Latest / Wander the World with Pippa Hudson / Wander the World: Work underway to get Outeniqua Choo Tjoe back on track

Transcript

Wander the World: Work underway to get Outeniqua Choo Tjoe back on track · Wander the World with Pippa Hudson

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, we are stepping off the ocean and literally
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: onto the tracks in wonder the world today an interview,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I have to confess I almost feel like I don't
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: want to do this interview in case I jinx it,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: because I have lost counter of the number of times
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: over the years that hopes have been raised and then
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: dashed again on this subject. I'm talking about the project
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: to resurrect the old Otanikuwa Chuchu, which is the steam
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: train which used to travel the scenic line between Nysna
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: and George on the Garden Route, and back in the day,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: it was one of the highlights of a Garden Root
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: holiday to hop on the train and just drink in
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the most extraordinary views that were offered from that ocean
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: side track. But it all came to nothing around about
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: twenty ten. I think it was that Transnett ceased operating
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the line, and there were various efforts over the years
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: to find a new operator to take it over, but
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: eventually the track began to fall into disrepair, Nysner area
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: suffering fires, there were various weather events that caused damage
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: tound the track, et cetera. And I think a lot
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: of people had given up on hoping that it would
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: ever be restored. So you can imagine my surprise to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: hear recently not just whispers, but suddenly a firm plan
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: to see the old steam train whistle again. A business
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: called Classic Rail has won the tender to return her
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to service. It has appointed contractor a free track to
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: begin work on the line, and they have already commenced
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: the clearing of the rail reserve alongside the tracks to
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: facilitate the bigger restoration that has to happen. So very
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: exciting to know that not only is it a maybe,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: but it's a yes and it's already underway. And to
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: fill us in on what has brought us to this
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: point and where to from here, the vision, the timeline, etc.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: It's a pleasure to have with us via zoom this afternoon.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Martin Hatchell for Classic Rail. Martin, great to have you
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: on the show this afternoon. Welcome, Thank you very much.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: In good afternoon.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Before we talk about the renewal plan, let's just start
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: with a little bit of history of this train and
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: this line. Because the line was built well over a cento.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Was it always primarily a passenger retail? Did it ever
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: carry cargo as well?
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: As far as you know, the line was built between
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: nineteen twenty five and nineteen twenty eight, and it was
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: not originally only four passengers.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: It's always it was always a freight line. Okay, it
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: was only in about I think it was ninety six.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: I'm ocome to correction then that the Transmit Heritage Foundation
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: opened up the Ocean Kuo Chuchu as an icon and
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: a passenger service. But there always before that they would
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: they would put a passenger carriage onto the freight trains.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: So it's always it's always carried passengers and threat.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's an interesting I didn't part of the history.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: I didn't know. You know, I grew up spending holidays
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: on the Garden Route, but never actually went on the
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: ice inquid YouTube, but it was always so aware of
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the fact that it was something that sort of had
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: to be ticked off the bucket list. And Martin, I
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: know a lot of people considered it a huge loss
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: when the train stopped running before we talk about why
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: that happened. Though, For those who don't know the route
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: and where this particular track runs, can you explain what
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: makes it so special?
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it runs from the George station was actually from
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: the George from the Transport Museum in George, along the
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: Merlin River and down to the Big Bay, then across
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: the tunnel, across the Caimans River, and then along all
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: the way along the Lakes District past Toe River Island,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: lake Landflay and across the Swat Fleay to Sedgefield and
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: then from Sedgefield via Karma to Night and across the
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: NAIs and the river. Of course, So since you had
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: the famous bridge, the two bridges that they the Kaimans
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: and Naisner Bridges, the photographs of the trains on those
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: two bridges have become iconic.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yeah, I just want to say sorry to interrupt Martin.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: If anybody listening to this has had the experience of
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: traveling on the Otonequatchuchu and wants to speak to us
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: about what it was like back in the day and
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: what you remember most about the trip, we would love
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: to hear from you with either a voice note or
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: a text to seven two five six seven one five
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: six seven as we find out soon about the plans
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: to make that possible again. Martin. I mean, I've spent
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: a lot of time in Nice in the last decade
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: or so, and often looked at that bridge and thought, gosh,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: what a shame that we lost the opportunity to see
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: that site of the train steaming across, and also increasingly
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: of late looked at it and thought, gosh, it almost
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: looks like it's beyond the point of being brought back
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: into service. Now, let's talk about what happened to bring
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: it to that point before we talk about what you're
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: going to do next. Now, why did Transnett stop operating
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the passenger line? And I think it was around about
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: twenty ten, No, it was.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Earlier than that. It was in two thousand and.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Six than that two thousand and six. Alreally, okay, Bloods.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: We had floods in two thousand and six and it
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: damaged the railway line in places and they had to
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: stop the services. They did try to resurrect the service
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: between Nisner and Mussel Bay that wasn't successful and let
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: closed that down.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: I think that's about two thousand.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Okay, I think that's what I'm remembering, that final decision
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: to say we walk away from it. Tier. Okay, but
