The legend of the lost train

With a day off from work and the kids in tow, I managed to get out the door for some train chasing. I quickly made up my mind to head into North Otago to catch and follow 923 on its journey south into Otago. Heading north to catch 923 is risky. There are plenty of places along state highway one where you lose sight of the main south line in North Otago and potentially the trains that travel along it.

With no sight of 923 I decided to check the signals at Herbert to see if it had already passed through. Imagine my surprise when I found 923 holding the main. After a short wait the green flickered up on the south main departure signal and 923 got under way. The sound of a DX throttling up from a standing start has to be one of my favourite sounds and I was happy to click away as 923 passed by.

DXC 5229 and DC 4726 accelerate away from Herbert with 923 Middleton - Dunedin freight. 24/4/13.

Similar shot to the last one but this one has the kilometre marker in the foreground. Just 276 km's north to Lyttleton and the start of the Main South Line.

Going away shot as 923 leaves the southern end of Herbert.

And this is when the legend of the lost train came about. We quickly departed Herbert and headed south to my next spot. Thinking I had got ahead of 923 I headed for a new photo spot to try my luck. We got there, set up for the shot and waited and waited. After a good 10 minutes waiting, I made the decision to head south again hoping that maybe 923 had already gone through. Of 923 there was no sign. For a good length train that weighed several hundred tonnes I still haven't figured out where we missed it.

Because the chase on the 24th was a fizzer, I'd better pad out this post with a shot or two from a short chase on the 22nd.

Bumblebee DFT 7049 and DFT 7077 finish their climb up the Tumai bank and begin their descent into Goodwood with a pretty lean 922 Dunedin - Middleton freight. 22/4/13. 

923 cruises through Bushy after picking up five empty 'goldies' at Palmerston. 22/4/13.

A fairly big work project comes to an end on Monday so hopefully I might be able to get out for some more chasing in the near future.

And that's about it.