Taieri Gorge Railway, NZ

Ready to join us on a vintage train ride?

There is the train station…beautiful, isn’t it.

It is rather spectacular inside too.

 

Ready? Let’s get on board. 

The promotional material indicates we are in for a special ride.

(Hint: Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Leaving Dunedin we see some lovely residential and agricultural land.

As the train rumbles on we head into a very different landscape.

There are a few stops where we can get out and stretch.

Some lovely views can be seen from the train windows.

The river is rather muddy today as there have been rains recently.

The terrain can be rather bleak at times.I rather doubt if I would have survived if I had to live here in the 1800’s.

The highlight scene from the journey is the Flat Stream Viaduct.

The viaduct stands 34 metres above the stream bed and opened in 1891.

OR was that the Wingatui Viaduct?

Oops! I am not sure!

If it is the Wingatui Viaduct, it is 50 metres high.

The return journey is on the same tracks we went out on…so same scenery, just from a different angle.  For me the return trip was a time to reflect on the difficult life women and men  must have had as their families set up farms (and other industries) in this area.

There is the horse race track, so we must almost be back in Dunedin.

Comments, of course I have comments!

I found the trip rather long and tiring. If it had been just one way and then a different type of activity to get us back to Dunedin, I would have been much happier. But maybe I was rather spoiled because earlier in our journeys we had been treated to other (shorter!) vintage train rides that were much more personal than this one. I am thinking of Glenbrook Vintage Railway (near Auckland) and the Ashburton Railway and Preservation Society museum and train ride in Tinwald (near Christchurch).

Just one person’s opinion!

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Happy travels!