LinesiderMagazineNZ

LinesiderMagazineNZ A quarterly magazine celebrating New Zealand's railways through photography, articles and stories.

With eight DXs now having sailed away, it would seem silly not to blow up the next issue of The Linesider to include som...
23/07/2026

With eight DXs now having sailed away, it would seem silly not to blow up the next issue of The Linesider to include some sort of railfan tribute to the class.

We have had a few snippets from drivers (with more to come), but what about us Muggles on the street?

What are your thoughts and memories of the mighty DX - perhaps when you first encountered them, or now, with the realisation that we are now well into the beginning of the end? Add a short comment below!

Out with the old, and in with the new. As you will have heard, DM's 5-7 arrived onto NZ soil this morning. Glen Anthony ...
05/06/2026

Out with the old, and in with the new.

As you will have heard, DM's 5-7 arrived onto NZ soil this morning. Glen Anthony was there to see 8058, 8070 and 8087 offloaded, and has let me repost a picture. The next batch of six is rumoured to here before the end of July, and might come into Timaru due to some work being done at Lyttelton. Suits me fine!

And remember how I mentioned that it might be time to get your DX pictures while you can? The first pair may be getting their passports and warm weather clothes ready for packing as soon as this weekend. Word has it that 5074 and 5114 will then be followed by 5016, 5068, 5080, 5166, 5448 and 5483 over the next week or so. They will have fuel and fluids drained, radios, gas masks and the like removed during June before they sail off into an African sunset.

Get your cameras ready for more DCs out on the mainline too - motive power will be tight over the next few months. I suppose in a perfect world we would have Dunedin Railways and Steam inc locos (and crews?) running some of the shunts to Taieri, Darfield, Rolleston and Bankside to free up another four locos. Hashtag SendTheDBRsSouth...

If you haven't already retrieved it, issue 24 of The Linesider might be outside, shivering in your mailbox right now. It...
28/05/2026

If you haven't already retrieved it, issue 24 of The Linesider might be outside, shivering in your mailbox right now. It will land on bookshop shelves after this holiday weekend, on Tuesday 2 June.

This one contains a few Otago items to coincide with the upcoming release of the ‘North Otago Branch Line Railways’ book from the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society.

We begin with the Makareao to Burnside stone trains, then
Richard Emerson presents some of his father George’s pictures, taken on a 1968 mystery trip behind J 1211 out of Dunedin. We pay a visit to the Oamaru foreshore, once home to an abundant crop of rusty locomotive carcasses dumped to protect against erosion. For a little geographic variety, Steve McEleny took some lovely pictures of former MAXX blue DC locomotives, ten years ago.

If your local bookshop doesn't have a copy for you, tell them to get onto ARE Direct and order you one! Or if you'd like to save some dosh in these tough times, subscribe by clicking on this link and heading over to the NZR&LS: https://linesider.railsoc.org.nz/

Once your copy arrives, post a picture of it below. Perhaps with a railway item in the background, or next to your model railway, or a pic of you reading it, or beside a favourite a train image or book, or a coffee, or an Emerson's beer (to please regular contributor Richard Emerson)!

Darryl

I've had word that the March issue of The Linesider hasn't arrived in some shops, but they should be there on Monday (to...
07/03/2026

I've had word that the March issue of The Linesider hasn't arrived in some shops, but they should be there on Monday (tomorrow).

Don't miss out. Queues are forming at some bookshops already.

The March issue of The Linesider should be popping into subscriber mailboxes by now and be at stockists on Monday. In t...
27/02/2026

The March issue of The Linesider should be popping into subscriber mailboxes by now and be at stockists on Monday.

In this one, Dave Simpson shares stories of his five decades with the DX locos, D. L. A. Turner visited the fascinating Denniston Incline in 1966, Russ Bidgood photographed EMUs that were powered by diesels in 1968, and we explore the high-volume fibreglass box wagons of the 1990s.

As always, we are curious to see how distribution is going, so sing out in a comment when yours arrives.

Regards, Darryl

P.S. A quick update: As noted in the magazine (the day before publication!), the next three DMs didn't make the boat from Spain in November. So the 10 DXs that were expected to be shipped to Africa in April have had their residency extended a few months. A second batch of 12 that were to go in June, will also be hanging around a little longer. For those that haven't read page 4 yet, that original plan, which would have had almost half the DXs gone by June, should indeed be a wakeup call for anyone who still enjoys seeing, listening to, photographing or videoing them.
P.P.S. Train 925 last night confirms that at least one DXB is still here.

Enjoy train photography? Bernd Seiler of Farrail Tours has been running steam charters for railway photographers and vid...
15/02/2026

Enjoy train photography? Bernd Seiler of Farrail Tours has been running steam charters for railway photographers and videographers for 25 years and is tentatively planning a six-day trip in New Zealand in June, based out of Palmerston North. Primarily with 8-coupled locos and red passenger cars.

Aiming to get dramatic photos at good locations in interesting light, these tours start well before sunrise and finish late. This not a tour for run-of-the-mill snapshots at level crossings. There will be curves, bridges, tunnels, and as much drama and big steam as can be plumed.

We will wait for good light and do multiple runpasts if a cloud gets in the way or the steam isn’t right. We will travel on the train, walk the line, and climb hills for shots of ‘authentic’ trains working hard in perhaps a dozen or more hard-to-get-to locations each day. Even when the weather doesn’t cooperate, there are interesting pictures to be taken. See the attached examples from other trips or check his farrail.com website.

Yes, this is expensive, because chartering trains is really expensive, but attendees from around the world typically click the shutter a thousand times and go home with a hundred or more spectacular shots. The price includes hotels, meals and transfers. If you have accommodation around Palmerston North and want to feed yourself, contact Bernd, and he will get you a price excluding those pieces. If you want to do half the days, he may be able to accommodate you.

Contact Bernd *ASAP* if you have any interest: Details here.
https://www.farrail.com/pages/touren-engl/New_Zealand-steam-charter-trains-for%20photographers-2026.php

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