when the sun shines but on days like this, the cameras are best packed away from the rain. Here 663 crosses the Taramakau River near Inchbonnie in overcast gloom:
Our final sight of 663 was leaving Christchurch station en route to Picton - we were flying back to Auckland, North Island.
Click here for the Australasian Steam Page |
