A taste for rail ale

CRACK A FEW: Develop a taste for rail ale on the Tui Train from Wellington to Mangatainoka.

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The laconic guard at Wellington Railway Station calls it The Tui Train. Once a month, beer-and- rail buffs travel on the famous Silver Fern service to Mangatainoka, for lunch, a brewery tour and drinks at the town's most famous business.

A few more men than women boarded the train I was on. About half were there for the brewery, the rest for the transport of delight. It was a mix of regular train travellers and others who had not been in a railcar for years.

The Silver Fern is sleek and recently refurbished. Each of the tidy carriages contains a mix of forward- facing seats and four-person tables. All the seats are airliner-style, complete with tray tables, and surprisingly comfortable, even over seven hours of travel.

The panoramic windows were clean and a menu of snacks and drinks kept us happy.

Thirty minutes in, at 8.30 on a crisp Sunday morning, a gaggle of Tui Girls made the first of many sweeps through the train, taking orders for drinks and food.

Some travellers took tea and coffee, but looking to preserve the media's reputation, I handed over $4 for the first beer of the day.

The noise level in each carriage was proportionate to the refreshment orders.

Around Plimmerton, the views of the still sea were postcard-pretty. Progressively, the scenery turned rural with fewer houses and more livestock by the tracks.

A freight train broke down in front of us and created a delay, but allowed some passengers to learn a bit of railway lingo: the freight train "broke a buffer" (the coupling between carriages) and we needed to let the "bankers" (other locomotives) pass to "shunt" (push) it clear.

It was also an opportunity to distribute morning-tea pies, and pies always create forgiveness.

The highlight was edging through the Manawatu Gorge where the track seems to cling to the hills. A sheer drop to the swollen, murky river and old tunnel walls just inches from the windows kept everybody's attention, particularly the driver.

It was also in the gorge that we noticed a carload of gentlemen taking pictures of our famous train. That seemed relatively innocuous until they jumped in their car, raced ahead and did it all again, eight times. During our two-hour visit to the brewery for a hearty lunch, tour and three free beers, the same chaps continuously photographed and videoed the Silver Fern sitting at the Mangatainoka Station.

We learned that rail fans are fondly known as "foamers", while over-enthusiastic trainspotters are dubbed "frothers."

Coming back, the seats had been conveniently flipped so that everyone was facing forwards, the noise levels were appreciably higher and the same scenery looked quite different in the setting sun.

In this distinguished train, it was about the journey, not just the destination or the beer, and the crowd seemed to appreciate the difference.

* The writer travelled courtesy of KiwiRail.

- © Fairfax NZ News