TANGARAKAU STEAM 6




One memorable day the loaded train arrived at the coal screen yard and the attendant was temporarily absent. Myself as usual not being far off and for better or for worse being on good terms with the engine driver he asked me to drive the engine while he did the points and strop duties. For me this was the ultimate wow factor. He actually performed the movement of taking up the slack of the strop then left me to restart the engine ever so gently and puff quietly up to the empties. So there it was this mighty 7-ton (7.1 tonne) hissing and vibrant locomotive. My pictures of those American 32 and 40 wheeled behemoths faded to nothing, this was it, the real thing. I gently eased the throttle a little bit open, there was a hiss, a tremble, movement, a lurch towards the diagonal pull. A puff resonated back through the boiler, another puff and another, no more throttle needed, just keep it moving, keep an eye on the driver back there and the closing gap to the row of empty trucks up front. The driver signalled that the loads were in, close the throttle, and swing over the hand-brake lever. Stopped now, a goal, the end of a journey, one of the great achievements, does attainment always feel like that!

At this time the permanent railway bridge to cross the Tangarakau River was being built. The bridge construction plant was set up on one bank. Part of the plant consisted of a pile driver with its rope winch and tower. An ex-steam engine that was piped into the compressed air pipeline from the powerhouse powered the winch that performed several construction operations from its fixed site. It hauled the pre-cast steel reinforced concrete piles into their positions in the riverbed, aligned them vertically and operated the pile driver that drove them to depth. When the casings for the cappings and piers were placed the winch then repeatedly hauled out the large tub of concrete mix, the tipping and pouring of which was a spectacular sight. After the piers were completed and the boxing removed the winch then assisted with placing the bridge girders.

The permanent section of railway between Tahora and Tangarakau was now ready for the ballast metal. This brought a new look and new sound to the locomotive scene in the form of a 21.5 ton (21.8 tonne) 0-6-0 Barclay with 32 inch (813mm) diameter wheels. This was PWD number 514 of very pleasing lines with nicely proportioned fore and aft overhang, roomy cab, elegantly curved saddle water tank and a neat rear coal bunker. It had a mellow toned whistle, steam powered brakes and a transverse throttle lever operable from either side of the cab. On a memorable occasion I had my first ride on a standard gauge locomotive on this engine. It had the power to haul the ballast trains and pull the spreader or plough van to evenly distribute the ballast metal. It also hauled the screened coal to the Tahora railway yard for onward movement by the NZR trains.