Ka 942 to Arthur's Pass Winter 2014 (HD)

This is a 41 minute documentary showcasing Mainline Steam's Winter excursions for 2014 from Christchurch to Arthur's Pass behind New Zealand's most powerful operating steam locomotive Ka 942. Travel along this scenic line along the Canterbury Plains into the spectacular Southern Alps. This route is known as the Midland Line. Back in the days of steam Kb class locomotives ruled the rails between Christchurch and Arthur's Pass hauling goods and passenger trains. One of these locomotives has been preserved number 968 which is now currently stored at the Mainline Steam Christchurch depot. This route is known as Kb country. We include line side, pacing and on board shots. We also look at the Saturday before the excursion when the loco was being prepared for the big trip the next day. Finally to end this presentation we see the loco return to Mainline Steam and being turned and shut down which brings an end to the Winter Excursion Season. Enjoy the thunder, sound, smoke and steam as 942 powers her excursion trains through the most spectacular scenery in New Zealand. Enjoy!
I do not own the audio at the end of this video: "That Power" which is written by Will.i.am ft Justin Bieber. No copyright infringement intended.

[@deloreanman14]

That whistle is so intense....I love it. It sounds like nothing I've ever heard before, almost like a wild animal.

[@SpottingWithSam]

Almost feels like 942’s alive, I always thought that.

[@trajan231]

Got to love those run bys. Engine belching smoke and the rest

[@JohnSmith-pl2bk]

April 2021...57.2k views...good old YT algorithm...and a wonderful journey... I was on the last regular steam train journey from Christchurch to Invercargill....not specially booked...just travelling that day.. I saw them rip up/scrap the Invercargill to Fortrose line in 1967. Loved the Vulcan railcars, too...listened to the engine note as the driver shifted through the 5 speed gearbox!

[@ad6718]

My family was on this train trip in Sept 2014 when the videos were taken. It brings back many memories, not least as Ka942, owned by Ian Welch was my fathers friend. He allowed my mom and nephew to pour his ashes into the fire box at cass bank on the return journey to Chch. Thank you Ian, it still brings back memories, and it was what my father (an avid GWR fan and modeller) would have wanted. To anyone watching this video, its well worth the trip to do it in person, i highly recommend it.

[@richardbaker8543]

Worked with Alfred Wilson as his locomotive assistant on his maiden trip as an engine driver. That day we did a mixed freight train to Tormore.

[@goldarua3802]

Thank you for naming the townships you passed through. Excellent.

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great Video, brilliant collaboration, between kiwi rail and mainline steam, an obvious win and fantastic trip, thanks for sharing

[@Tom-Lahaye]

The video brings back memories of the stunning scenery of the Southern Alps, I travelled the Tranzalpine in 2010, not behind steam but a regular service. With steam it's all that more spectacular, the loud thrash as the regulator is opened and the screaming whistle. The echo of the whistle at Arthur's Pass was wild. I guess footage was shot at a couple of trips? as the train composition changes during the film. Mainline Steam has now vacated the depot at Whitefield and are in the proces of moving to Springfield.

[@steeltrap3800]

I for one enjoyed the shot in the open observation car with "No Smoking" sign on the wall. Under the circumstances, LOL. I'll bet that run keeps the fireman on their toes. Been to the South Island of NZ several times, always beautiful and enjoyable. Locals are friendly, even to an Aussie. ;-p

[@jeremy_sr]

absolutely stunning camera work, with all the shots from each town along the way

[@dennisjeffs4239]

Great video mate, when I was kid in the 1940's & 50's we used to travel from Christchurch to Stillwater in the old steam days and every time you went through a tunnel the carriages would fill up with soot & black smoke, those were the days!!

[@marvinwatkins8889]

Good old NZR: big headlamps through beautiful, scenic countryside.

[@jacekwojciechowski9174]

Amazing

[@marvinwatkins8889]

Spectacular scenery in more ways than one.

[@dougjohnston4]

Some brilliant scenes

[@jimcrawford5039]

Fantastic video! Brought back memories of my trip 4 years ago, alas, not steam but I loved it just the same. Riverina, NSW.

[@PatriciaHowittNZ]

Wonderful video - first time I've seen Arthur's Pass in sunshine. Thank you for naming the locations, very helpful, and what a brilliant loco!

[@ethant4531]

Amazing video. I've watched this countless time and always entertains me. Great video, I hope Mainline Steam will do something like this again soon

[@pega17pl]

Simply great to watch mighty steam loco at magnificent Alpine scenery.

