Railroad Forums 

  • Earthquake in New Zealand

  • Discussion about railroad topics everywhere outside of Canada and the United States.
Discussion about railroad topics everywhere outside of Canada and the United States.

Moderators: Komachi, David Benton

 #1411813  by David Benton
 
I would be devastated if that occurred, and will be voting and advocating against our current govt for even letting it be an option. I am still getting over my "Trumpression",set back by his EPA choice, so we will certainly be hammering the environmental advantages of rail.
 #1411815  by David Benton
 
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11764049" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This video and interactive map lets you zoom in on the damage to the Railway. This is only a section of the damaged line, though probably the worst of the damage.
The flyby video doesn't give a good idea of the scale of the damage, I feel. Those hills are probably ranging 100 to 200 metres in height , and it does not show the mountains behind them . Some of the TV videos from helicopters gave a better idea, I think .
 #1411816  by philipmartin
 
David Benton wrote:I would be devastated if that [permanent loss of rail service] occurred,
. I am sorry that you are in this ambiguous situation, David.
 #1411919  by george matthews
 
David Benton wrote:I am confident the railway will remain open, wether by political pressure on the govt , or change of govt next year.
The existing route seems to be rather vulnerable to earth movement. Maybe a new route could be found that is not so near steep slopes that can fall down when there is movement. The original designers of the route didn't appreciate the risks of earthquakes. But of course the same problem is found on the GW route in England where even Brunel put it too close to the sea and ignored the vulnerabilities to flooding that have been affecting it now for 160 years or so.
 #1411990  by David Benton
 
They rurned out to be quite rusty , and were fully stripped and rebuilt. It got us through a carriage shortage , but I don't think they will be buying anymore. they now have a new carriage design , which can be built locally , or more likely, in China.
 #1412598  by David Benton
 
"KiwiRail welcomes commitment to rebuild rail"
http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/news/449/78/K ... -rail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The question now is timing , how long will the "temporary" line take to build , and long will the permament repairs take . Not to mention the chances of another big shake are high.
 #1414457  by David Benton
 
Supermarket gifts stock on stranded train to The town of Kaikoura.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/8799215 ... o-kaikoura" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In a related article, I dont think advertising the fact there is a pallet of beer on the train is much help to the forces trying to stop looting.
 #1414789  by johnthefireman
 
David Benton wrote:Anyone heard from "John the fireman" , John Ashworth , he hasnt been on here since Nov 10th ? I hope he is ok , he did mention having trouble logging in from Sudan, but that he was only there for a week.
Thanks, David, and my apologies. I was out of internet contact for quite a while in November and December, not only in South Sudan but I was travelling in southern Africa without my laptop and just didn't seem to get good internet connections, and trying to do it on my smartphone didn't seem to work very well. Somehow I completely missed the New Zealand earthquake and have only just now got round to looking at the thread. I add my belated condolences for any deaths, injuries, damage and other disruption.
 #1414793  by johnthefireman
 
Incidentally, regarding the dicussion on end of train markers, in South Africa trains have to run with either a marker (red disc by day, red lamp by night) or a telemeter on the last vehicle. I think the same is true in Kenya. At least two of the train documents carried on the train (the List of Vehicles and the Train Load Certificate) have the number of the last vehicle clearly recorded on them, so there should never be any doubt whether a train is complete or not.
 #1416622  by David Benton
 
KiwiRail repairs first section of Main North Line south of Picton to Lake Grassmere
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/nz-eart ... -grassmere" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Lake Grassmere is NZ's only local source of salt.

Lake Grassmere saltworks picks up tab for added freight costs
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/8817675 ... ight-costs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;