Christchurch, New Zealand's South Island Rocked by 2nd Quake in Less Than 6 Months

For the second time in less than 6 months, the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island was struck by a powerful earthquake.

Prime Minister John Key had confirmed that at least 65 people were killed on Tuesday when a Magnitude 6.3 quake that struck just before 1 PM local time. Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said it was likely the death toll would rise.

While the temblor wasn't as strong as the September 2010 quake, the epicenter apparently was closer to the surface and only 10km outside of the city center of Christchurch. Buildings collapsed onto cars and buses on the streets and there were at least 30 people trapped when the 4-story Pine Gould Corp office building collapsed.

Christchurch's Cathedral, already damaged from the September 2010 quake, had its spire knocked off in the Tuesday afternoon. Although power to parts of Christchurch and elsewhere in Canterbury had been partially restored,

Both domestic and international flights were grounded throughout New Zealand in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. New Zealand's national air traffic control center is headquartered in Christchurch and remained closed after the earthquake while the facilities were being inspected for damage.

Kiwi Rail has also shut down service on the South Island after the quake derailed a coal train in suburban Christchurch. The return trip of the TranzAlpine express passenger train was cancelled until the line between Greymouth and Christchurch could be inspected for damage, with more than passengers staying overnight in Greymouth. Although there were scattered reports of damage to tracks and bridges in the Christchurch area, there were no injuries to passenger or personnel.

Iron Horse Update- Kiwis Go for Chinese; Deadly Wreck in Germany; Maine Buys 230-Mile Line; Steam In, Steam Out; New Shortlines on the Canadian Prarie

NEW ZEALAND: The first batch of 6 locomotives from Kiwi Rail's 20 unit order from China's Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock arrived in New Zealand at the end of November.

The locomotives are designated by Kiwi Rail as 'DL' class and rated at 3600 HP each and feature cabs at each end. Since arrival, the DLs will undergo commissioning and crew familiarization at Kiwirail's Hillside shop. The DL's will likely augment or replace older GE diesels, some of which were rebuilt when KiwiRail was part of Australia's Toll Holdings [ASX: TOL]. New Zealand's Rail and Maritime Transport Union has expressed concerns that the Dailan locomotives were too heavy for use on Kiwi Rail and that there are visibility problems with the cabs on each end.

The arrival of the locomotives came a few weeks before Kiwirail announced that China's CNR had beaten out Kiwirail's own Hillside shops for a contract to build 300 new COFC flatcars. Reportedly, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union is considering action along the lines of refusing to unload the remaining incoming DLs from ships in New Zealand to protest the contract being awarded to CNR.
GERMANY: At least 10 people were killed and and 50 injured with the death toll expected to rise after a passenger train collided with a freight train in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Investigators believe the freight train was travelling at speeds of 50 MPH while the passenger train was moving at 70 MPH. The passenger train- HarzElbeExpress (HEX)- was travelling between Magdeburg to Halberstadt when it collided with the freight train carrying lime.

State prosecutors have begun a criminal probe to determine if human error played a role in the accident or if a defect sent the two trains on the same track.

CANADA- NEW BRUNSWICK: The New Brunswick Southern Railway is continuing to rebuild after heavy winter rains hammered the Maritime provinces in mid-December. A 40 mile section of track between McAdam and Milltown, NB on the NBSR 's St. Stephen subdivision was hit with 32 separate washouts, 10 of which had been repaired by the first week of the New Year. [Hat tip- Confessions of a Train Geek]

Photo- Cal Murray

CANADA- SASKATCHEWAN: Less than a year after the startup of the Last Mountain Railway between Regina and Davidson, SK an even newer railway has acquired the 82-mile former Canadian Pacific line between Richardson and Stoughton southeast of Regina.

Motive power for the line is a pair of B23-7s from the nearby Last Mountain Railway (nee Southern) which started up operations in late 2009. The Last Mountain will be replacing the recently departed pair of GE's with a trio of former Canadian National/Wisconsin Central SD40-2s.

John Lucas- Edmonton Journal

CANADA- ALBERTA: Grain farmers in the Battle River region of Alberta are bucking a trend of abandoned branchlines and concrete mega-elevators, purchasing an 80km, C$5,000,000 former Canadian National branchline in order to preserve a railway link with the rest of Canada.

The railway has been a fixture of communities such as Forestburg, 180 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, for almost a century. So it was a shock when CN first announced it planned to abandon the route in 2003 at the end of a drought-stricken growing season after grain output — and grain car traffic — fell sharply.

