28 Sep 2006: Classic train SAVED! Note that title "Goodbye .." is now incorrect but can't be changed without losing counter and comments.
26 Sep 2006: After 98 years, New Zealand's North Island regular passenger train was to end its run. One week before the announced end we took our children on this great journey. So many other people have had the same idea that the big increase in ticket sales has saved the operation!
The Raurimu Spiral was built largely by hand in 1906-08 to get the line up the rise to
the volcanic plateau. More info at
http://www.ipenz.org.nz/heritage/itemdetail.cfm?itemid=71
What was an amazing experience for us was
to stand on the open platform at the end of the guard's van and hear the sounds of
this 1930s vintage machinery (the carriage chassis) creaking groaning and squealing its way through the torturous bends of this narrow-gauge railway for a mountainous country. My camera's mic picks up some sense of this but nothing like being there.
In the controversy over (maybe) losing this train, the business experts say it is too old
to attract the comfort-demanding tourists of today. Maybe it needs marketing to those with a sense of adventure. It sure is a wonderfully wild ride if you stand outside but inside we found it very comfortable and we feel the criticisms on that score are unfair.
The Raurimu Spiral is often talked about as the big experience of this journey. I agree, but with the note that I personally found it difficult to use a camcorder to pick up the sense of it from the inside. Comments about that are especially welcome. My suggestion: if you are on this train with a camcorder, don't bother joining in the camera owners rush to the viewing platforms for the spiral. Visually, go for other highlights. My personal favourite is the rugged country around Te Kuiti and I intend to post a movie of that next.
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