farewell to Auckland's Diesel Multiple Units

From TV One NZ:

Unit ADL 804 at Auckland Railway Station in 2004. This was the appearance after they arrived second hand from Perth in the 1990s before the modifications to the front.

Auckland's Papakura to Pukekohe diesel train service will run for the last time on Friday night.

It comes as KiwiRail works to modernise the city's rail network, with buses replacing the service till electric trains take their place in 2024.

Auckland Transport’s Raymond Siddalls, who played an integral role in introducing diesel passenger trains in New Zealand 30 years ago, says it's "the end of an era".

Siddalls told 1News the move to electric trains is sad but it's progress. "It's sad in some ways to see them go because they've been so successful."

He said the other major factor is that electric trains are better for the environment.

Read the rest

an NZR Fiat articulated railcar and a Standard railcar cross at Manakau south of Levin, May 1955

The Fiat was brand new, undergoing trials from Wellington, the Standard dated from the late 1930s. The station at Manakau has long gone.  For lots more, see our books. (NZR photo)

NSW class 47 Co-Co type diesel

This was a class of 20 units built over 1972-1973 by A. Goninan & Co. in Broadmeadow, NSW. They  were numbered 4701 to 4720, prime move was a 4-stroke Caterpillar 16-D399TA rated at 1,126 hp. Six are preserved.

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Rogers 4-6-0 from 1891

"Preserved at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California, Sierra Railway No. 3 has appeared in more motion pictures, documentaries, and television productions than any other locomotive. It is undisputedly the image of the archetypal steam locomotive that propelled the USA from the 19th century into the 20th.

"The locomotive returned to operation in July 2010 after a fourteen-year absence from service and a three-year-long overhaul, requiring the replacement of its original boiler."

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cars descend Lombard Street, San Francisco, 1970s

Arguably the most famous Street in San Francisco after Market Street.  See earlier posts.

'reading a real book, not a little device, is a serene experience, '

Comox Log & Lumber co. 2-8-2 steam loco, Vancouver Island, BC

 A postcard published in the 1980s stated "The locomotive was built in 1923 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works [Eddystone, PA.] (Ser# 67409), purchased by Comox Logging in 1937 and used in continuous service until 1961, hauling logs between Nanaimo Lakes (about 12 miles or so west of Nanaimo) and Ladysmith. Following retirement in 1962, it was overhauled and put on display in Ladysmith. Currently, the loco is sitting in derelict condition around 616 Oyster Bay Drive, in Ladysmith."

1973 Morris Marina poster (Switzerland)

1972 Grand Prix of the U.S. poster

Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington 2ft gauge heritage railway, Alna, Maine

Built by the Portland Company in 1891 in Portland Maine, locomotive 9 originally ran for the Sandy River Railroad as engine #5. It later operated on several different railways with different road numbers, such as SR&RL #6, Kennebec Central #4 in 1924, and as WW&F #9 in 1933. Acquired from the WW&F Railway in 1995 where it went through a twenty-year restoration, it returned to active service in the spring of 2016 where it now operates excursion trains for the railway.

from its webpage:

The WW&F Railway Museum in Alna, Maine (just north of Wiscasset on Route 218), celebrates Maine’s Sheepscot Valley narrow gauge. Come ride our historic steam train for a trip back in time. Explore our facilities and shops where exploration is encouraged and inquisitiveness is rewarded. Experience the nearly-lost art of running and maintaining a steam powered narrow gauge railroad.

The WW&F Railway traces its roots to 1894 when the Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad constructed a two-foot “narrow” gauge railroad northward from the bustling wharves of Wiscasset. Far short of its international delusions of grandeur, the railway of “big dreams and little wheels” only reached Albion, Maine.

Heavily burdened with debt and with very little business, the railroad reorganized as the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington. Like Quebec, the destinations of Waterville and Farmington were never realized. Winding through the wild pine forests, farmlands and hamlets of the Sheepscot Valley to connect the interior of Maine with the coast, the WW&F served the businesses and residents of rural Maine until 1933. Ultimately, the railroad was closed, scrapped, and nearly forgotten.

Brought back from extinction, today’s railway connects you with a Maine that has all but slipped away. See why the WW&F’s attractions and special events are some of the best things to do in the Midcoast. Bring the kids and enjoy authentic Maine – a tour of a simpler life from a century ago. It is yours to discover and explore – we will take you there.

97 Cross Road
Sheepscot Station
Alna, ME 04535
207-882-4193

The WW&F is ten minutes off US Route One in Wiscasset.
Take Route 218 near Red’s Eats (mmm Maine lobster rolls.)

See you on the narrow gauge!