“CN just came and said that was it, they intended to close the line, and we could truck our grain to the central terminals,” said Ken Eshpeter, a farmer in Daysland and chairman of the fledgling Battle River Railway.

So in late 2003, about 180 farmers quickly organized a “producer car group,” which could bypass the terminals and order its own rail cars directly from CN. They began loading directly from trucks or storage bins into grain cars spotted at sidings in hamlets along the route.

Galahad farmer Howard Vincett was among the first.

“We started a buddy system with our experienced farmers helping others who were new to it. Soon we had a lot of farmers doing it,” he said.

“People were meeting and helping their neighbours. It was wonderful to see such a return of that community spirit.”

As local elevators disappeared across the West, farmers had accepted the situation. They bought bigger trucks and drove 50 kilometres or more to the large concrete terminals along the main rail lines, where they could wait for hours in line.

But by using augers at rail sidings, the self-loaders were proving there was an alternative.

So when CN decided in late 2008 that the Battle River line was to be sold for the price of salvage, the co-operative began raising money for a bid.

“We couldn’t allow this wonderful infrastructure to disappear,” said Reg Enright, the railway vice-chairman who operates a farm near Rosalind.

Because of the success with self-loading, a lot of farmers felt the same way, and bought hundreds of the $5,000 “B” shares that allowed them to move five grain cars in the future for the price of the share.

“We told them straight up that this was a risky venture. But if it all failed, we could still sell the rails, and it is the best-quality, 132-pound, main-line steel,” Eshpeter said.

At today’s higher salvage prices, the 80 km of rail would likely be worth more than the $5 million paid to CN.

Battle River Railway Co-op's motive power is a sole former Canadian National SD40-2W, although a 2 stall heated enginehouse is under construction.

Photo- Kevin Burkholder

MAINE: The State of Maine has finalized the purchase of more than 230 miles of former Montreal Maine & Atlantic (nee Bangor and Aroostook) trackage between Madawaska and Millinocket, ME in November. The MM&A and the state had agreed on the purchase price of $20.1 million and the FRA cleared all legal hurdles for the state of Maine to assume ownership of the lines this month.

Because of mounting financial losses, the MM&A filed to abandon the line between Madawaska and Millinocket as well as branchlines between Squa Pan and Easton, ME and Oakfield and Houlton, ME in Feb. 2010. Rather than permanently cut off rail service to customers in Northern Maine, the state opted to raise funds to purchase the lines and lease them back to the MM&A, although they could subcontract operations to a third party such as Pan Am Railways or the New Brunswick Southern.

STEAM: With 2010 coming to a close, that also meant that it was time to drop the fires on some restored steam locomotives for the 15 year FRA boiler inspection.

Photo- Matt Beisser

CONNECTICUT- Valley Railroad's 1926-built former Birmingham & Southeastern ALCo 2-8-0 #97 made its last run before it was slated for the 15 year FRA inspection in late December. The #97 has been with the Valley Railroad from the beginning, when it started up in the late 1960s on a derelict former New York, New Haven & Hartford branch that ran parallel to the western bank of the Connecticut River.

Although the #97 will be out of service for the foreseeable future, this will not leave the Valley Railroad without steam power. Besides former Aberdeen & Rockfish 2-8-2 #40, the Valley RR also purchased fire-damaged Chinese built 2-8-2 SY #3025 from Pennsylvania's Knox & Kane Railroad in 2008.

Photo- Richard Stevens

WISCONSIN- The clock was winding down on Soo Line ALCo 2-8-2 #1003 in November 2010 as well, as her it was getting near time for her FRA mandated boiler inspection. The 1913-built Mikado ran a series of excursions and photo freights on the Wisconsin & Southern lines in the southern part of the Badger state for the last decade or so.

One of the final runs (before the FRA inspection) of the 1003 featured Polar Express author Chris Van Allsburg working as the 1003's fireman back in late October. The #1003 was also able to serve as power for the WSOR's 'Santa Train' in November.

When not in operation, the venerable Mikado is usually kept at the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford, WI.

Photo- Jim Kleeman

PENNSYLVANIA- Like Soo Line #1003 and Valley Railroad #97, the time has come for the mandated boiler inspection for Steamtown's Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 'Pacific' #2317. For the last two years she had been relegated to the 'Scranton Limited' trains that operated entirely within the Steamtown complex due to an issue with the trailing truck.