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. Are those floods causing extensive damage along
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the line much earlier than that? Now, as I've mentioned
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: at the start of this interview, there have been sort
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: of stop start, stuttering efforts to say we can do
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: this again. It would be such an amazing jewel in
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: the crown of Garden Root tourism if we could get
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: it right again, particularly given the increase we have seen
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: in international visitors who would absolutely love the opportunity to
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: experience this classic rail. Has been part of the effort
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: for quite some time. Martin, tell us a little bit
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: about what has brought you to the point of finally
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: being able to give it a go.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Our CEO, Alan mcberty put in a report within
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: months of the two thousand and six flood of how
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: the line could be repaired and the train could be
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: started again, but that wasn't accepted, and in the end
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: he put in two unsolicited bits and we attended to
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: three attenders, and of course the latest one is the
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: one that we've been awarded. So that's over a period
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: of twenty years. Sure we've been added kick going and
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: trying to convince Transmit to let.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Us play on the line again and convince them. You
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: finally did, and not just convince them, but the tender
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: signed and the work already in operation. Now let's talk. Well, sorry,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: before we do this, let me just say for anybody
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: coming in midway to this conversation, you're listening to Martin
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Hatchwell from Classic Rail, who were the successful bid as
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: to win the tender to bring the Arts and Equature
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: CHU back into operation. They have appointed contractors a free
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: track to start the immediate work on the line and Martin,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: I gather they've been at it since December already. So
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: let's start with the line. Can you explain what it
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: is that they're busy doing and then what steps will
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: follow thereafter.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the Happy Check guys are busy clearing the line
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: between Sadfield and Gokarma. It's become quite overgrown. It's in
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: the middle of plantations, so there's a lot of pine,
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: cheese and other vegetation that's grown up of the line
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: and they're clearing the line five meters either side of
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the center line so that we can make a proper
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: assessment of the track and decide how we're going to
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: go forward with the renovation of the track. Okay, the
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: clearing should go on to Nisner And the reason that
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: we've chosen to Sedgefield is that is the part of
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: the track that has the least damage, and we expect
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: to open the first services, the first phase of services
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: between NASA and Sedgefield in about a year's time.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: That quickly already, okay, So that was going to be
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: my next question around the timeline. So as early as
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: a year from now you could be doing an abbreviated
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: proportion from Sedgefield. So did you say from Sedgefield to Nysner.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: That's correct, going to run too. We're planning to run
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: two services when they're fully open. To NASA will be
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: called the Waterfront Express and to George Field, sorry, to
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: the Georgeute Transport Museum in George will be the Museum Limited.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Okay, so two separate trips. Will you be able to
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: do the two connected and just go straight from one
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: onto the other or will they operate completely separately.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: No, they'll operate separately. The reason that we're doing it
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: at whare was we found that the three and a
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: half our trip was too long for to operators, especially
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: the two and a half our trip from from George
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: to NASA. They wanted very often they would drop their
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: people offer George and pick them up again at said
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Shield then go on by a bus from there to
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: stop them pick them up at Niser. So they wanted
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: a shorter, shorter service, so we offered we after we're
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: going to be offering two separate shorter service.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, that means Sedgefield suddenly becomes very prominent in this
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: story and Sedgefield Station, is that going to need any
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: sort of upgrade as part of this project to turn
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: it into your hub to service both directions.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Yes, we will be putting up as a turntable and
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: a steam workshop in Sedgefield to make it the hub
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: for the steam in the garden route.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Okay. A couple of listener comments and then some more
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: questions from me Lynn remembering, oh, those train trips the
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: best scenery. It is so beautiful and such a fabulous
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: experience for locals and visitors, surely remembering how as teenagers
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties they would often go caravanning in
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: the Wilderness, and she said occasionally we would even catch
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the train from Wilderness to George just to go to
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the movie in George. Let's see Gratziella writing in to say,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: so many highlights on this trip, especially for the kids.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: The tunnel, vic Bay, the Kimans River Bridge, a bridge
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: where a car can drive right by or in front
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: of the train, the lovely nis and route in over
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: the lagoon. So Gratziello fond memories, as does Sarah have.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: She says, I traveled on the Chuchu in two thousand
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: and five as part of a church youth group who
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: were visiting from the US. I remember that beautiful scenery.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: The smell of the train going along the coast was amazing,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: as was traveling through the forested areas. The memory has
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: always stayed with me. Lots of people are going to
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: be very happy to know that this experience is being
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: brought back to life. Now, before we leave the actual
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: train tracks and talk about the train, Martin, you said
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: the clearing work is clearing out that road reserve and
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: getting rid of all the overgrowth, which will then allow
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: a proper assessment of the track itself. We talk about
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: a track that, as you've just said, was laid between
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five and twenty eight. What sense do you
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: have of the condition of the track and the railway
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: sleepers themselves. Are there still in reasonable neck or is
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: there going to have to be a lot of replacement?
