Driver’s Eye View (New Zealand) - Palmerston North to Dannevirke via the breathtaking Manawatū Gorge

In this video we travel through the dramatic Manawatu Gorge with Steam Incorporated aboard a lovingly restored train of vintage red carriages hauled by a 1955 vintage General Motors diesel locomotive Our special excursion train, the “Hawkes Bay Wine and Food by Rail” began it’s journey at Paekakariki, in this video we pick the train up at Palmerston North for the run to Dannevirke and TakaPau where we were transferred by bus to the Oruawharo Homestead and St Vincent’s for wine tasting and a light lunch. DA 1410, picks up speed as we head along the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) to its junction with the Palmerston North - Gisbourne Line (PNGL) where we take the PNGL towards the Gorge, passing through pleasant countryside to Ashhurst, where we cross the Pohangina River on a long trestle bridge, shortly after crossing the bridge we see a large crane working on the new road bridge over the Manawatu River, part of the new State Highway 3 avoiding the gorge. As we pass the worksite we enter legendary Manawatu gorge proper, no longer traversed by road due to a severe landslip that closed the road to all traffic. With no likelihood of it ever opening again, the gorge can only be seen from the railway or the river itself. Cautiously the driver eases our train along a ledge cut into the rock face carrying the line high above the muddy waters of the Manawatu River, our train edges slowly over a succession precarious bridges, squeezing through narrow tunnels, punctuated with breath taking views of the gorge fore and aft. This is no trip for the faint hearted, we pass the remnants of previous rock slips, the result of earthquakes or torrential rain reminding us of nature’s awesome power, finally our little train of red carriages climbs out of the stupendous gorge, to speed across lush green pastures to Woodville and onto Dannevirke. If you’d like to know more about Steam Incorporated and the wonderful excursions they run, please click on this link - Maps at 00:50 & 00:58 - OpenRailwayMap - Use of the ’OpenRailwayMap’ mark is licenced by the OpenStreetMap Foundation Track Gauge - 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Filmed on