There is some ambiguity as to exactly when the #2317 might steam again. Some have said that Steamtown has put a higher priority on bringing Baldwin Locomotive Works former Eddystone, PA plant 0-6-0 switcher #26 back to service, followed closely by Boston & Maine 1934-built Lima 4-6-2 #3713.

Photo- Cory Rychener

STEAM 2.0- WHAT'S NEW IN 2010 AND BEYOND: Although the fires have been dropped on some big steam in 2010, others locomotives have returned to service after being dormant for decades.

KANSAS- Perhaps the most under-the-radar development as far as steam was concerned turned out to be the successful restoration of Santa Fe Baldwin 4-6-2 #3415 by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railway in Abilene, KS. The 1919-built Baldwin was taken out of service by the Santa Fe in the late 1950s and donated to the City of Abilene where it was on static display for the last 40 years in Eisenhower Park before the city donated it to the all volunteer A&SV in the late 1990s.

After more than 12,000 volunteer hours, the 3415 was successfully test-fired in 2008 and cosmetically restored to her original appearance by late 2009. The 3415 will operate a few times a month on the A&SV's former Rock Island branchline between Abilene and Enterprise, KS when the railroad isn't using their 1945-built ALCo S1 diesel switcher [she's shown above arriving at Enterprise, KS on Independence Day weekend 2010 before having to run around her train and return to Abilene running tender-first].

Photo- JL Scott

Perhaps the oldest steam locomotive to be restored to working order is Southern 2-8-0 #154. The locomotive was built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works (a precursor to ALCo) in 1890 for the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia. Four years later, the ETV&G and the Richmond & Danville merged to form the Southern Railway, where the #154 continued to serve he Southern in Eastern Tennessee before being retired and donated to the city of Knoxville, TN where it was put on static display in Chilhowee Park. In 1989, it was given to the Old Smoky Railroad museum before being donated to the Gulf & Ohio Railways in 2008. Gulf & Ohio operates the popular Three Rivers Rambler seasonal excursions in Knoxville with 1925 built former Washington & Lincolnton 2-8-0 already powering some of the excursions.

Thanks to the hard work of the folks at Gulf & Ohio, Southern 154 was back in service and powering trains on the 3 Rivers Rambler in time for her 120th Birthday in July of 2010. The 154 is both the oldest operable Southern locomotive and the oldest known operating ALCo locomotive.

Photo- Jake B

ILLINOIS- A somewhat newer Southern locomotive also returned to service in the Midwest when the Monticello Railway Museum in Illinois completed their restoration of Southern Railway 2-8-0 Consolidation #401 in September 2010.

Along with some of the 1950s vintage streamlined diesels, the 1907 built Baldwin operated a number of excursions of the museum's 15 miles of right-of-way in September 2010. In 1995, a donor for the museum suggested that a working steam locomotive should once again be part of the Monticello Railway Museum, and after doing an inventory, it was decided that the Southern 401 was the most feasible candidate for restoration.

Photo- Ken J Johnson

CALIFORNIA- The Fillmore & Western railway occupies a fairly unique niche. While operating excusrions on a former Southern Pacific branch line between Montalvo and Piru, CA, it also features prominently in films like Inception or Seabiscut. Given its proximity to the Hollywood studios, the lightly used branchline is also just about ideal for movie and TV shoots for any scene involving trains.

To go with their stable of EMD and ALCo diesels is recently restored former Duluth & Northeastern Baldwin 2-8-0 #14, which reportedly will be fired by vegetable oil. Restoration work on the 1913 Baldwin was completed in November 2010, in time for the Fillmore & Western's Christmas excusrions. On January 2nd, the Fillmore & Western had a special excursion pulled by #14 for the volunteers who spent so much time getting her back to working order.

Stuck for Gift Ideas for That Person Who Has Everything? Try Getting 'Em Their Own Town!

Maybe that special somebody in your life has recently been dropping subtle little hints like 'Wouldn't it be nice to find somewhere to get away from it all?' or 'Hey- just get me a remote and sparsely populated municipality for Christmas this year'.

Well you're in luck, friends. There just happens to be a few such towns out there for sale on the open market. Naturally, I wouldn't even bother mentioning them unless there were some sort of railways involved.

Railpictures.net photo- Darryl Bond

The first such locale is down in the mountainous West Coast region on New Zealand's South Island and is called Otira. Otira has a population of roughly 44 and features a pub, fire station, 18 homes (14 of them occupied by tenants), a school and of course, a railway depot. Otira started out on a stop on the trans-Alpine stagecoach route in the 1860s, but served as railhead to the west coast until the Otira tunnel was completed in 1923.

