My Work in Rail 2017.
My Last Train for 2017
31st December 2017
My last train for 2017. F24 (speical) pulp train to Napier with Dxb's 5074 & 5051 on the head, 1279 ton, 362m (19 wagons) long. Photos taken at P Nth just before I departed for Napier at 2am New Years Eve morning.
Happy New Year everyone.
Happy New Year everyone.
Sunday 7th May 2017
I was rostered on the train from P nth to Tangiwai with Jb 1236 for the unveiling of the new memorial for the driver Charlie Parker and fireman Lance Redman who lost their lives in Ka949, a Wellington to Auckland express that plunged into the flooded Whangaehu River at Tangiwai after a Lahar from Mt Ruapehu had taken out the bridge, on Christmas Eve 1953. Monumental Day for the Country. Bringing closure for People & Remembrance of the those Who Died. This day was a credit to those that organised it. This was the Jb's first time on the mainline in 6 years. I was teamed up with two other P nth KiwiRail steam drivers as this was my first time I had fired a oil burner. Unfortunately things were not right with the loco. We got warned about the oil as we boarded the loco at P nth from the groups rep in the cab. We all had a go at firing the loco but is was a big struggle to keep up steam when it was working up the steep climbs, even the groups reps (who know the engine) tried but still no luck. It also didn't help matters that both injectors that put water into the boiler would not work correctly either. Because of this we lost so much time in the end they put a spare electric off a passing freight train on the front of us to get the Train to Tangiwai. It was lucky for the passengers that they waited for us to get to Tangiwai before starting the unveiling, but it did make both our train and the one back to Auckland very late leaving for home.
My First Train for 2017 (6th January)
Start at 0145am and take 397 frm P Nth to Wellington with Dl 9279 (273ton, 170m long with 9 wagons). Got into Wellington 32 mins early and came home as passenger on 234.