[@wendymcfadyen-allerby6142]

Wonderful footage, thank you

[@johnlofthouse6159]

I'm an English transplant lived in Canada and the USA ( Denver Colorado ) since 1975. I've been a life long steam engine fan. So thank you for this outstanding video! What a beautiful locomotive and I agree with everyone else; the sound of the stack and whistle just great! Thanks again. By the way could someone confirm that this is narrow gauge? Old Brit.

[@nightowlnzab]

Correct, NZ's standard is 3ft 6in - partly for cost reasons and the rugged terrain.

[@paulmurray8766]

just awesome vid stunning scearnery just brill thank you i realy enjoyed watching this

[@alanblackley4906]

thank you for uploading that

[@wistypoo1]

Very nice video ... thanks so much.

[@osthane]

Outstanding video effort :) Having just enjoyed the Arthurs Pass rail journey, this is a pleasure to watch. Well done, and huge thanks for the fantastic footage. I'm impressed with how well you kept up!

[@Truckinallovaoz]

Spectacular awesome well done great vid thank you cheers

[@michaelgilchrist4307]

hillside workshops in Dunedin built most of the steam trains and made an awesome job their work was brilliant

[@barryphillips7327]

SADLY now what was Hillside Workshops is just a shadow of it,s former self! Instead we import chinese RUBBISH wagons and loco,s that CAN NOT even turn a wheel until they have been too work shops and made SAFE READY for use! Every wagon etc Hillside built was ready for use straight away and were good quality not shit!!

[@bigtacos145]

Ka 942 was made at Hutt workshops in the north island

[@jacko485]

@@bigtacos145 Actually she wasn't. She was one of the Ka's that was built at Hillside and assembled at Hutt. I think 10 Ka's including 942 were built that way.

[@derekobrien4703]

Good thinking by someone in NZGR that kept the engine turntable at Arthur's Pass.

[@rodericgray5202]

Excellent video. I notice that this engine is one of the ones that used Baker valve gear. I believe New Zealand was the only country where you found Baker valve gear outside of the US. How common was Baker valve gear in New Zealand?

[@claudechauvel5145]

Bravo et félicitations,beau documentaire,belle locomotive et magnifiques vues de cette belle ile du sud. Sorry to write you in french because my English is not so good ! Again congratulation. Claude From Marseille

[@ronniescott5179]

Excellent video of a great loco in prime condition

[@nzrfan608]

Is it just me or is there really 2 KA 942s? Because I swear there was a different video that showed “KA 942”, and it looked nothing like the one in this video 🧐🤔

[@shawnwesson5667]

The Haunting Sound of This Magnificent Beast, I am reminded of Her Sister that plummeted to get demise in a lahar on Christmas Eve years ago

[@fredtedstedman]

Beautiful , I have never seen a casing design like this ....and wonderful scenery too ! Wales UK. ( is it true the Kias can dismantle a steam loco in 20 minutes ????)

[@rednaughtstudios]

Maybe not a loco but they'll have the wipers off your car in nothing flat and don't leave your boots outside. :-)

[@fredtedstedman]

@@rednaughtstudios I have seen the little buggers on Discovery channel !!

[@IntheNeverNever]

Marvellous, absolutely beautiful and inspiring....

[@evanf1293]

I think 942 looks better without that streamlining

[@lauchlanbrady4165]

AWESOME Vid by the way!

[@NZRailAction]

Thanks Lauchlan :)

[@lauchlanbrady4165]

All goods my Midland Mountaineer vid is up!

[@tsgzfeisty6377]

6:42 Great whistle

[@kerryjames7150]

Also way too white stuff from the funnel , keep the boiler wayer level below half a glass and look after the valves and cylinders .

[@That_Guy_Haruka]

That whistle is quite the screamer.

[@FredNurk]

Far better than the Brits or European tin whistles . Except for Puffing Billy. OUR whistles sound like yours--Like a couple of 38's on the Blue Mountains? Thanks for excellent video. A steam fanatic's delight !!!

[@FredNurk]

Try kzbin.info/www/bejne/pInPnaeEitulZ5Y for comparison

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

GREAT VIDEO! That's an interesting shroud on the front of the smokebox. What is it's purpose? Smoke deflector?