The town is situated along KiwiRail's busy Midland line between Christchurch and Greymouth, which crests New Zealand's Southern Alps. Aside from the daily TranzAlpine Express, the line sees regular freight in the form of coal, dairy products and lumber from the West Coast to the rest of New Zealand or the port of Lyttleton for export. The western end of the 5 mile Otira Tunnel is just outside of Otira proper as well.
Otira is also located along NZ Highway 73 and flanked by Arthur's Pass National Park on three sides. This stretch of Highway 73 also boasts the 1999-built 440 meter Otira Viaduct (above), which replaced a winding, treacherous and landslide-prone stretch of highway.

But as of June 2010 it's all up for sale with the asking price of NZ$1.5 million ($1.1 million US). The current owners have put the town on the market after purchasing it for NZ$80,000 in the late 1990s. By comparison, NZ$1.5 million could get you a good-sized upscale home in suburban Auckland.

Assuming that Otira goes for anywhere near its asking price while factoring in a kiwi property boom and increase in value of the New Zealand dollar to the equation and the couple- Bill and Christine Hennah- will have gotten quite the return on their initial investment.

Although Bill and Christine had invested alot of TLC into the town over the last decade or so, Bill's sore shoulder and Christine's arthritis are slowing them down, leading them to put it on the market. The couple purchased the schoolhouse to move into once they 'retire' from owning Otira and a buyer for the town is found. The couple says they've been entertaining offers from as far afield as Canada, Malaysia, the UK and Norway.

For those of you in North America who want a town of your own but without the lengthy trans-Pacific flight, the northeastern Nevada town of Currie could be just what you're looking for.
Currie is located along US Highway 93 and the dormant Nevada Northern Railroad right of way in southern Elko county, NV. The unincorporated town got its name from the nearby ranch of Joseph Currie, who settled in the area in the 1880s. Currie started out as a stagecoach and freight stop, but with the discovery of copper in nearby Ely, NV the Nevada Northern Railroad was constructed between Ely and the Southern Pacific Junction at Cobre, NV (some 140 miles). The railway was completed in 1906 and a railway station and telegraph office opened up in Currie that same year.

Passenger service along the Nevada Northern halted in 1941 (by which point the NN had become a subsidiary of Kennecott Copper) and freight service continued until the closure of the mines in the Ely area in 1983. The line was then acquired by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in 1987 in anticipation of servicing a coal-fired power plant that was never built. However, the line saw a revival in the late 1990s when Australian mining company BHP leased the line to ship copper ore concentrate from Rieptown, NV to the Union Pacific interchange at Shafter. The line was abandoned in 1999 and although copper mining resumed around 2004, the ore was hauled by truck and the line through Currie remained dormant.

In 2007, the LA Department of Water and Power sold the line to the City of Ely and White Pine County to the south despite efforts of some salvage outfits to seize the line, rip up the rails and sell them for scrap. Although it was hoped that the revived mine traffic could make its way to rails along with coal, more recent plans to construct a coal burning power plant outside of Ely were thwarted last year.


So while there may not be the rumble of freight trains rolling past the Currie depot (above), there's still the matter of a lonely stretch of US 93 making its way north from Las Vegas to Idaho and points north.

According to this site, the town includes an RV park, the Goshute Mercantile (below), a schoolhouse, the old Currie hotel and the Nevada Northern depot. There's also a Nevada Highway Department Maintenance yard in town, but that's not included in the sale.

Although classified as a ghost town, Currie is thought to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 residents. The Currie school only taught up through grade 8 before shutting down in 2001, and the nearest bus stop was 35 miles away. Any children remaining in Currie would have to be homeschooled or boarded in Ely.

The town has apparently been on the market for a decade, although a cursory search indicates there has been no mention of a buyer since notice went up of Currie being for sale.

But with that in mind, good NANESB! reader, think of how that special somebody's eyes will light up when they see one of these remote and sparsely populated (but scenic!) towns under the Christmas tree this year.

Food for thought.

NZ Police: All 29 Trapped Miners Feared Dead

Image- NZHerald

A second, more powerful blast rocked the Pike River Coal mine on New Zealand's South Island on Nov. 24th where 29 miners had been trapped since an initial blast on the afternoon of November 19. Police superintendent Gary Knowles said that there was no chance any of the trapped men could've survived the second blast, which lasted for as long as 30 seconds.

