A few shots for a Tuesday

Got out for a little bit this afternoon with the aim of catching 923 on its journey south to Dunedin. I caught up with 923 north of Hampton and managed to grab a shot as it crossed the Big Kuri stream.

DXC 5039 crosses Big Kuri stream just north of Hampden. 30/10/12.

Further south I got this shot of 923 just south of Palmerston as it headed to Merton for a crossing and crew change with 922 Dunedin - Middleton freight.

DXC 5039 with 923 Middleton - Dunedin freight south of Palmerston. 30/10/12.

Not a great day chasing with cloud in all the wrong places but still nice to get out and about.

And that's about it...

Moving the gold

Palmerston might be a small station in the grand scheme of things but it still handles a significant amount of freight for its size. Not just any freight but one that is unique on the Kiwi Rail network. Gold ore.

Mined from the area around Reefton, the gold ore is railed across the Southern Alps to Christchurch and then down the Main South Line to Palmerston.
The ore is unloaded in Palmerston and then hauled by truck to Oceana Gold's mine at Macraes. Here the ore is processed and the gold extracted.

Being at home on holiday, I decided I'd catch the railway side of the gold ore operation here in East Otago by following the morning freight service bringing the full 'goldies' into Palmerston and the service that picks them up for their return to Reefton.

First up was 937 Middleton - Dunedin freight. This freight operates Tuesday to Saturday and almost always stops in Palmerston to drop off the 'goldies'. 

Heading out to one of my 'safe' spots at Bushey I waited for 937 to arrive.... and waited and waited. I don't know the cause of the delay but I was about to call it a day when 937 behind DXB 5080 and a tired looking DC 4784

DXB 5080 and DC 4784 with 937 just north of Bushey loop. 24/10/12.

After getting a quick shot in poor light, I headed into Palmerston to catch the action. By the time I arrived at the south end of the yard, 937 was getting ready for the shunt.

937 on arrival in Palmerston and gets ready for the shunt.

One of the staff from Reefton Hire, the company that unloads the ore and transports it up to Macraes, normally assists the LE with the shunt but on this day it was carried out by one of the Kiwi Rail guys. After uncoupling from the rest of the train, the loco's and three 'goldies' headed to the south end of the yard and the main line points.

And the shunting begins. DXB 5080 and DC 4784 with the 'goldies'.

At the south end of the yard the mainline and catch points were unlocked and aligned for the yard. The loco's and 'goldies' then reversed into the gold siding.

The 'goldies' leave the main and enter the yard.

With a light touch on the air brakes and the assistance of the shunter, the LE positioned the 'goldies' in the yard ready for the gold bins to be unloaded.

Easy does it! The goldies are positioned for unloading.

Once uncoupled, the loco's headed back south through the yard to re-enter the main.

DXB 5080 and DC 4784 ease through the points as they make their way back onto the main.

Back on the main and with the points all securely locked, the loco's crawled north again to couple up with 937. A short time later and with a blast on the horn, 937 was on the move again as it continued its journey south to Dunedin.

DXB 5080 and DC 4784 don't waste any time in getting up to road speed as they depart Palmerston.

Before leaving I got a shot of one of the heavy duty forklifts starting the unloading process. The gold ore is emptied directly into the shed to the right. A front end loader is then used to load the truck and trailer unit for final delivery to Macraes.

It was time for lunch, so I headed home and got a few things done around the house before heading out once again, this time to catch the northbound 'goldie' working, 922 Dunedin - Middleton freight.

922 was late arriving at Merton which wasn't surprising since 922 uses the same loco's off 937. What was surprising  was that when 922 arrived, DC 4784 was the lead loco with DXB 5080 trailing. Normally the larger loco's, DXB, DXC or DFT's lead. Not today.

The terminal staff at Dunedin must have wanted to get 922 away as soon as possible so instead of turning 5080 and repositioning the loco's, they sent them back out as they had arrived.

922 Dunedin - Middleton freight in the loop at Merton after a crew change and crossing with 923 Middleton - Dunedin freight. DC 4784 is the lead locomotive.

Heading back to Palmerston, it didn't take long to get ahead of 922. There seems to be a lot of speed restrictions around at the moment.

Back in Palmerston I got a shot of the waiting, now empty 'goldies' and a close up of one of the gold bins. The gold bins are normally hauled on IAB or IAC container flat wagons.

The three empty 'goldies' ready for their return north.

 Close up shot of gold bin 18 sitting atop IAC 339.

Not long after the headlights of DC 4784 came into view as 922 arrived in Palmerston.

922 on the main at Palmerston.

On arrival the loco's were uncoupled form 922 and proceeded north to the main line points.

The loco's climb the grade out of Palmerston before unlocking the points and entering the yard. 

Once the main line points and the catch points were unlocked and aligned for the yard the loco's proceeded back into the yard and coupled up to the empty 'goldies'.

DC 4784 and DXB 5080 couple up to the empty 'goldies'.

Once coupled up the loco's and 'goldies' proceeded back up the yard and onto the main before reversing and coupling up to 922.

DC 4784 and DXB 5080 haul the empty 'goldies' out of the yard and onto the main

DC 4784 and DXB 5080 with the empty 'goldies' reverse on the main back to 922.

After watching the 'goldie's couple up to the wagons of 922 I hit the road again and headed north to a spot near the Shag river. (I kid you not, thats its name). The LE, keen to make up some time, had 922 humming as it approached my spot and soon I had my final photo of the day.