[@NZRailAction]

+Wesley Harcourt It is known as the streamlining, it was used to cover the ACFI feedwater heater and pipe work. However, it was removed of the locomotive in 1950 when the feedwater heater was removed. Ian Welch, the locomotive's owner has built a replica streamlining onto the locomotive to show what the Ka class looked like in the early days.

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

+NZ RailAction Thank you for the speedy and informative response! I don't think I've seen streamlining like that before. Very interesting. Looks like the fireman got the hang of it by Darfield. I can imagine it was a challenging route for him.

[@MrSteeleye]

4 8 4 "northern type" is a rather long frame for 3'6" narrow gauge track. Things would get a bit tight on the tighter curves.

[@bettyhutchison9960]

Fantastic video, will they do another trip this winter 2019??

[@hughvane]

I imagine - don't know - that 'shutting down' an oil-fired loco would have been a relatively simple process, just turn off the fuel supply. Is there a video of starting up Ka942? It was quite a process for coal-fired engines, something I remember watching in my childhood.

[@rylanyoungman9600]

so sad it doesn't do that trip anymore

[@Alpha-mn3ou]

Do another video in September 2019 of K88 or Ja 1260

[@trainman731]

Excellent video tho

[@ddddd9476]

понаблюдав, понял, что мазута находится у них на самом локомотиве, а вода - в цистерне сзади.

[@380130]

Brilliant film. How come one carriage (the observation car) keeps disappearing? One minute there are 6 cars then 5 on the train.

[@garyk7427]

On one of the runs, there was a probelem with the Gen/Observation car (Someone left the handbrake on from memory) so this was removed from the train at springfield.

[@trajan231]

I think we're actually looking at footage from multiple trips. The train leaves Springfield with the viewing car. Then it's not there and it's there again when they cross the Staircase viaduct

[@bradjorgensen1029]

Would you mind if I posted this on reddit r/trains? Credit would be given of course.

[@maxwellthehedgehog6273]

imagine this engine with a big boy whistle

[@Alpha-mn3ou]

Good old ka 942

[@kaynehindmarsh3979]

Hi there, how would I go about getting this video on disc or USB?

[@DaveWVideo]

Great videography and beautiful locomotive. I never knew that NZ had any 4-8-4's although I am familiar with the Pacifics (4-6-2). Did these engines have super heaters or did they just run on saturated steam? Also, what is the boiler's working pressure in PSI? I live in So California where the Santa Fe 3751 is based, it's also a 4-8-4 although a little bigger (80" drivers!) but this a gorgeous well maintained engine you have here. I love the giant headlight!

[@DaveWVideo]

By the way, there are a lot of videos about the 3751 here on KZbin if you haven't already checked them out. Cheers!

[@mauriceharvey9212]

The Ka s were all superheated. Boiler pressure 200 lbs per square inch

[@roycurrie3771]

No Kas were built hillside they were built at woburn

[@QRoutback]

Great run .are they going to run Kb 968

[@NZRailAction]

Hopefully soon :)

[@ZingierSky]

Exactly what I was hoping, we have not heard from them in quite a while and I really want to see the magnificent Kb locomotive running again, maybe even drive it one day.

[@steveruss8369]

Very nice mate.

[@NZRailAction]

Thanks :)

[@AKLDGUY]

8:03 wheel slip.

[@erinjefferies6065]

It is a big locomotive

[@nigelslade5276]

Great video, NZ loading gauge is quite small. South African 25C, 107.5ft long 13ft high.

[@thedoctor6061]

Who was crew

[@NZRailAction]

bradlz hill Mike Kilsby, Alfie Wilson and Norm Leonard were the KiwiRail crew. Mainline Steam crew had many people like Lindsay, Richard, Ray and a few others.

[@baronlocal8569]

Interesting image in this movie from min : 8:04

[@thesouthwestatlanticrailway]

Thats a Wheelslip

[@heathloveridge3668]

I live there

[@kerryjames7150]

Two seperate trains eh!

[@kaseyleitchnextgen3281]

34:42: *How it feels to chew 5 Gum.*

[@nadaydradavis9285]

Stimulate your senses

[@JQNAH]

10:00

[@thesouthwestatlanticrailway]

34:42 8:04

[@Rawirigabbwarren]

34 is the best part

[@heathloveridge3668]

But I live in north island

[@graemerichardson173]

KB sure did and coal not oil fired .

[@roycurrie3771]

To much smoke not normal firing

[@michaelgrey7854]

Homo.

[@darcypetersen1]

Gosh the front of that engine looks hideous