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Thank you, so good to see the good old Auckland Railway station in its intended function. Should never have been dismantled + sold off!!

I enjoyed seeing this era in NZ Rail history. I used to live out past Rotowaro and would watch the loading of the coal. Was lucky enough to go for a cab ride to Mission Bush couple of times.

Now the train takes imported crap coal from Tauranga to Huntley ! Good thinking Labour

Remember this very well! We lived close by in Spon End, Coventry and could see the tender sticking up in the air from our rear windows. This was the Coundon, (northern), end of Spon End Arches. The loco slid down the city side of the viaduct just above the old Coventry Corporation Water Works and Reservoir. It was a good few days before the cranes arrived to start the recovery and I made a point of walking past it a few times. Wish I'd had a camera at the time!

At 11:17 "where all the Glueys hang out"😂. Wow that's definitely a 1980-90 saying.

Peter Berry. So small and squeaky. Funny little man.

So sad when I used to do this work 40 years ago for n.z.r I am retired now.

Coal to Huntly from Auckland? Hadn't closed the mines yet I thought

Hi John Nice to see Jan again playing her instrument miss her much

LOL, it hardly looks any different!

Nice to see some faces I know, including the infamous Shorty Hanson

👍🙏🙏🙏

I'm not born or living in NZ, but visited the country twice in the 21th century. As a train enthusiast I ended up visiting many musea and trusts preserving NZ rail heritage and fell in love with the NZR. When I departed home after my first visit 4 S scale locomotive kits were in my luggage, and a couple more ended up being sent by mail, a number of wagons were also included. The whole scene of railway enthusiasts in New Zealand was very welcoming and several cab rides were made, amongst others on a Ww at Glenbrook and the L class of Shanty Town. It's great to see this old footage of the last years of the K/Ka on the North Island, they were the smallest of all the Northern Type locomotives worldwide but still an impressive sight. We hope that soon the examples under overhaul can ply the rails again, a visit to NZ to see one of them running would be it. Greetings from the Netherlands.

Good that he reads the instructions before moving off.😂

Yeah 61/64 used take bus at holiday time from wanganui to taupo end begining terms ... lunch break at station Taihape station i would go chat to the remote signal boxon the platform to see what interesting things had been happening ... one occassion night passanger train hit a slip and tumbled down a bank ... a good talking point ... but yes the Railway was always busy in Taihape during that time ... just a bavk water now

It was a mistake to not keep and mantain steam and rail...we have plenty of coal

Listen carefully, i shall say this only once: Hapuawhenua, woot! Travelled over that viaduct a couple of times while its successor was being built and the line straightened out somewhat.

What a pity we only have 3 long distance passenger train s left. , not like our cousin's accrss the ditch pretty backwards really when you think about it, sorry I forgot about Te huia, not allowed in the Auckland metro area,what a joke, do they really want it to be successful, just wondering

This was done at night time in 1979 it was called the northerners express train.i am x railway staff.

Wet rust makes a perfect paste for steel on steel to slide. Seen it happen & had it happen on steam. Always had to be alert & in control. Wheels lock up & unless u’ve got room to release the steam brake (once u’ve woken up)& get the wheels turning again, not a hope of stopping. Once your sliding your accelerating & thas it bang!!! 45T cranes had a good safety factor built in & could lift far more than they were rated at, as they did on numerous occasions. That leading crane was luffed out a fair ol way. Men knew what they were about, cranes were well packed & they’d be watching for any movement. Awesome sight of two drivers working in harmony with a good foreman on the ground & job done.🙂

Thank you for uploading this amazing video to youtube, great to see how Driving Creek was 30 years ago!

Is this Spon End Coventry?

with chains and jacks and dirty words they got the dam thing out

Another excellent contribution to rail John,sometimes I think to myself why didn't I savour those moments more,when diesel appeared we were glad to see the end of steam how foolish we were in retrospect,although it was hard work they were the best of times.

Is this one in the series of books 'Trains in Trouble', I wonder?

Ah, the power of steam! Took my grandson to a museum yesterday I was so old only I knew how a steam engine worked!

Excellent video! I've been working at DCR for 13 years now (helping fix and maintain the trains and track), and I love seeing old footage of how it used to be. Thank you for sharing

My days when I was working for new Zealand railways 1979

Thank goodness the guy at 2:47 is wearing a hi-viz wooly hat!

What year was this filmed? I have been on the Auckland to Wellington service many a time. Always a great trip.🌿

An historic Station was Taihape. It was a crime they pulled it down.

