Three Cocks, Wales Superthread

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coolian2 said:


I have a list a mile long of flights i want to do here, and it's right at the top.


Turboprop flights = :drool: :drool:

And more environmentally friendly too.
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I imagine flights to any West Coast destination would be pretty fucking awesome too. Wellington to Westport would go over the Marlborough Sounds, right?

I expect the point about environmental friendliness is what will save the Overlander in the long term, in that it's more environmentally friendly to go by train than plane on that route. They just need to, you know, raise the Overlander out of third world standards. It boggles my mind how that train is timetabled to take any more than about 8.5 hours.

Incidentally, what kind of planes are used for Christchurch to Dunedin?
 
coolian2 said:


Why not? I'm expecting Elton John to pop up tonight. He's (well, you know what i mean) been featured in all of the bus stop advertising and wasn't on last week although Freddie Mercury, who has featured as well appeared last week.

So, Elton John at the very least. I can't say i expected Shakira though, so we may be in for an interesting night.
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:lol: I wonder if somebody will do a Beatle, say Paul McCartney?

Or maybe Mick Jagger? That's another very mundane mainstream choice.
 
Axver said:


I imagine flights to any West Coast destination would be pretty fucking awesome too. Wellington to Westport would go over the Marlborough Sounds, right?

I expect the point about environmental friendliness is what will save the Overlander in the long term, in that it's more environmentally friendly to go by train than plane on that route. They just need to, you know, raise the Overlander out of third world standards. It boggles my mind how that train is timetabled to take any more than about 8.5 hours.

Incidentally, what kind of planes are used for Christchurch to Dunedin?
Click to expand...

I'm so down with flying even Christchurch to Hokitika or something similar.

I can't believe the Overlander takes 12 hours. There is no way that anybody needing to commute will ever consider that vs flying. Where the fuck does the 12 hours come from? Do they go via Norfolk Island?


Planes on Christchurch to Dunedin...it looks as though Air New Zealand use ATR-72 turboprops (which, they use on Wellington to Christchurch to compliment their 737 services), and Pacific Blue will soon be on the route using 737s, which i suspect may see Air New Zealand bring back the 737s to that route in small numbers.
 
coolian2 said:


We'll know in about 20 minutes.

It's wrong how excited i am about this unintentional humour.
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:laugh: It's wrong how I wish I could watch ...
 
coolian2 said:


I'll do my best. I know i'm missing out on goodness but every time i have the right intentions i forget to bring my iPod with me, or some other flimsy reason.
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I normally use holidays to trial new music. I got into Alcest in mid-2007 on a trip to Nelson. This time, though, I don't think I listened to a note that wasn't by Porcupine Tree.
 
coolian2 said:
I'm so down with flying even Christchurch to Hokitika or something similar.

I can't believe the Overlander takes 12 hours. There is no way that anybody needing to commute will ever consider that vs flying. Where the fuck does the 12 hours come from? Do they go via Norfolk Island?
Click to expand...

Flying over the Southern Alps would be fucking amazing on a clear day.

I can give you a whole list of reasons why the Overdue is timetabled to take 12 hours! It's absolutely obscene, because its current timetable is about 2-2.5 hours SLOWER than services in the 1960s. I believe that the record is roughly 7.5 hours, when the General Manager of the Railways took his personal railcar for a spin.

But basically:
1. Freight is the priority these days, so the Overdue gets shunted around it.
2. The locomotives running it are old and underpowered.
3. The track is absolute dogshit in places.
4. There's a half hour lunch stop in National Park because apparently it's impossible to order ahead and have the food meet the train.
5. The rollingstock dates from the fucking 1940s and has been renovated to within an inch of its life (same goes for the TranzAlpine carriages too).

With decent track upgrades, new rolling stock, and better locomotives, you could do the run in 8.5 hours EASILY. It's still not that competitive for the business traveller, but hundreds of people drive or bus that route daily and a train running that schedule would be very competitive. Who wants to sit on a cramped bus when you can ride a train, walk around when you like, eat in the dining car, etc.?

Planes on Christchurch to Dunedin...it looks as though Air New Zealand use ATR-72 turboprops (which, they use on Wellington to Christchurch to compliment their 737 services), and Pacific Blue will soon be on the route using 737s, which i suspect may see Air New Zealand bring back the 737s to that route in small numbers.
Click to expand...

Ah, righto. Just because, with increasing environmental awareness, there might be a chance to bring back the Christchurch - Dunners train, and I don't see any way a 737 would be more environmentally friendly per km on that route. I'm still aghast that route got canned in 2002. It was the flagship of the network until the early 1990s.
 
