Martinus Rail Ballast Wagons Head South - Auckland to Makatote (HD) (Drone Footage)

On Saturday the 9th of September 2023, we chased Train 225s from Auckland (Westfield) to Makatote. Hauled by DLs 9475 and 9112, 225s was conveying 10 XMB Martinus Rail Ballast Wagons to go with DCs 4041 and 4571 for the Picton Yard upgrade in the South Island as Martinus was contracted for the job.
Link to DCs heading south here: • Martinus Rail On The M...
The first leg of our chase started at KiwiRail's Auckland depot at Westfield we then head south following the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) all the way to Hamilton's Depot at Te Rapa. Train 225(s) usually stops in Hamilton for roughly 2 Hours before continuing on south to Palmerston North. We then rejoin the train at Te Kuiti (I know I will try to go to different spots in future) where the trains length has increased to 51 Wagons. This is the highest it has been in a good few months. If I could i probably would've continued the chase to Palmy, however as this video is roughly 30 mins long i ended the chase at the Makatote Viaduct as I had to drive back the same day as I was busy the next. Its also another reason why this video has taken a while to upload. Recently I have been both a bit under the weather and very busy with other things, so i will probably save a full Mid trunk chase for something else coming up. ;)
Again I apologize for taking this long to upload it.
Special Thanks to the KiwiRail Crews for a long and awesome chase.
Next few videos will be more M52 Chases but with long-hood leading banned it will be with Double DCs, but until then Enjoy!

[@FranktheTank-bk8me]

Great footage!

[@tedstrikertwa800]

7:40 Got the D▴E▴K▴A sign in the shot too 👍

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

What I was aiming for 😉

[@petronas211v]

Awesome work! -Ed

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

Thanks!

[@CEO100able]

Nice locomotives, cool countryside scenery, fabulous industrial areas, nice motor sounds, good horns, and odd horns. All to see and hear when watching a video about New Zealand trains like this. Nice work!

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

Many Thanks!

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

Many thanks! Gotta love New Zealand sometimes. :D

[@CEO100able]

@@KiwiRailSpotter You're very welcome. New Zealand sure has a lot of offer. Wonderful scenery, railroads, you name it. I would love to visit it one day!

[@Phil-oj5nr]

Those ballast wagons never reached Picton!

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

They did actually.
They're currently sitting at Wharanui.

[@16yearoldmountaineer96]

love the drone shots with Ruapehu Ngauruhoe and Tongariro in the background pretty good.

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

Thanks! Was what I was going for. 😅

[@bnrailfannz8262]

Another fine video from you 😊 Those ballast wagons look as though they'd hold quite a few tonnes !

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

Thanks! Coming from Australia I imagine they do.

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great Video, fantastic spell of weather. loved the drone shots, thanks for sharing

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

Cheers! Yeah, the weather was perfect.

[@kiwirailtrains8651]

Mate I gotta say your drone skills are just getting better by the day awesome video lovely shots

[@KiwiRailSpotter]

Thanks! Definitely feel it getting better