Railfans

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Interesting to see what classification they give them. I say the DM class to follow on from DLs.
Interesting move to have all mainline locomotives with cabs at each end, like the original DF class.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Why is it when you sit at a railway crossing and a train goes past with about 30 odd containers wagons. About 10 of those wagons goes 'bang bang bang" as they pass as though they have chunks taken out of the wheels, 'flats' as what we used to call them.
I remember they had a wheel lathe at the old Addington workshops which smoothed out the tyres on wagons which had flats.
It must be annoying to people who live beside a railway line to hear these bang bang bang noises during the night, as well a the train moving along ?

[wembley]

Do you think all our railways should be electrified?

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Do you think all our railways should be electrified?

Yes.
It's sad when they downgrade the electrification of the NIMT and run diesels along it these days with some of the EF locos being scrapped.
Bad organisation of the electrification of the NIMT in the 1980's when they should of used the same electric system that would enable electric trains to run the entire length of the NIMT right trough from Auckland Wellington.
...but that's how they have run the railways in New Zealand over the years as compared to overseas railways and railroads.
It's annoying as KiwiRail promote graffiti with lots of there rolling stock have graffiti on them especially those wagons with those red roll down covers on them.

[Orion]

100 Years of Flying Scotsman ... 1:38 video



https://flyingscotsmanfestival.co.uk/

Flying Scotsman Centenary programme

https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/flying ... -programme

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I see that there was a horrific train crash in India today with over 300 dead. I wonder how many were riding on the roof of the carriages?

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Interesting to hear about the Te Huia train service 'twixt Hamilton and Auckland.
Never heard of the term "Banned" before? Bad wording from the media on this as far as I'm concerned.
If the driver ran red lights, the driver would be taken off duty and why does the train still run if it is unsafe to do so regardless of where the red lights were overrun? There would be no head on collision as the track is double tracked.
Also were the signals passed Stop and stay or stop and proceed signals? If so it would be a slow speed anyway and the train would be likely to pull up before any collision unless the driver suddenly fell asleep?

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I see that today, it is 100 years since the Otira Tunnel was opened.
Apparently when tunnelling from both ends, when they met in the middle they were just 100 mm or about 6 inches out.
Amazing the near exactness of the surveying for this project at that time.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/a/nz-news/35 ... el-opening

[Nev]

I see that today, it is 100 years since the Otira Tunnel was opened.
Apparently when tunnelling from both ends, when they met in the middle they were just 100 mm or about 6 inches out.
Amazing the near exactness of the surveying for this project at that time.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/a/nz-news/35 ... el-opening

Think it was even closer than that. According to historical records, when the two surveyors’ centre lines from each end met, they were out by only 19mm (3/4") in width and 29mm (1 1/8") in height. So (using Pythagoras' theorem) the lines were within 35mm (1 3/8") of each other.
https://www.engineeringnz.org/programme ... ra-tunnel/
https://wondersofworldengineering.com/otira-tunnel.html

Certainly an amazing part of NZ's history though, both politically and from an engineering point of view.
Would love to read that book - maybe Peter Jackson could turn it into a film?

[Orion]

KiwiRail - Winter on the Main Trunk Line [15:01]

Over two beautiful winter days in August we cover various KiwiRail services around the Volcanic Central Plateau of the North Island Main Trunk.

A snowstorm a couple days prior provided a scenic winter backdrop with Mount Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe in their full winter coat. There was also some snow left on the ground between Tangiwai and Hihitahi, as seen in this video.

So sit back, relax and enjoy KiwiRail's hard working locomotives tackle the gradients up to the most scenic part of the North Island rail network!

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Shame that they use diesel-electric locos on that line which was electrified in the 1980s. Mind you the EF class are getting old and probably need replacing.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I see that today starts Rail Safety Week, so don't drive around those half arm barriers or when the lights are flashing - Please Stop.
In my train driving days, I had a lot of situations of people driving around barriers and running red flashing lights although I was lucky not to have hit anyone. It affects the train driver as the driver has no way to avoid a collision.
Travelling at 80/hr, a fully laden coal train travelling down hill from Springfield would take up to 2kms to stop with the emergency brake application as
the weight of the train on a downhill grade makes it slower to come to a stop, even with the dynamic brake in operation.

[tgsnoopy]

It's a shame the video creater says vague things like Palmerston North to Tangiwai instead of Mulvays Corner (not 100% on the spelling). I spent a few years in Taihape in the early 80's, so recognise a lot of those spots.

[Orion]

New Zealand's most scenic rail journey - The TranzAlpine - Christchurch to Greymouth [40:28]



World Class Trains - The Blue Train of South Africa [54:26]

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I remember those days of driving the Tranz Alpine over to Arthurs Pass and further, also the coal trains along that route.
Lots of interesting sights and happenings weather wise, including driving the TA through the tunnels in 1996 around the Broken River viaduct area, when the coal trains weren't running and encountering large icicles in the tunnels of which smashed against the window of the Dj Loco. I took a video of it happening but sadly I lost it.

[wembley]

There used to be the "Silver Star" train back in the 70s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEARUfamQRk

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Yes there was. It ran between Auckland and Wellington. Those protesters in Wellington want trains like that running again.

[Orion]

Flying Scotsman involved in ‘slow speed’ crash in Scottish Highlands

Several people were injured after two trains, one of which was the famous Flying Scotsman, collided at “slow speed” in the Highlands of Scotland, police said. ...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -highlands

Video [1:52]



12sec X/twitter video:

https://twitter.com/thebashmash/status/ ... unt-2.html

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Yes. I heard about that on the news.
Usually, when coupling back onto a train, you usually stop short and directed back onto the train.
Looked as though there was no one there and the driver was distracted as the were a few people in the cab.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Seems to a lot of misleading reports on the media from the fires started from a freight train, starting fires along the Midland Line between Aylesbury and Darfield, yesterday.
I say it was caused by possibly a handbrake left on a container wagon as the train was travelling from the West Rolleston siding to the Fonterra siding at Racecourse hill. It wouldn't of been on earlier from an empty coal train hauled by 6 Dx locomotives as were 'Banker' locos returning to Otira, even though a person reported sparks coming off the locomotives as the train went through Kirwee.
It looked very dry along the tracks in that area.
Interesting the cause of this.

[wembley]

On the Central Otago line back in the steam engine days, there was a real risk of fire in the summer, but dieselisation removed that danger.

[wembley]

Some very fascinating videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDbGDPQTdCg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOPeVsxrWlY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4oiPBkpxWA

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Interesting documentaries there. I never worked on any of those lines, only worked on the lines in Canterbury Westland and Marlborough.
My claim to fame was to take the last train out of Methven in 1976.

[wembley]

Well, the DM's are on their way...

https://www.railwaygazette.com/traction ... 44.article

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I see that 2 of the new DM class locomotives arrived at Lyttelton today.