Vulcan railcar makes first trip up Taieri Gorge in 33 years

Yes, it was April 1976, my late father, Brian Jones, took me on the Vulcan up to Alexandra and back for its last trip.I loved the trip (as I have always loved trains) and I was 11 years old. I remember that on the way back things must have got double booked and so we gave up our seats and sat in the driver's compartment at the other end of the railcar to which it was been driven so got to see where we had been. It was an experience I will never forget. I will be up at Middlemarch with my family on Saturday to re-live those glorious days. Not sure who the guard was on the last run but I have a vague suspicion that a neighbour of ours in Brockville (Doug Macauley) who was a guard at the time may have been the guard for that particular trip. I have always had a deep love for railcars and used to travel on the ones to the West Coast and Picton, I remember them being painted green and ususally hauled by a DJ and were always referred to as Grass Grubs.

Actually MildGreen, there's quite a number of us in the rail industry that would be real keen to see a Vulcan rail car based down here. One of the three Vulcans at Ferrymead, RM57, has never been used since it arrived there in '79, simply been stored in the shed. It would be viable to overhaul it for mainline standard (would be a few bikkies to do that, est $150,000) and use it on charters, possibly the odd subbie run as well. A lot of groups wouldn't make up enough numbers to charter a train, and indeed at times we've had a train with less than 48 (a Vulcan's seating capacity) yet we have a 900hp loco, generator car, and two or three carriages, 125 tonnes all up, when a Vulcan at 250hp weighs 36.6 tonnes to carry the same. Of course it offers a classic experience at the same time. The red rail cars were something of a kiwi travel icon, and using this instead at times you don't need to go to a crossing loop to run the loco around to the end for the homeward journey.

Steel wheel 'buses' ! When I last railcar'ed to Christchurch from Dunedin it used about 17 dollars worth of diesel. The return ticket was about $20. So one person paid for most of the fuel. Given the technological improvements in suspension, transmissions and common rail diesel, coupled with biodiesel we should be able to make a contemporary modern materials equivalent for about 10% of the price of a finals rugby match, 5% of an America's cup campaign or 5% of our weekly deficit. Hell, with that kind of technology we could be laying new tracks back to Queenstown. (That's right, we ripped the guts out of Addington so we could buy everything from offshore. Who sold us that pup? ) The Fiat Railcar 'was' light rail on heavy tracks. What is needed is some fresh thinking and some double tracking of the humble kind.

Whew! Lucky the sheep hit didn’t damage the transmission, as sometimes did happen, so the drivers told me. But indeed they were pretty robust vehicles, and ran for NZR for 38 years. Virtually all the Dunedin Vulcan drivers were on the Tuesday trip, telling a good few yarns and reeling in the years. This included Bruce Logie, who in fact drove the very railcar we rode in on the last run from Alexandra (I meant to mention that in the blurb above.) However on the run on Tuesday, we too it much more sedately. The Vulcan will be heading up to Middlemarch for the Labour weekend celebrations on Friday 23rd, departing Dunedin 10am if you are about and want to have a look. And of course will be running trips out of Middlemarch, to Pukerangi, throughout Labour Weekend. For further info, see http://www.dunedintrainfestival.co.nz/ Great to hear stories like this.

How well I remember jumping on the Vulcan to Dunedin, it would stop anywhere for pick up or drop off. Terrifying moments as we barrelled through the cuttings above Hindon at breakneck speed, hitting a couple of sheep, the old girl hardly rocked as the remains of mutton chops crashed and macerated their way through the boggy's and out the back. It was a godsend for a love sick 17 year old and by far the best way of meeting up with a girlfriend at Uni. But a love by rail does not last, sad to say.