Its been a while since my last post... appologies, there has not been a great deal of newsworthy action around the place recently.
But that said, I have taken a few photos (of course!) so I will share below. AH
Picture
Auckland based DXB 5016 has been visiting this week, which is nice as I have not seen it since it was rebuilt.

The photo quality is a little suspect as I had left the 50d turned on since I last used it a few days ago and the batteries were flat. It was just pure luck that I had Maggies little Fuji in the truck...

Picture
I had the pleasure of Andrew Gorrie's company for an afternoon. Andrew was rding around on milk trains researching and photographing his next photo essay for Railfan magazine, focusing on the whole start to end process of the milk trains.
Andrew has written a couple of fabulous articles for Railfan and takes some fantastic rail photos. When he is not chasing trains he works as a photo-journalist for the Dominion in Wellington...

Picture
I seem to have spent an extraordinary amount of time running 547 out for 544 recently, but Im not really complaining. 
547 is usually ready by the time I book on at 1pm so I leave straight away and 90% of the time I make it down to Wanganui.
This day (photo on left) I arrived at Easttown yard with 547m and 1060t and was told that there was only one DC on the wanganui shunt today and 547 would be lifting the 10 log and 4 CF wagons! 
This is quite a rare event for 547 to be picking up tonnage at Wanganui, and may well be the start of something big. 

Talking of big, 547 ended up rolling into Palmy with 1870 tonnes and 800m long!! Massive!

Picture
I was home alone for a week and a bit, and the mood struck, so I went foaming...

Here is 544 roaring up the hill to Ball Road, between Kakaramea and Manutahi on the MNPL.

Picture
I went to check out a potential foaming spot above the Patea river, and managed to capture 547 heading south along the banks of the Patea river.

I am quite pleased with the spot and will go back to try some different angles. 

No good in the morning though, the sun would be on the wrong side.

Picture
A nice sunny day wide angle snap of 544 at Waitotara....
( 7008 trail loco )

Picture
And lastly a quick n dirty snap of 521 at Whareroa, with DC4611 on the front.

Some photos in a while..

AH

 
Picture
Southbound 201 with Dc 4260 on the pointy end.
I was given the chance to get up country, somewhere I have not been in over 7 years!! While on a road trip mission for my Mother In Law (see "models" blog) I had a chance to hang around in Te Kuiti for an hour or two. After a quick call on the Foamer Hotline I was happy in the knowledge that train 230 would be crossing the southbound Overlander at Te Kuiti and would be there in 50 minutes or less!! Wow the gods were smiling on me today!!

Picture
230 arrived first with a modest amount of wagons at almost the same time as 201 arrived at the north end of station limits. 
I was rather pleased to have been able to gain some height for this picture by use of the wonderfull Te Kuiti pedestrian overbridge.

But, from my vantage point here, I could also see 201 aproaching, so like some frankienstien--ish  gazelle I had to make a high speed lope down the footbridge and onto the station platform if I had any hopes of getting a photo of 201. 

Picture
And yet I found I had plenty of time to relocate, making the frantic (yet modest) railfan shuffle down the boardwalk unnessecary... (doh!)

Picture
And voila! 201 approach-eth....

Picture
and stop-eth......

Picture
and leave-eth....

Picture
While I was in Te Kuiti, I followed my nose down the old industrial siding to where I presume the line ended at a one-time busy fertiliser plant.
The sign on the gate said "no shooting" !!
I found this industrial branch a few years ago, and back then most of the track (behind me) and the yard (in front of me) was largely intact.
Sadly there has been a great deal of urban growth in this direction along the former right of way, which has seen much of the line dissappear. 
The rest is hiding under grass like the yard above.

Picture
yes, there is a set of points in there!
Picture
Rounding out me Te Kuiti nostalgia trip is this photo of the very tidy turntable near the goodshed, complete with on old Ks wagon stored on the other side......

So yay!! a very successful mission into tiger country!
 
Picture
Happy New Year everybody...
Sorry for the lack of posts, but I have been down in the South Island helping repair fences and suchlike on the In Laws farm after the big floods...

The place was a mess and 7 days later when I left for home there was still much to do!! 

Back to the trains soon...