Axver said:


Flying over the Southern Alps would be fucking amazing on a clear day.

I can give you a whole list of reasons why the Overdue is timetabled to take 12 hours! It's absolutely obscene, because its current timetable is about 2-2.5 hours SLOWER than services in the 1960s. I believe that the record is roughly 7.5 hours, when the General Manager of the Railways took his personal railcar for a spin.

But basically:
1. Freight is the priority these days, so the Overdue gets shunted around it.
2. The locomotives running it are old and underpowered.
3. The track is absolute dogshit in places.
4. There's a half hour lunch stop in National Park because apparently it's impossible to order ahead and have the food meet the train.
5. The rollingstock dates from the fucking 1940s and has been renovated to within an inch of its life (same goes for the TranzAlpine carriages too).

With decent track upgrades, new rolling stock, and better locomotives, you could do the run in 8.5 hours EASILY. It's still not that competitive for the business traveller, but hundreds of people drive or bus that route daily and a train running that schedule would be very competitive. Who wants to sit on a cramped bus when you can ride a train, walk around when you like, eat in the dining car, etc.?



Ah, righto. Just because, with increasing environmental awareness, there might be a chance to bring back the Christchurch - Dunners train, and I don't see any way a 737 would be more environmentally friendly per km on that route. I'm still aghast that route got canned in 2002. It was the flagship of the network until the early 1990s.
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That's fair enough, i guess. As the Rail Manager or whatever the job title is said, the TranzAlpine was kept alive by the coal trains when it was facing the axe, and it's probably not too different for the Overlander. The guy made mention of the carriages being nearly as old as the hills, it's fucking crazy. Although they're internally in great shape.

Get it down to 8.5 hours and you've got yourself a viable service.




And yeah, it's a shame that train was shitcanned, especially because more and more it proves to be a poor decision with all of the environmental hype now. Then again, there would be some idiot complaining about the trains running the route and polluting the atmosphere or some shit like that.
 
Also, Ian, would you agree that some of the air routes in New Zealand are spectacularly pointless? I am thinking specifically of Wellington to Napier, which has been a source of numerous rants from me over the years. IT WOULD BE QUICKER TO DRIVE. Or catch the bus (or, pre-2001, the train). Who the hell wants to fly Wellington to Napier? That just never made any sense to me.
 
Axver said:
Also, Ian, would you agree that some of the air routes in New Zealand are spectacularly pointless? I am thinking specifically of Wellington to Napier, which has been a source of numerous rants from me over the years. IT WOULD BE QUICKER TO DRIVE. Or catch the bus (or, pre-2001, the train). Who the hell wants to fly Wellington to Napier? That just never made any sense to me.
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There is some strange stuff, but you would presume they wouldn't fly it unless there was a good reason to fly it.

I can't understand Qantas flying Rotorua - Queenstown....unless it's for tour groups.

But the geography of New Zealand is really conducive to flying generally being more convenient.

For redundant air routes, it's hard to argue with the now discontinued Santa Ana - LAX route in Los Angeles, which is a short across town hop....
 
coolian2 said:
That's fair enough, i guess. As the Rail Manager or whatever the job title is said, the TranzAlpine was kept alive by the coal trains when it was facing the axe, and it's probably not too different for the Overlander. The guy made mention of the carriages being nearly as old as the hills, it's fucking crazy. Although they're internally in great shape.

Get it down to 8.5 hours and you've got yourself a viable service.
Click to expand...

Yeah, certainly freight has played a big role in keeping some of the services alive. If the coal trains disappeared, nothing could save the TranzAlpine even today, as that line is not cheap to maintain.

There really is no excuse for rail travel in New Zealand being in such poor shape. Rotorua in particular should have at least two return trains daily from Auckland (on a line via the airport) due to the tourist traffic. But the government completely failed rail in the late 1970s and 1980s, and it has never recovered. Somebody's going to need to invest shitloads soon though, as the environment isn't getting any better.

And yeah, it's a shame that train was shitcanned, especially because more and more it proves to be a poor decision with all of the environmental hype now. Then again, there would be some idiot complaining about the trains running the route and polluting the atmosphere or some shit like that.
Click to expand...

:lol: It'll be one of the dickheads from the bus lobby for sure, ignoring the fact that a passenger train is far more environmentally friendly than a convoy of buses. The bus lobby's latest brilliant idea is to convert one of Wellington's railway lines into a single-lane busway. Let's just say that proposal was laughed at and swiftly dismissed.
 
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