A rare scene on the MSL in East Otago. DC 4784 leads DXB 5080 and 922 Dunedin - Middleton freight through the old Bushey station site.

And that's about it.

And now for some steam...

Dirty 3/4 shot of Ka 942 at Sawyers Bay. 20/10/12.

The household was pretty busy this weekend with family visiting from the North Island, but even with all the mayhem, we were able to get out to see visiting Ka class steam locomotive 942 as she hauled an afternoon passenger service from Dunedin to Sawyers Bay and return as part of the Dunedin steam festival.

First we headed down to Dunedin station to see the action. After a bit of a wait Ka 942 finally arrived and headed down to the north end of the yard to couple to 15 total passenger train.

Ka 942 shuffling through the yard. 20/10/12.

After watching the action in the station we then headed north to Sawyers Bay to await the arrival. We weren't the only ones. Rail fans were out in force with plenty of creative parking along the route to Sawyers Bay. 

After another short wait, Ka 942 pulled in Sawyers Bay tender first. After uncoupling from its train she headed a short distance north before reversing along the loop and around its train.

Here's some shots of Ka 942 as she ran around her train.

After Ka 942 had disappeared down the loop we made the decision to head south to favourite spot along the causeway south of Roseneath. We weren't the only ones. A long convoy of vehicles headed south to points between Sawyers Bay and Dunedin to get a shot of Ka 942 in full flight.

From experience I stay away from camper vans driven by elder gentlemen. Steam locomotives bring out the worst in these guys and they seem to throw the road code out the window in their quest for the perfect shot. Other than that, everyone else seemed to be on their best behaviour.

Finding a good spot, it wasn't long before Ka 942 and her train came into view. Hats off to the train crew. Ka 942 looked great as she headed south at speed.

Ka 942 and her train emerge from the Roseneath tunnel and out onto one of the numerous causeways between Sawyers Bay and Dunedin. 20/10/12

Another shot of Ka 942 on the causeway. Best shot of the day. 20/10/12.

While I'm not a big fan of steam I do appreciate the fantastic engineering involved in the design, construction and development of these machines especially since they were built right here in New Zealand. 

A big thank you to the staff of Mainline steam, the Taieri Gorge Railway and Kiwi Rail for bringing KA 942 south to Dunedin and giving local rail fans the opportunity to get some shots of this machine in action.

Grey cloud. Different spots.

Got out of the house this afternoon and managed to catch my two regular services 922 and 923 as they travelled through the East Otago countryside.
Being a cloudy day was a blessing and I was able to get some shots that would be out of the question with our springtime sun.

First up was 922 Dunedin - Middleton freight which had DFT 7132 and DXC 5229 at the business end with a train of empty container flats.

922 Dunedin - Middleton freight rounds the curves south of Merton. 8/10/12.

After a quick drive north, we managed to get past 922 and reach Goodwood with plenty of time and just to prove it here's a shot of the former station site...

and the track warrant control (TWC) location board. Just 321.70 km north to Lyttleton and the start of the main south line.

Goodwood's TWC location board.

A blast of the horn signalled the arrival of 922 at Goodwood and a short time later the lights of DFT 7132 came into view.

922 with DFT 7132 in the lead blasts through Goodwood. 8/10/12.

And the going away shot...

DXC 5229 backing up 7132 on 922. Goodwood. 8/10/12.

Once again we headed north. Couldn't get a shot of the crossing at Bushy due to a passing shower so we headed back to Palmerston and waited for 923 Middleton - Dunedin freight to arrive. Today DXC 5520 was doing the honours and had a fairly good load of 20 and 40 foot containers trailing behind.

DXC 5520 leads 923 through Palmerston during a break in showers. 8/10/12.

And the going away shot. This is one I've been trying to get for a while because it includes the former Palmerston locomotive shed.

DXC 5520 passes the south end of the Palmerston yard with 923. Alongside is the tired looking Palmerston loco shed. 8/10/12.

Because we had some time and I liked the look of the loaded decks I made the 'd' to head further south and try a spot on the Tumai bank.

DXC 5520 grinds up the Tumai bank with 923. 8/10/12.

And a close up of DXC 5520 just because I like the weathering.

You won't hear this from rail fans often but the cloud made today's chase. I was able to get some shots that are just not possible when the suns out. 

Until next time...

Almost famous...

While watching the 6 o'clock news tonight, I did a double take when a shot of DXC 5454 appeared behind the presenter as they led into the disappointing story about of the mothballing of the Napier - Gisborne line. That DXC looked really familiar. So when I got home I had a look on the TVNZ website and screen shot these. 

First up is this screen shot from today. 

And this one also from one news on the 14th of April this year.

Now it appears TVNZ record their website stories separately because the background is slightly different from what was on TV but it still shows DXC 5454. 

I then had a look through my shots of DXC 5454 and found this...

The original shot of DXC 5454 cruising into Palmerston with 923 Middleton - Dunedin freight.

And a close up so its similar to the screen shots.

Now they've changed the background but I reckon its a match.

Just to make sure I wasn't losing it I asked my wife to compare shots. After the rolling of the eyes she had a look and agreed it's a match. She actually got a little excited about the whole thing. The lights right, the shadows right, the driver matches, the drivers windows open and I'm sure you can see the tree through the loco's rear windows.

Have I had some railfan luck after a journo at TVNZ googled for a kiwi rail image or am I dreaming? What do you guys think?