The gracious age of steam travel returned to NZ’s East Coast on Saturday as 180 passengers joined the J1211 to chug through vineyards in the Esk Valley as part of a special Hawke’s Bay scenic excursion.
The line had been closed to passenger traffic since 2001 and it was only at Easter that Ontrack decided to reopen it.
As part of the trip the vintage locomotive stopped to give way to Gisborne’s vintage Tiger Moth, with Gisborne is the only place in the world where trains give way to planes, because it is the only airport where a main trunk line runs across a runway.
The 1940 DH82a Tiger Moth was built in England and once flew for the RAF. It was brought to New Zealand for topdressing duties during the 1950s. When it was retired, a syndicate was formed to restore it and keep it in Gisborne.
Report by The Mole
