Greetings. Thanks for your comments. There may come a time when there will be less steam-qualified loco men, and diesel-electric heritage units have a greater share of the excursion work. The train in the video would have been overweight for a single loco. I think having a push-pull arrangement gave the organizer greater flexibility undertaking their shedual

@singningwongho your back again. Yes indeed, we live in a scenic country. All this within a short distance. The South Rangitiki shot was not quite perfect: the camera was not quite focused properly on the train. Beside my location is a top-dressing air strip. Just minutes before, a plane had been just next to the fence line getting loaded

@zanegracie39 thanks Zane. Some parts have been run through a stabilizing programme. Also, Some of it was too wobbly (like the bunnythorp dips lead-in) and was cut out altogether. Next time we do that route, I will aim the camera differently following lessons learned here

The grumble came from the loco, then you can hear wheel slip soon after as well

yes, that sort of meeting is unique to Whanganui!

Where do you get the number for 40% subsidised? I'd love to be able to confidently bandy it about

El filme se llama Tangiwai : a Love Story (2011)

That was made-for-tv in New Zealand 🇳🇿. What we need is to get a cinematic version made under the circumstances of the dilemma.

@@LindaCooper-i3f ahondar más en lo sucedido te refieres? Sí, puede ser, he leído que fue una gran tragedia.

Maybe next year!

Yes, myself & Zane have watched your video not long after it was uploaded. We noted your location. I had given thought to that Cobham Bridge vantage point on the day, but realised it was going to be hard to get from the bridge to the table in the short amount of time given.

Ever noticed railway enthusiasts are, on-the-whole, dedicated youtubers as well? There is not much 2024 street drags on KZbin, but the RiverCity Express is well represented.

Olsztyn Szczytno

Olsztyn Szczytno

Well thankyou Singningwongho. I too like to count the wagons. I do this each day. Then the following day I try to better my score. The 4 DLs were a surprise; in fact that whole train snuck up with little warning. I tried to show my little daughter the video but she kept saying 'Paw Patrol'

Four locos means that train Is very heavy and two locos on the westmere with all of the wagons in pull are not enough

Thankyou Zane. What I did not show was the sunburn endured!

Which noise? There are a few. 🤣

... at least I was not biking on the railway lines!

​@@MarkSeconi were the MTB riders on the way back from Matipo Park?

​@peterfinucane8122 the first rider was doing a circuit through Matipo Park & up the boundary etc. Went around every 15mins or so. The second rider appeared right there and then. I held my breath and then relaxed when I knew the rider was aware of the train. There are two closed level grade crossings hidden in the video. The upper one was occasionally used until 1991 by forestry logging crews & council workers with spray-units mounted on 4wd utilities. The lower crossing was formally closed in recent years. A road access bridge has slumped into a creek and has not been replaced. Also KiwiRail felt the crossing had poor visibility and it was closed. There has been a discussion about the construction of an underpass, but this is seen as an expense that local rate payers may struggle supporting.

Great footage Mark, Thats me driving in both directions. 👋

@RUMBALman4downunder hi: thankyou for the comment. I hope KiwiRail holds together well and remains strong into the future.

Hi. I assume they are a stock-standard 'off the shelf' designed ISO tank. They are probably forkliftable only when empty. Each tank is 24000Lt. So a two tank wagon is 2000Lt shy of the capacity of an old OM class wagon. In the off season, they would probably get grounded at Palmy railyard, and the wagon would remain in revenue earning service. It's good to see the MNPL being busy during the dairy season. Apparently the Milk Traffic starts on Oct 15th and finishes after 8 weeks

@@MarkSeconi Thanks Mark - that all sounds likely. Shame that season is so short. Will keep an eye on the start time, cheers.

​@peterscandlyn the new seasons milk trains started today (Monday 9th October)

@@MarkSeconi Mark, yes, thank you. Slaving away in the yard and popped my head up as the Fonterra trian went by - sure enough.

​@@MarkSeconithis is smart, out the tankcontainers from the wagons when the peak milk is over.

Maybe but that there's not been recommencement of log trains kinda points me to Kiwirail have had a rethink on pricing?

@@peterscandlyn fonterra can be pretty cunning on contract renegotiation I remember asking a fonterra employee why there were so many trucks on the road (unbranded) he just made the comment that the kiwi rail contract is up for renegotiation!! It’s also useful to point out that those tanks go to Hawera full in a train with often empty coda wagons and containers! The reverse is true on the return trip! At one point the Hawera milk factory was the largest in the southern hemisphere!

@@peterscandlyn I'm pretty sure that Fonterra is Kiwirails biggest customer by some distance, I had a conversation with a Fonterra employee and he said all the product going for export goes to a warehouse in Hamilton (just north of) and the vast majority is sent on to the ports of Auckland

@@tonymckeage1028 Thanks Tony although don't think there's anything you said I wasn't aware of already, cheers.

@@tonymckeage1028 Yeah I'd imagine they are Tony. What you said supports their desire to reopen the Stratford line north, be a lot more efficient for them,. Shame about those logs though....cheers.

Thankyou for sharing your memories. I was a child of the 1980's and deregulation, restructuring and closing down of factories across many sectors made for a hard time in Wanganui. There was many a grim discussion between the adults over the family dinner table when I was a child. Both my grandfathers worked at East Town, Joseph Hoey (a fitter and turner) and Tom Seconi (paint shop). Many of our neighbours were railwaymen, so I naturally took an interest in the Wanganui East railscene. In this video, Ive included clips of passing container trains. It shows that railfreight is still on the move, but the freight is carried in modern ISO shipping containers and not in old-fashioned wooden 4-wheel wagons, a type of which used to be maintained at East Town. One thing I learned from the book, is that East Town was constantly threatened by change; there are two or three occassions in it's hundred year history where it could have been packed up and had its activities transfired elsewhere in New Zealand

Everybody knows New Zealand suffered when its Apprentiship schemes were restructured. This is still being felt today

Yes. The last KiwiRail freight service was in 2012. Then Da 1431 hauled a six car excursion on the branch on Nov 1st 2014. In the last ten years, the Kapuni Branch has only seen trains hauled by vintage locomotives