Lovely Video John Kirby. By the way the chap at the end is smoking a falcon. Those were the days when you could stroll onto Waterloo Platform with a pipe in your mouth and a dog following.

Very good video from John Kirby.

It took me to the days when I was in the government railways 1977.my old work mates.

Imagine in the winter John living in those railway houses at Ohakune you would be ramping up the stove and at night cuddling up to Mum,in retrospect it would have been the happiest days of your life?

I remember doing bankers way back in 1970,initially from Taumarunui to National Park then back to Kakahi to bank the next one,then the same again for a third time,then light engine to Taumarunui,talk about damned boring John,i hated it.

Thank you, John, for posting this ... Nostalgic / Love it! ... Absolutely Love the music too - (Also love how you have provided a mute button, for those of us who may choose to not experience the accompanying music 🎶) ... For those who may have an interest (as I did) in knowing the names of the songs/Artists ... I have "Shazamed" them and compiled a list of your choice of music, John The songs/Artists are (in order) ... 00:00/03:16 Sentimental Journey/Dinah Shore ... 03:17/06:39 Querido Amigo/Jesse Cook ... 06:40/12:08 Rhumba de la Noche/Govi ... 12:09/15:45 Gypsy Heart/Govi ... 15:46/19:32 Cuchama/Govi ... 19:33/23:20 Persuasion/Govi *+*+*+ I grew up in a small town ( I have always called it "The Centre of the Universe" [CotU] because for me ..It Was! ) My father worked for the Railways (leading the Carpentry Gang) We originally lived in a little town near Ohakune, called Rangataua, then apparently (when I was 2 yrs old) we moved to a little Railway enclave called "Railway Farm" (this was the beginning of my CotU years). By age 7 we had moved again ... to a Dream location for us kids ... being 'below' the Main Trunk Line ... which was also a dream spot for my Dad (I'm sure) / He just had to go up the back steps / thru the gate / across 3 or 4 sets of tracks to his Workshop. (We lived directly opposite the Carpentry Gang workshop) at ... 177 Robin🐦Street ... The Georges lived on one side (next to the Taxi depot) and The Bennetts lived on the other. Like a lot of Railway housing ... this little group of 3 Railways Houses has 'long-gone' (I believe a lot of Tossers / Out-of-Townies, 🤣 descend on Taihape once a year & congregate at this site, now ... Boots 🥾👢 & all). Wonderful times growing up here ... Loved standing on the Bridge (just North of the Station) as the Huge Steam Engines barrelled towards the Station ... massive thick clouds of smoke billowing up /covering us completely / loved it / the smell of it. This all would have been between the years 1955 to 1970 (I left Taihape in January 1970, to start my first job in Wellington ... actually lower Hutt). You have definitely ignited some very fond memories, John .. Thank you 🙏again 🤟

Great footage and the music fits perfectly imo. Thank you

Why the horrible music instead of someone providing some information? Best of luck, but this is a rather awful format!

Dai cap safety helmuts and donkey jackets the safety equipment of the day

Wonderful. Thanks for posting

Awesome record, thanks. Westfield yard and South Auckland stations the way I remember them. Started in the Loco Supervisors Office 1980 as a Clerical Cadet + part time Clippy 1984-91, was ruthanised (made redundant) when OWS was sadly closed in June 1992. Lucky enough to get 3 or 4 cab rides during my 12 year career 👍.

Nice to see these big old cranes at work, with all their tackle and equipment. The cranes themselves are history now - there was still one at Crewe in 1974. The last BR steam working I saw was the Crewe wrecker coming down the Trent Valley mainline behind an 8F at Meadow Lane, Colwich, on its way to the Hixon disaster. The local RAF had sent a lorry mounted crane to help, but the field alongside the track was so water-logged that, even with 6 wheel drive, it boged to the axles.

Silver fern at 26:57

For a while I worked in Document Control and a report came my way. It was all about a derailed emu in the Havant area. They needed a crane to lift everything clear, so one came ****** from Cardiff Canton. The account reads that the operator was reading the manual whilst lifting the rolling stock clear of the running lines. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Unfortunately, it was true.

Not really impressed by the sound track.

Love the old cars🥰

Was that a Wd shunting at about the six minute, thirty second mark?

Golly that’s some shunting accident. I used to live near Spon End btw 🙂

I remember catching the Northerner from Waiouru to Auckland and back in 86 it was great,Bar was on ,girls hockey team on trip back to Waiouru ,ciggies in open cabin near the end for the workers ,cold double brown big cans and bluebird chips ,great times and cheap travel