Flyer fuel mix-up blamed for grass fire

A fuel mix up is being blamed for a grass fire which sparked an urgent investigation into Marlborough’s historic steam train service.

Pounamu Tourism Group who run the popular ‘Passchendaele’ Ab608 locomotive, launched an enquiry after a spark from the engine caused a grass fire near Seddon last month.

And they believe an accidental switch of soft and hard coal is to blame.

Managing Director Paul Jackson immediately replaced the locomotive as a precaution as part of their investigations.

The company has a “huge responsibility” to the community, he says.

“You can imagine our teams concern with the recent grass fire - our team immediately prioritised a meticulous inspection of the locomotive to find the cause of the spark.

“We have a huge responsibility to the community where we live and work which we take very seriously indeed.

“Through absolutely no fault of our supplier, Birchfield, we have opted to have the coal truck delivered to a central coal bagging plant for logistical reasons, where it was bagged by a third party.

“During the bagging process at the plant, some soft coal was accidentally mixed in with our hard coal.

“We have now reverted to our previous process of overseeing and bagging the coal ourselves to ensure no unintended coal is introduced.”

Paul says Pounamu prides themselves on the care that they and the Steam Incorporated engineers and experts take for the continued running of their locomotives and the heritage train they run.

“The engineers were bewildered because the high standards of maintenance and rigorous testing made this such an unlikely occurrence as has been proven in the last five or six seasons of incident free operations and the fire arrester and ash pan designed to contain such an occurrence are in impeccable condition.”

With the cause discovered, eager travellers on the Flyer are likely to see the “Passchendaele” engine pulling the Marlborough Flyer again shortly with the team awaiting a new coal supply which is en route.

“We will test the new coal running the train with a fire appliance in close pursuit or sufficient fire mitigation such as a helicopter, railroad truck or fire watch to ensure that we are back to well within normal operating performance"

"Fire and Emergency have been working closely with Pounamu Tourism and Steam Incorporated and are very supportive with the planned mitigation being put in place during the testing of the new coal", says FENZ Nelson and Marlborough Group Manager Chris Hayles.

These tests must satisfy all requirements before we return the steam locomotive to service, says Paul.

“The community has been very understanding and supportive and we have reassured our community, including those affected, that we are pulling every lever to ensure a safe and enjoyable future for one of New Zealand’s most famous and loved locomotives.”

“We are well advanced in this process and the target date is December 10.”

History of Ab608 "Passchendaele"

Ab608 has an illustrious history including royal train tours - hauling the Prince of Wales around the South Island in 1920 and the Duke and Duchess of York in 1927 and sits right up there with the TSS Earnslaw and The Kingston Flyer, to name a few.

"Passchendaele" was also the lead locomotive on the official train from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass for the opening of the 8.5km long Otira Tunnel in August 1923 – a feat of engineering which was the longest tunnel in the British Empire at the time.

Each year the train returns to Paekākāriki for extensive servicing in the winter months before returning to Blenheim via the Cook Strait for the summer months of operation.

Pounamu Tourism Group owns The Marlborough Flyer brand which was launched in 2016/2017 to primarily service the cruise ships from Port Marlborough in Picton, and for locals to enjoy on selected “Super Sunday” specials.

Pounamu contracts the rail rolling stock assets with our partners Steam Incorporated with whom we have enjoyed working with for several years and whom we regard as the pre-eminent heritage rail operators in the country.

"We fondly refer to our local supporters as our brand ambassadors as The Marlborough Flyer is the region’s train, one we are all proud of", says Paul.

"The Marlborough Flyer operation is the biggest tangible supporter of heritage rail in New Zealand".