#WestmereBank #KiwiRail #MilkTrain . Nearing the end of the 2021 'Milk Train Season' on New Zealand's Marton to New Plymouth Railway, we witness the increasingly rare sight of a KiwiRail 'DFB Class' locomotive lifting a Milk Train up the 1/35 Westmere Bank.
The first train viewed here is Southbound Train 545 being hauled by DL9164 on the gradient from Kai Iwi to Westmere. The Train is made up of containers of product from the Fonterra Dairy Factory at Whareroa in Taranaki. Trailing on the back are eight empty milk wagons destined for refilling in Longburn, Manawatu.
The second is Northbound Train 544L being hauled by DFB 7282 & DL 9135 on the gradient from the Whanganui River Valley up to Westmere known to all as the Westmere Bank. This time the milk wagons from Longburn are fully laden. Each milk wagon weighs 70 tonnes. Trailing on the back are domestic curtain sider wagons and empty export containers. We see the same train heading Northbound on the next gradient that leads the train out of the Kai Iwi Valley.
The Westmere Bank is one of New Zealands steepest railway gradients. The gradient averages at about 1/35 (2.86%) but has sections as steep as 1/33 (3.03%). It was opened on 28 June 1879 and is the ruling gradient of the Marton - New Plymouth Line. The Kai Iwi Bank is shorter in lenght and nearly as steep and the gradient can clearly be seen in this video as the train climbs up the side of the valley.
The DFB locomotives were built by General Motors Diesel of Canada between 1979 and 1981 (Model GL22MC) . The 30 members of the class were powered by an EMD 12-645 engine and were upgraded with a turbo charger in the 1990's to bring their power rating up to 1,800 kW (2,400 hp). In the 2000's most of the fleet was fitted with a BrightStar™ Microprocessor wheelslip control system and were reclassified DFB. The class became regular locomotives on the Marton - New Plymouth Line in 1994.
No new mainline Diesel-Electric locomotives were purchased for the NZ system after the DF's in 1981! that is until the arrival of the DL locomotives in 2010, which increasingly have pushed the DFB class off the Marton - New Plymouth Line.
The KiwiRail DL class was manufactured by CRRC Dalian 中车大连机车车辆有限公司 with engines from MTU. Introduced from 2010 onwards, they are the most powerful diesel-electric locos in service in New Zealand. The class represents the first order for a Chinese-built locomotive from a western country. The 9000 series allocation was chosen for this class of locomotive as the number 9 represents longevity and good luck in Chinese culture. On the Day of the is video, Friday 3rd December, there are 63 of the class in service in NZ and another 10 on order.
2 дек 2021
