In this video we return to our train having enjoyed lunch and wine tasting at the “Oruawharo Homestead”. This time the lead engine is DB class locomotive No.1254 with 1955 vintage General Motors diesel locomotive No.DA1410 assisting.
Passengers were transported by bus to “Silver Fern Farms” sidings where the special excursion train, the “Hawkes Bay Wine and Food by Rail” was waiting to take passengers back to Paekakariki with intermediate stops for passengers wishing to alight closer to home. We ease out of the sidings onto the Gisbourne Line (PNGL) heading back towards Palmerston North via the Manawatū Gorge.
The Manawatū Gorge is 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, today the gorge can only be seen from the railway or river itself. The first part of the journey to Woodville passes through rolling hills with lofty viaducts carrying the tracks high above numerous river valleys, shortly after Woodville we enter the gorge where our driver cautiously eases his train along a ledge cut into steep gorge side and over a succession bridges high above the river with breath taking views of the gorge fore and aft. As we leave the gorge we pass the construction site for the new bridge that will carry State Highway 3 on a new route avoiding the gorge. Finally we join the electrified North Island Main Trunk for the last few kilometers of our journey into Palmerston North. Please look out for the next part of this trip - Palmerston North to Paekākāriki.

If you'd like to know more about Steam Incorporated and the awesome excursions they run, please click on this link - https://www.steaminc.org.nz/

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)