Bush trams in New Zealand: the Train Vicar looks at the past through heritage lines

[@davidartist2750]

Excellent video 🚂🚃

[@kolejnakolej.1437]

Interesting video. Greetings from Poland. 👍

[@ЛЬВИНИ]

Very nice, like ! ! !

[@neilforbes416]

4:48 This one is classed as a *rail motor* but appears to be single-ended. usually rail motors are double-ended, having controls at either end of the vehicle, like the famed NSW 1920s-vintage CPH-class *Tin Hares.* and later rail motors comprised two cars with the engine in one and the other as a trailer and control pads in both cars so the driver simply walks through from one end to the other to drive the set on the return leg of the journey.

[@trainvicar4008]

You may well be right. I took the term railcar from a very detailed article in the New Zealand Railway Observer, which discusses terminology and concludes that this vehicle is too sophisticated to call it bush jigger and therefore should be called railcar.

[@allanegleston4931]

very nice video. we had simalar operations on the west coast of usa and the south usa.

[@trainvicar4008]

Quite a few of the locomotives for the NZ bush trams came from the USA.

[@allanegleston4931]

@@trainvicar4008 glad they were able to get some extra km on them and not scrapped !

[@neilforbes416]

That line uses a scaled-down steam tank-engine locomotive on standard-gauge track, so should be called the *Infants Creek Railway.* And the Shantytown station has a raised platform where tram-stops are low to the ground. Older trams have steps to climb up into the passenger saloon while more modern trams(like those in Sydney, Australia, for instance) have a low floor that you simply stem onto to enter the tram.

[@silvanski]

Nice video about lesser known rail operation

[@trainvicar4008]

Thanks. Bush trams operations are not that well known, but there are three heritage operations (as far as I know) that concentrate on bush trams: the Bush Tramway Club in Glen Afton, Steam Scene at McLeans Island near Christchurch, and Shantytown near Rutherglen on the West Coast.

[@neilforbes416]

1:08 That there pictured is *NOT* a tram! It looks to be running on standard-gauge track but is clearly a scaled-down steam locomotive engine pulling a train of logs.

[@aklrailfan2278]

Could you do a video on the Raethi branch please?

[@trainvicar4008]

I'll keep it in mind, ...but I don't live anywhere close to Raetihi / Ohakune and don't know that much about the branch.