Steam locomotive draws crowd
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Kaikoura
A crowd of train enthusiasts turned out at Kaikoura station last week to catch a glimpse of the AB663 Mainline Steam locomotive train as it passed through town en route south as part of the annual three-week New Zealand Steam Tour.
The train, with 40 tourists aboard from the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia, spent about half an hour in Kaikoura before setting off for Christchurch.
The steam train arrived in the South Island last Monday after crossing on the Interislander ferry. It left from Auckland last Sunday, and was due to arrive in Dunedin on October 26 and go back to Christchurch yesterday.
It was the first time in six years the train had visited the South Island.
It was needed specifically for this trip as it was the only one that could fit through the Taieri Gorge tunnel in Dunedin, where the train was headed to take part in Labour Weekend Middlemarch Centenary Celebrations.
Built in 1914 in the Addington workshop in Christchurch, the Sharon Lee locomotive travels with two passenger carriages and a luggage carriage.
Mainline Steam operations manager Michael Tolich said people came from all over the world to ride steam engines in New Zealand.
"New Zealand is one of the few places in the world where people can actually do this. It always attracts a lot of attention. We get lots of waves and people come up and say `I remember the steam engine on the line'. We get all sorts of reactions."
Mainline Steam is an organisation devoted to the restoration and operation of historic mainline steam, and has workshops in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The trip was organised in conjunction with KiwiRail.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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