Our nearby neighbours in NZ....

[Craig Haber <albatross@harnessnet.com.au>]

Hi, just back from 3 weeks in New Zealand, a few things of interest:

Loco wise, their main classes are the DC, DFT and DX.  The DFT's are a
nice going loco, a 12-645 turbocharged engine (something like an N or A,
but the turbo is retrofitted) with 2400 odd hp and about 30t lighter
than an A or N, a good sounding and going loco.  Dx's are 4 stroke GE's
(gurgle gurgle gurgle), 2800 or so HP, intended for South Africa but
ended up in NZ.  They look and sound pretty poxy, but seem to do the
job.  Only saw the one DBR - shut your eyes and it's like a T class
going past, the same 8-567 engine.  DC's were rebuilt in Adelaide in the
70's, 12 cylinder engines, I think they're still roots-blown 567's.
Even saw QR's hauling WA coal hoppers!

The Silver Fern railcars are a most impressive conveyance, little wonder
as they have the same 900hp donk as the Dj loco's (Caterpiller) with
just 2 cars to move.

The on-train staff were generally outstanding.  Some of them simply
could not be more helpful/friendly.  Also found train controllers,
drivers, signalmen etc to be very approachable.

Some lovely steam loco's over there, the J class 4-8-2's particlarly.
Funny how when I arrived, the 3'6" looks ridiculous.  After 2 weeks it
starts to look "about right", now 5'3" looks outrageously wide!

There are some good examples in NZ of how rail should and shouldn't be
done.
Auckland is how it shouldn't be done - main station out of town, two
main suburban routes served by ex-Perth railcars, no service after 7pm,
none on weekends.  Massive traffic congestion.  A pretty ordinary city
all round really.

Wellington on the other hand is much smaller population wide, but very
spread due to the terrain, and has 3 main electrified routes
(Johnsonville, Paraparam and Upper Hutt), with 30 min services all day
till midnight.  Very clever too - all the trains arrive at Wellington
within a few mins of each other, and depart within a few minutes, so
there's always neat connections.  Main station on the edge of the CBD,
good patronage, a really nice city to get around.  Certainly my pick of
the NZ cities.  And Christchurch, the extensive late 50's built rail
station on the edge of the CBD was abandoned in 1993 for a little
station at Addington, way out of town.  Bad idea.  Of note, NZ metro
trains all have Conductors.  Good move.

Found a cool pub in Wellington - the Lower Hutt railway station on the
Melling line, now the "Parrot and Jigger".  The railway theme is carried
throughout the pub.  Good food, cold beer (home brew), great place.

Some ace rail journies, the Tranzcoastal Picton-Christchurch is my pick
of them, mile after mile of ocean running, Pacific Ocean on one side,
snow capped mountains on the other.  Burbling DX up front, 100km/h
running and just taking it all in from the open observation car, great
stuff!  The Tranzalpine is also great (Christchurch-Greymouth).
Southerner between Palmerston and Dunedin also spectacular.

NZ track is excellent, even though mostly unwelded, its surface is far,
far superior to anything in Victoria.

Tranzrail is in some turmoil at the moment.  NZ's railway was sold
complete, so they are currently a freight, long distance pass and
commuter pass operator (and also operate inter-island Ferry and Cat
services)  They are now trying to sell the passenger businesses.  Looks
like some Aus-style restructuring is coming, contracting out big time.
At the moment, track, rollingstock, signal etc maintenance all in-house,
I would expect they will be contracted out before long.

If you're thinking of going, now is a good time.  Some pass services are
looking shaky (Southerner beyond Dunedin and also the Rotorua).  The
currency is favourable and its quite affordable.

Now all I have to do is get the 18 rolls of film processed!

Regards,
Craig.
--
Craig Haber
albatross@harnessnet.com.au
Rail Operations Officer, West Coast Railway
Web Page Developer, Railway Enthusiast, Essendon Football Club Fanatic
http://www.harnessnet.com.au/ch/
I haven't really lost my mind - it's backed up on disk somewhere......