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Do you think, well, the aftershack guys, syncret the track
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: it is in. The sleepers are in reasonable Nick, Okay,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: there I can sort of one in four will need
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: to be replaced.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Only one in four of one hundred year on the
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: train line. That's that speaks to the quality of the
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: way it was built initially and what it was built from,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: doesn't it. Yeah, Okay, So that's the track, and we've
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: spoken about the station. Now let's talk about the thing
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: that for many people is the big thing here, and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: that is the train itself. Firstly, what kind of condition
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: is it in after all these years of being out
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: of service, and what are the plans for it?
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Well, there are I think it's four different steam trains,
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: steam locomotives that are available to us. Two at the
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: moments stored in George. Their brass parts of students, and
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: we're going to have to be relevated. And what we
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: plan to do is our renovations will take place in Jermyston.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: We will road all the locos to Jermyston where they'll
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: be renovated. That's part of the reason for the delay
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: in starting our services. It's going to take a while
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: to get the locomotives ready. Now the locomotives will be
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: a mix of steam I mean of coal and oil
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: fire because it's obviously a fire risk and oil fired
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: locomotives doesn't pose a risk. And then we're also going
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: to have a couple of Class City two diesel locomotives
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: that we can use on fireus days.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's interesting. So you will use a different locomotive
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: depending on the height of risk of fire on a
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: given day, which, given what nys in a way through
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: not so long ago, you can understand must be a
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: huge concern.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Of course. We're also going to set up cameras,
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: and we've been in talks with the local fire people
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: and will continue to be in touch with them, closer
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: and closer with them as time goes by.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Okay, any other aspects of the renovation project that I
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: haven't touched on or don't know to ask you about
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: that you'd like to mention. We've spoken about clearing the railway,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: We've spoken about checking the integrity of the line, We've
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: spoken about the sort of the train itself. Is there
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: anything else you'd like to mention that is part of
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: your sort of vision for what the finished experience is
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: going to be.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Like, yeah, we've also got a number of carriages which
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: at the moment are standing at the George at the
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Rail Museum in George. They'll have to be renovated, but
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: we will be renovating them in George, and all the
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: carriages and the locos will have to be road hauled
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: into set Shield because phase two of the reconstruction of
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: the line we'll take another year. Okay, after phase one
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: is complete, we guess you have to do major work
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: on the climbers of a bridge. Yeah, and on the
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Murlin River where there's been major washaways, and on the
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Swat River bridge.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Okay. So yeah, I'm glad you've mentioned that, because I
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: thank you for reminding me to talk about that. I mean,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: it's it's visible with the naked eye as you drive
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: over the Kiman's Path that there has been a lot
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: of degradation around that bridge. So but I mean, I'm
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: assuming as part of your tender bid you have had
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: engineering teams look at it all and say it is possible,
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: that is fixable.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: That's great, Kah, it is possible, and it's flexible.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: So the final question then is Okay, so a year
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: from now you'll be hopefully able to travel from Sedgefield
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: to Nisner and a year after that the opposite direction
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: to George. What kind of impact do you think that
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: this is going to have on the Garden Route region
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: in terms of employment and tourism income.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: It's going to have much bigger impact on tourism income
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: than on tour than unemployment, but of course it is
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: going to have some impact unemployment. There will be opportunities
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: for small businesses all the way along the route. The
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: train itself won't employ that many people, but we will
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: open opportunities for small businesses. For instance, transport passengers who
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: only want to go on a one way trip from
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: NASA to said hield or said yield to NASA, so
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: they'll be placed for taxi operators and tour operators to
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: run on that on that route. And we also expect
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: to be to open up opportunities for stall holders at
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: the at the terminances so that people and provide visitors
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: with food and other other items.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Okay, it's just wonderful news, Martin. Thank you for sharing
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: it with us and for updating us on the big
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: vision and the timeline which is delightfully much shorter than
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: I was anticipating. You were going to tell us. So
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: that's very good news, indeed. And last thing to ask
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: you before we say goodbye is where to send listeners
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: who want more information and want to keep an eye
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: on on the sort of the progress of the various
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: aspects of this job. You've got a website that's that's
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: a good place for info, don't you.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's TRIPLEW dot Otaniko Chu Chu c HWTJ dot.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Com dot com. Okay, thank you so much for that,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: and Martin, thank you for joining us to update us
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: this afternoon. Our best wishes to you and the whole
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: team at Classic and your associated contractors for wishing that
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: this goes smoothly and that you're up and running and
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: we're having a very different kind of celebratory conversation a
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: year from now.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Thank you. If you want to make it happen, buy tickets.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Can you buy tickets already?
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Not yet?
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Not just yet. We'll keep you posted on that line.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: We will focus on that shortly.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, Thanks Martin, Well, please keep in touch. Martin Hatchall
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: speaking there on behalf of Classic Rail whose tender was
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: successful for the rejuvenation of the Otoniqua Chu Chu