The weekend’s wet weather claimed another casualty on Sunday night, when a Dunedin Railways locomotive derailed on its way back from an excursion to Taieri Gorge.
Dunedin Railways chief executive officer Craig Osborne said there were no injuries to staff or passengers after the locomotive hit a ‘‘good solid rock’’ on the track near Parera, the site of an old station house.
‘‘Some material had been brought down on to the track.
‘‘It was definitely weather-related.’’
The company was investigating the incident and the NZ Transport Agency had been notified, he said.
The locomotive had remained upright after coming off the track.
Passengers had finally arrived back in Dunedin about 11pm, on a second train sent to collect them, and more than four hours after their expected arrival of 6.30pm.
The train was still at the scene of the incident and staff were looking at their options for getting the locomotive back on track. The engine had remained upright, he said.
There would be no Taieri Gorge excursions until at least the end of the week. In the meantime, Dunedin Railways would run the Seasider to Waitati instead.
Any customers who had booked a Taieri Gorge trip would be offered a refund, Mr Osborne said.
