Shot for the day

DXB 5080 leads 923 Middleton - Dunedin freight through Ravensbourne. 24/09/15.

With the bosses away this week I managed to sneak away from the office early today and grab this shot of 923 as it neared its destination of Dunedin.

And thats about it.

Otautau's Grain Transfer Facility

Otautau grain transfer facility.

On a recent work trip to Southland I made a little detour through the small Southland town of Otautau. Otautau is a station on the Ohai branch line. The reason I wanted to go through this town was to get some shots of a structure I've been hoping to have a look at for a long time, the Otautau grain transfer facility.

I don't know why but I really like grain facilities. It could be from my youth in Marton that had a number of grain silos and the malting plant or my time in the midwest in the states where every town had an elevator and grain silos.

Either way I just think they look good and this one especially sticks out. While I don't have the space at the moment this is one grain facility that I will build a model of in the future.

So without further ado here are some shots of the Otautau grain facility.

The grain facility hasn't been used for awhile and is starting to look rundown. Looking at the siding leading to the silos it hasn't been used to transfer grain from truck to train for a very, very long time. Would love to see a photo of a wagon being loaded here. 

From a modeling point of view this would look really good with a few V/line VHGF wheat hoppers being loaded.

And thats about it.

A visit to Dunedin railway station

Dunedin Station. 1/6/15

After tidying up a few jobs in town I decided to head down to the Historic Dunedin railway station to see if anything was happening. It was pretty quiet, not even a shunt heading out to the port or back.

This gave me a good chance to have a look at Dunedin Railways loco's and carriages. Dunedin Railways is the new name for the Taieri Gorge Railway, a tourist passenger train operator based in Dunedin that operates services to Pukerangi and Middlemarch on the former Central Otago railway and over the KiwiRail network to Palmerston and Oamaru.

If you're visiting the lower South Island a trip on a Dunedin Railways train up the Taieri Gorge is a must. Well after that unpaid advertisement for Dunedin Railways back to their locos and rolling stock.

Dunedin Railways DJ 1227 ready for another trip up the Taieri Gorge. 1/9/15

Dunedin Railways operate its trains using a fleet of five ex New Zealand Railways DJ class diesel - electric locomotives. The 64 members of the DJ class were built by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and came into service in 1968 and 1969. The light weight triple bogie locomotives were used exclusively in the South Island and completed the dieselisation of the New Zealand railway network. The last steam loco's being withdrawn in 1971.

 DJ 1227's brass number plate and Mitsubishi builders plate (sticker).

Alongside the DJ's, Dunedin Railways has a fleet of ex New Zealand Railways and KiwiRail carriages.

The fleet is made up of wooden and steel carriages. Me, I prefer the wooden carriages because you can still lift the window and lean out (but not to far) to enjoy the passing scenery. Heres a few images of the older wooden type carriages still in service.

And some of the steel carriages....

In the last year Dunedin Railways has started to repaint and rebrand their steel carriages in the new Dunedin Railways livery. There has been a lot of different liveries on passenger carriages in New Zealand over the last few decades but the new livery is, in my opinion, one of the best I've seen.

Operating alongside the carriages is an open observation carriage that has been rebuilt from an ex FM guards van. This type of observation carriage is also used on the Tranz Alpine and Coastal Pacific passenger trains operated by KiwiRail Scenic. 

AG class open observation carriage.

With the weather closing in I quickly grabbed a few shots from the stations pedestrian over bridge. Dunedin Railways passenger services depart and arrive from the main line and the famed south dock.

 Dunedin Railways carriages resting in the South Dock at Dunedin Railway Station. 1/9/2015.

Another train ready to depart for a trip up the Taieri Gorge. 1/9/2015.

Having a good look at the locomotives and rolling stock, I was really impressed by the condition and up keep of the equipment. Good work Dunedin Railways! 

If you're visiting the lower south, make the time to travel on one of Dunedin Railways services or at least pay the station a visit.

And thats about it.