Waitakere Tramline and NZ Regional Trains

07/08/2024

A great time of the year to check out this NZ icon. With the transition from Winter to Spring there's the chance of snow around Arthur's Pass and snow capped Southern Alps and cherry blossum trees along the way.

The TranzAlpine is New Zealand's most famous train, crossing the Southern Alps from Christchurch to Greymouth on the West Coast. Find out whether the train l...

20/07/2024

Another Rata has fallen. Sadly one of Waitakere Tramline members John Gurney passed away in Queenstown on Tuesday 16th July at 6.45 am after his battle with cancer. He is survived by his loving partner Claire and Bonnie his daughter. Our hearfelt sympathies go out to them.
John was involved with many worthwhile enterprises listed below.
Once owner of a motorcycle shop Nth Shore.
Amsol oil agent.
Rainforest Express Senior locomotive driver employed by Watercare
Waitakere Tramline Society member , HSE , rails maintenance advisor, GM .
Health and Safety case writer for private railways.
Construction Extraordinaire for private railways ( Stelvio Construction) including

The Great Martinborough Wood Railway lower N. Island.
Reconstruction, management and operator of The Denniston Incline Experience working alongside with DOC .
Family links with Kingston Flyer ( his daughter Bonnie was stationmaster at Fairlight...thx for the amazing footplate trip if Bonny reads this!)
Manager of Driving Creek Railways (after Barry Brickalls passing)
Between breathing anything rails related in NZ, John ran his own tours to overseas railways or to what could be classed " dangerous" railways under the guise of Dangerous Brothers.
Last but not least, John was working on renewing the lease of Waitakere Tramline .
If you ever tried to contact him via cellphone he was invariably "in a tunnel and I'll contact you when I emerge" or words to that effect.
So a life fully lived and a mighty fine Kiwi bloke , top advisor, dedicated worker, adventurer, friend and devoted partner ( to Claire)
We will ALL miss John. R.I.P my friend.

20/07/2024

The Nihotupu Tramline is a 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) long industrial narrow gauge railway at Nihotupu in the Waitākere Ranges south-west of Auckland in New Zea...

20/07/2024

Our negotiations to get the Rainforest Express going again continues, I would like to say at pace, but the legalities around a lease of the land the rail line sits on is complicated, despite it not needing to be, as we revolve through a never ending circle of bureaucracy.
It has been a good help to find the Nihotupu Trainline is formal and individually listed with a Heritage Order.
While we work on that Harvey and Chris have been cleaning up Jacob's Depo and started painting the office. Organizing and tidying up the engine shed (we cannot accept offers of volunteers while we are still having to work under Watercare's H&S protocols, this will only change once we have our own lease).
This video posted on YouTube (1 year old) shows the overall condition of the line. Other than a handful of larger issue (some already beeing addressed by Watercare because they must support their waterpipe) there is mainly cleaning and debit clearing work so track repair and maintenance can be got at.
All the lead-acid (truck size) batteries in the Engines are behond use, so if anyone knows a company that might be interested in sponsoring a couple (we need 5) please let me know 🙏. Re posted from Ken Turner
Btw great work Ken, Harvey Stewart and Chris Newman.