A third and fourth blast a few days later was strong enough to ignite the coal in the mine, further damaging the mine's already crippled ventilation system and setting some of the nearby vegetation above-ground on fire. The most recent development is that the damaged ventialtion system has been capped, which will allow the GAG unit brought in from Australia (basically a jet engine designed to supress underground coal fires) to work more efficiently.

On Friday, Dec 10th, as police announced that they would hand over recovery operation to Pike River Coal management, the company said layoffs for most of the 90 remaining full time staff were likely by next month.

With the well-deserved jubilation surrounding the successful rescue of the 33 miners in Chile, this comes as a particularly harsh kick in the gut. Perhaps most tragic was the story of 17 year old Joseph Dunbar, who was eager to start his new job at Pike River and was among those trapped in the intial blast on his first day.

The 29 miners have been identified as:
Conrad Adams, 43 (Greymouth)
Malcolm Campbell, 25 (Greymouth - Scottish)
Glen Cruse, 35 (Cobden)
Allan Dixon, 59 (Runanga)
Zen Drew, 21 (Greymouth)
Christopher Duggan, 31 (Greymouth)
Joseph Dunbar, 17 (Greymouth)
John Hale, 45 (Ruatapu)
Daniel Herk, 36 (Runanga)
David Hoggart, 33 (Foxton)
Richard Holling, 41 (Blackball)
Andrew Hurren, 32 (Greymouth)
Jacobus 'Koos' Jonker, 47 (Coben - South African)
William Joynson, 49 (Dunollie - Australian)
Riki Keane, 28 (Greymouth)
Terry Kitchin, 41 (Runanga)
Samuel Mackie, 26 (Greymouth)
Francis Marden, 42 (Runanga)
Michael Monk, 23 (Greymouth)
Stuart Mudge, 31 (Runanga)
Kane Nieper, 33 (Greymouth)
Peter O'Neill, 55 (Runanga)
Milton Osborne, 54 (Ngahere)
Brendon Palmer, 27 (Cobden)
Benjamin Rockhouse, 21 (Greymouth)
Peter Rodger, 40 (Greymouth - British)
Blair Sims, 28 (Greymouth)
Joshua Ufer 25 (Australia)
Keith Valli, 62 (Winton)

Malfuntioning Robot, Hard Rock Hinder Rescue of Trapped New Zealand Miners

Efforts to reach 29 miners trapped by an underground explosion on New Zealand's South Island ground to a halt as a military robot that was relaying images from inside broke down in a passageway.

Police superintendent Gary Knowles said the army robot sent in to transmit pictures and assess toxic gas levels was damaged by water and out of commission. Authorities were urgently seeking other such robots from West Australia and the United States to replace the broken one, Knowles said.

"I won't send people in to recover a robot if their lives are in danger," he said. "Toxicity is still too unstable to send rescue teams in."

Making matters worse, the drilling team boring into the mine tunnel had hit "very hard rock" overnight, Knowles said. The police superintendent's statements came as rescuers waited impatiently for a chance to test if air quality underground was safe enough for them to go in to pull out the miners, who have been trapped for nearly five days.

Family members have expressed frustration with the pace of the response as officials acknowledge it may be too late to save the miners, who have not been heard from since a massive explosion ripped through the Pike River Mine on the country's South Island on Friday.

A buildup of methane gas is the suspected cause of the explosion. And now the presence of that gas and others — some of them believed to be coming from a smoldering fire deep underground — are delaying a rescue over fears they could still explode.

A diamond-tipped drill was put to work as workers hit layers of hard rock and came within 33 feet (10 meters) of the tunnel where they believe some of the miners are trapped, police superintendent Gary Knowles said. The 500-foot (160-meter)-long shaft they are creating will allow them to sample gas levels — including explosive methane and carbon dioxide — and determine if rescuers can finally move in days after the blast.

Knowles said rescuers planned to drop a listening device down the hole to see if they could hear anything — such as tapping sounds — that might indicate that the miners were still alive.

"This is a very serious situation and the longer it goes on, hopes fade, and we have to be realistic. We will not go underground until the environment is safe," Knowles said.

Two workers stumbled out of the mine within hours of Friday's explosion, but there has been no contact at all with the remaining 29. A phone line deep inside the mine has rung unanswered.

Police on Tuesday said that a second robot from New Zealand's military was being flown in by helicopter from Wellington that that a robot specialized for underground work was being flown in to Auckland from Australia or the USA and onto Greymouth from there. I'm hoping that this will have a similar outcome to the Chilean miners' saga last month, but unfortunately that may not be the case at this point.