End of an Era: Ka 942 and Ja 1240 Towed up the East Coast

Due to Mainline Steam's land lease with Hamilton Jet's ending this year and Hamilton Jet's wanting to expand, the south island depot had to come to a close. With many options looked at and discussed, they decided that the rolling stock would go further inland to Springfield and the Steam locomotives moved to their other depot in the North Island, Plimmerton.
Kb 968 was trucked in parts to the depot due to it not being rail worthy, and the Ka and Ja were going to be towed by rail.
After many delays and a lockdown, they were finally able to tow them up on the 5th of December.

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great Video, I really enjoyed it, thanks for sharing

[@K1W1fly]

I sadly suspect we arent going to see MLS excursions again anywhere for some time - two new depots to build (Auckland and Christchurch) and most of the locos in storage, which will take a lot to reactivate. No idea how they are going to fund things, particularly without excursion income.... :(

[@n.f.railphotography7185]

Cool video

[@ethant4531]

Great video

[@brycenew]

Thanks for this vid mate! A bloody big move and very disruptive for M/S South Island operations. Will the locos go to Springfield once suitable track is laid & sheds built?

[@trajan231]

As I remember it, once the shed is built, the Mainline Steam operation will restart meaning the engines will be returning. With the exception of Kb968

[@trajan231]

Once the shed is running, the primary goal will be to get the passenger cars certified.

[@michaellewis6467]

was there any trouble recording on the river bed? ive tried getting those shots and its hard

[@LookForTrains]

Not really, although in winter this is a lot more water

[@SpottingWithSam]

A great video! Highly enjoyed, I did my own video coving the journey.

[@Crintingnut]

Sad occasion

[@cosgrach24]

They are motoring right along.

[@RamonInNZ]

What was the max speed so lubrication wasn't a problem them not being under steam?

[@LookForTrains]

Max speed was 55kph, They stopped about every second passing loop to chack temperatures

[@bentimmy7252]

Looks Like its going faster than that

[@heathloveridge3668]

Will they still run

[@LookForTrains]

Only the future will tell

[@mrivantchernegovski3869]

Was that Mainline steam that used to be in the back of Parnel Auckland in the 90s ?

[@LookForTrains]

Same person, different location, Mainline steam had 3 depots, Parnel, Plimmerton and Chch. Plimmerton is now the only functional Mainline steam depot

[@rastewart100]

Where will they're new home be, and will 968 ever operate again?

[@LookForTrains]

Their new home is in Plimmerton, KB is slowly being restored

[@rastewart100]

@@LookForTrains Thanks for letting me know, also does the restoration team of 968 have any dates for when the restoration will be complete?

[@LookForTrains]

@@rastewart100 There is no real time frame, due to the limited time of voluteers as well as other projects

[@rastewart100]

@@LookForTrains On a completely unrelated note, do you think it would be cool if some of the DC locos had RS3Ls? ua-cam.com/video/2Z4eKovnqEM/v-deo.html

[@trajan231]

@Rob Stewart I heard somewhere that Kb968 was likely to be 20 years under restoration. Plimmerton has its own fleet to maintain (Jb1236 and Ab663). Plus the passenger consist and other projects

[@Cliffz8224]

are they going to be scrapped?........

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

No, Just relocating them to the wellington depot

[@Cliffz8224]

@@KiwiRailSpotter phew

[@struck2soon]

I am saddened to hear that the Kb is leaving the South Island. When Cyril Evans raised the money to save this engine from scrap by showing films to the schoolchildren of the South Island, he declared that the engine “belonged to the children of the South Island”. Now it has been taken away.

[@michaelhewinson3886]

@@struck2soon when it is restored it will come back but lack of time and money doesn't help things