Rail enthusiast takes in the ‘music’

A train enthusiast says a pair of historic engines chugging into Dunedin Railway Station was "music to my ears".

Former New Zealand Railways worker Alex Toon, of Dunedin, said he had a lifelong obsession with trains and had been waiting since the morning for Sir Edmund Hillary Explorer to pull up at the station about 5pm yesterday.

"I really love trains," Mr Toon said.

Locomotives had been his career since his grandfather told him to sign up for a job with New Zealand Railways in the 1970s, Mr Toon said.

His enthusiasm had never left him.

The Explorer comprised six carriages towed by two DA locomotives from the 1950s.

"This train brings music to my ears," Mr Toon said.

From Picton to Kaikoura the carriages were hauled by the historic steam engine Ab608 Passchendaele before the diesel-electric locos took over.

Tommy Secker, assistant operations manager of the tour organiser Steam Inc preservation society, said the train that arrived in Dunedin from its stopover in Christchurch was carrying about 150 passengers.

It was scheduled to leave Dunedin for Invercargill at 7am tomorrow

The entire tour group was made up of about 300 people, who were split into two groups, making their way down each side of the South Island to meet up in Invercargill.

"There’s plenty of things to do," Mr Secker said.

oscar.francis@odt.co.nz