Trains Across The Manawapou Viaduct 2021

Four daylight freight trains are seen rolling across the The Manawapou Viaduct in South Taranaki, New Zealand. The Viaduct is located about 120 kilometers up the Marton to New Plymouth Line.
The first train is Train 526 and is bound for New Plymouth with DL's 9567 & 9043 on the front. This train was videoed 10 minutes before the first rays of the morning sun hit the viaduct. The scene became quite golden and it is frustrating that the cloud arrived just before train time throughout the day. The second train was Train 545 at 11am with DL 9227 on the front and was heading south from the giant Fonterra dairy factory at Whareroa. Tagged onto the back of the shipping containers were 8 empty milk wagons bound for refilling in Longburn in the Manawatu Region. The third train, 535, was two hours later and was also heading south from Whareroa with DL 9481 on the front. 9481 broke down at Kai Iwi blocking a Northbound milk train which arrived after dusk and thus it was not recored for this video. The final train in this video is Train 521, which is the same train we saw going northbound at the beginning, just going the other way to Palmerston North. The rays of the setting sun have appeared!
The original Manawapou Viaduct was opened in 1884 and was replaced with an adjacent steel structure in 1913. In 1966 a huge flood washed out the bridge and a temporary span was erected until the permanent 50 metre span (as seen in this clip) was completed in November 1969.
Today this line is economically important for Taranaki as it is part of the 'milk route'
The KiwiRail DL class was manufactured by CRRC Dalian 中车大连机车车辆有限公司 with engines from MTU (Motoren- und Turbinen-Union). Introduced from 2010 onwards, they are the most powerful diesel-electric locos in service in New Zealand (3,600 hp). The class represents the first order for a Chinese-built locomotive from a western country. The 9000 series allocation was chosen for this class of locomotive as the number 9 represents longevity and good luck in Chinese culture. There are 63 of the class in service in 2021.
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[@RailLifeSriLanka]

Lovely shot !

[@victoriaross6025]

That's great Mark, good to see you out and about 😁