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Tongariro, Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom & Ruapehu (l-r the three active volcanoes in the Tongariro National Park) viewed from National Park . the conditions in the Rangipo Desert on the opposite (eastern ) side of the mountains was  quote different with cloud cover later inthe afternoon. Pair of EF (30) Class electric locomotives hauling a North bound freight about 10 years ago. Despite 3 changes of ownership the locos are still running in  NZR "Fruit Salad" paint scheme of the 1980s The central section of the NIMT was electrified in the late 1980s both to reduce dependence on imported oil and allow heavier fright trains to be operated at a higher speed than with current diesel traction.  The Bo-Bo-Bo 4000hp electric locomotives were supplied by Brush Traction and similar in design to the Channel Tunnel Shuttle Locos EF 30249 recently re-painted in the Kiwirail paint scheme c 2010. Until recently the majority of the class has continued to soldier (in increasingly decrepit appearance) on in the original livery until thy become due for major overhaul/rust treatment. The Government has recently approved programme  (principally an upgrade of the control system) to extend the life of the class a further 10 years. Double headed steam special descending from the volcanic plateau through typical Central North Island hill country near Taumaranui. DCP4692 heads the northbound Overlander across a typical timber piled bridge in the Ongarue Valley on a summer atSurday afternoon shortly before the Government bought out the main line rail freight and passenger operator Toll Rail in 2008. The daily Overlander has been replaced by the tree-times weekly Northern Explorer and the timber bridges replaced by steel and concrete structures. While Tranz Rail appeared to operate reasonably successfully under Wisconsin Central management following privitisation, both in terms of profitability and significantly increasing passenger and freight traffic, this was largely at the expense of deferring maintenance and renewals of locos stock and infrastructure and an element of asset stripping to pay dividends. Tranz Rail effectively reached breaking point around 2002 with Toll (an Australian Logistics Company) buying out the operating company and the Government taking over responsibility for infrastructure. The Government bought out Toll's railway operations in 2008 for approximately twice the sum sum realized from the privatisation of the railway system approx 15 years earlier. The Overlander crossing Waiteki Viaduct the most northerly and oldest of the high viaducts on the Main Trunk. The day was hot and sunny and  Overlander was running a reduced speed (45Km) due to the risk of buckled continuous welded rail arising from deferred maintenance. The structure was originally erected in the 1880s with 4 wrought iron lattice spans on 3 wrought iron towers with concrete end abutments. The structure was strengthened to accept the higher axle loads with the K Class 4-8-4 locomotives introduced in the 1930s and the viaduct is currently undergoing a major upgrade https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108196608/new-life-for-129yearold-old-rail-bridge-on-nzs-main-trunk-l

Run out of 7s, found a spare 2...?

1980's architecture at its best anything on an infill site

Evening folks, I spent the past couple of days in the London and South East area. All the images and a blog style commentary have now been uploaded to https://bit.ly/302ewLF Featuring images from around London, Swindon, Didcot Parkway, Oxford, Reading, Guildford and Birmingham International.

Were the photos taken at Westport? Stephen