Thomas Searle drew the short straw.
While his brother, Leslie, got to drive the vintage 1934 Sentinel S4 steam truck and admire the spectacular views as it passed through the Mackenzie Country yesterday, Thomas had his head down, shovelling coal into the truck’s voracious boiler as fast as his arms would allow.
"The driver probably gets a better look at the scenery," Thomas said.
"I’m doing the coal shovelling and checking on the water, so my head’s often down.
"It’s pretty hot work in the cab.
"But I did manage to get a good look at Lake Tekapo and a few other bits of scenery — it’s beautiful."
The steam-powered, shaft-driven four-wheeler, operating at 275psi, has two speeds and can reach about 70kmh.
The duo were taking great care to make sure no sparks escaped the truck as they travelled south.
"We’ve got spark arresters on here, so we’re managing quite well.
"We have to, especially down by Tekapo, because all the grass is quite brown there."
The S4 is owned by their parents, Les and Dee Searle, of Horsham, West Sussex, in England, and is one of a number of restored steam engines they own and operate under the name of the Horsham Traction Company.
The truck has spent the past three months in a shipping container, travelling from England to Port Lyttelton, where they started their drive south on Wednesday.
They stopped at Pleasant Point (inland from Timaru) on Wednesday night, and then again in Omarama last night.
Today, they will make the mammoth journey over the Lindis Pass.
"Everyone keeps telling me it’s very steep and we should be worried about it, but we haven’t got there yet and we don’t know what it’s like," Thomas said.
"It’s a case of, we’ll find out when we get there.
"It’s my job to make sure the fire’s nice and hot when we get to the bottom of it. I’m looking forward to seeing how it copes."
The duo are expected to arrive in Wānaka later today.
