Rail tour picks up steam after tow start
A South Island rail tour on board a restored World War I locomotive looks set to run out of steam in Marlborough, before it even leaves the station. But tour organisers have a more modern plan to keep the centenary tour on track.
The 1915 steam train, called Passchendaele, will be towed from Picton to Kaikoura by a diesel engine. Tour organiser John Bovis said the train needed four certified crewmen to run, but they only had two for part of the journey's first leg.
The company Steam Incorporated usually found steam drivers through KiwiRail.
It was "possible but unlikely" they would find two extra drivers before setting off on the two-week trip on Monday, Bovis said.
The Picton to Kaikoura stretch behind a diesel engine would not be as impressive from the outside, but it was still a "great ride" for passengers, he said.
From there though, it was full steam ahead for the locomotive, making stops at Christchurch, Oamaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Bluff, Middlemarch, Greymouth and Westport.
The AB 608 engine was built in 1915 and given its name in 1925 to commemorate the lives of about 450 New Zealand railwaymen lost in WWI.
It had already travelled around the North Island, and was scheduled for a WWI centenary tour of the South Island from October 19 to November 2.
Restoration of the train was completed in April last year, and cost the company $500,000. Between 150 and 180 passengers would be travelling on the train each day, Bovis said. The majority were from overseas.
Steam crewman Wayne Mason said the diesel engine would only be used from Picton to Kaikoura.
"After that it's fine for the rest of the way."
He and his fellow crewman Alastair Maciver would still be manning the train in "light steam" mode but control would be in the hands of the diesel engine up front.
Restoration of the Passchendaele began more than 20 years ago and had been a "full-time job" for the past few years, Bovis said.
The engine was built in the South Island and had been used on freight trains, passenger trains, and even on two royal tours; the Prince of Wales' tour in 1920 and the Duke of York's tour in 1927.
Image credit: Facebook /Steam Incorporated
Written by Elena McPhee. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz
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