Відео

Maybe next year!

Yes, myself & Zane have watched your video not long after it was uploaded. We noted your location. I had given thought to that Cobham Bridge vantage point on the day, but realised it was going to be hard to get from the bridge to the table in the short amount of time given.

Ever noticed railway enthusiasts are, on-the-whole, dedicated youtubers as well? There is not much 2024 street drags on UA-cam, but the RiverCity Express is well represented.

Olsztyn Szczytno

Olsztyn Szczytno

Well thankyou Singningwongho. I too like to count the wagons. I do this each day. Then the following day I try to better my score. The 4 DLs were a surprise; in fact that whole train snuck up with little warning. I tried to show my little daughter the video but she kept saying 'Paw Patrol'

Four locos means that train Is very heavy and two locos on the westmere with all of the wagons in pull are not enough

Thankyou Zane. What I did not show was the sunburn endured!

... at least I was not biking on the railway lines!

​@@MarkSeconi were the MTB riders on the way back from Matipo Park?

​@peterfinucane8122 the first rider was doing a circuit through Matipo Park & up the boundary etc. Went around every 15mins or so. The second rider appeared right there and then. I held my breath and then relaxed when I knew the rider was aware of the train. There are two closed level grade crossings hidden in the video. The upper one was occasionally used until 1991 by forestry logging crews & council workers with spray-units mounted on 4wd utilities. The lower crossing was formally closed in recent years. A road access bridge has slumped into a creek and has not been replaced. Also KiwiRail felt the crossing had poor visibility and it was closed. There has been a discussion about the construction of an underpass, but this is seen as an expense that local rate payers may struggle supporting.

Great footage Mark, Thats me driving in both directions. 👋

@RUMBALman4downunder hi: thankyou for the comment. I hope KiwiRail holds together well and remains strong into the future.

Hi. I assume they are a stock-standard 'off the shelf' designed ISO tank. They are probably forkliftable only when empty. Each tank is 24000Lt. So a two tank wagon is 2000Lt shy of the capacity of an old OM class wagon. In the off season, they would probably get grounded at Palmy railyard, and the wagon would remain in revenue earning service. It's good to see the MNPL being busy during the dairy season. Apparently the Milk Traffic starts on Oct 15th and finishes after 8 weeks

@@MarkSeconi Thanks Mark - that all sounds likely. Shame that season is so short. Will keep an eye on the start time, cheers.

​@peterscandlyn the new seasons milk trains started today (Monday 9th October)

@@MarkSeconi Mark, yes, thank you. Slaving away in the yard and popped my head up as the Fonterra trian went by - sure enough.

​@@MarkSeconithis is smart, out the tankcontainers from the wagons when the peak milk is over.

Maybe but that there's not been recommencement of log trains kinda points me to Kiwirail have had a rethink on pricing?

@@peterscandlyn fonterra can be pretty cunning on contract renegotiation I remember asking a fonterra employee why there were so many trucks on the road (unbranded) he just made the comment that the kiwi rail contract is up for renegotiation!! It’s also useful to point out that those tanks go to Hawera full in a train with often empty coda wagons and containers! The reverse is true on the return trip! At one point the Hawera milk factory was the largest in the southern hemisphere!

@@peterscandlyn I'm pretty sure that Fonterra is Kiwirails biggest customer by some distance, I had a conversation with a Fonterra employee and he said all the product going for export goes to a warehouse in Hamilton (just north of) and the vast majority is sent on to the ports of Auckland

@@tonymckeage1028 Thanks Tony although don't think there's anything you said I wasn't aware of already, cheers.

@@tonymckeage1028 Yeah I'd imagine they are Tony. What you said supports their desire to reopen the Stratford line north, be a lot more efficient for them,. Shame about those logs though....cheers.

Thankyou for sharing your memories. I was a child of the 1980's and deregulation, restructuring and closing down of factories across many sectors made for a hard time in Wanganui. There was many a grim discussion between the adults over the family dinner table when I was a child. Both my grandfathers worked at East Town, Joseph Hoey (a fitter and turner) and Tom Seconi (paint shop). Many of our neighbours were railwaymen, so I naturally took an interest in the Wanganui East railscene. In this video, Ive included clips of passing container trains. It shows that railfreight is still on the move, but the freight is carried in modern ISO shipping containers and not in old-fashioned wooden 4-wheel wagons, a type of which used to be maintained at East Town. One thing I learned from the book, is that East Town was constantly threatened by change; there are two or three occassions in it's hundred year history where it could have been packed up and had its activities transfired elsewhere in New Zealand

Everybody knows New Zealand suffered when its Apprentiship schemes were restructured. This is still being felt today

Yes. The last KiwiRail freight service was in 2012. Then Da 1431 hauled a six car excursion on the branch on Nov 1st 2014. In the last ten years, the Kapuni Branch has only seen trains hauled by vintage locomotives

That was videoed on a digital still camera on 'video mode'. I had to hold the camera as still as possible. I had just gotten into being a youtuber back then and was only on a part time wage and it took a while to save for a new camera.

@@MarkSeconi Thanks Mark, I've really only just got into Video! I appreciate the benefit of technology, thanks again

The team was very good, each watching their 'station' carefully and watching each other's back . It was the equivalent of a full-on workday for them.

Over the last 20 years 'The Railways' have constantly been reducing their rail-serviced customers in Taranaki & Whanganui. In 2002 they deliberately closed dozens of private sidings and just focused on one or two big customers. This included a strong focus on the Fonterra factory at Whareroa. But they have put their few remaining eggs in one basket, and if that basket gets dropped, then the whole line becomes empty. This video was from 2017 and it looked like 'rail was on a roll' and the railfreight-renaissance had arrived. However, the log traffic in this video was discontinued in Feb 2023 because of rising railfreight rates and a shakey post-covid international log-market. But never-the-less, there is still log flow in this region and it is now on road transport all the way to the port. It is uncertain how export product from Fonterra will be transported to the ports in the 23/24 season. The only guaranteed rail traffic at this stage is southbound rail-freight. Northbound might go to road transport which will see less through-freights like the ones in this video.