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Locomotive in the Oreti river it a real tresure to me lol

Rob2180		Posted : Friday, 9 September 2011 1:42:36 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		Hi all while serfing the net in my endless search for dumped steam locomotives i found this picture its the last picture on the page it is dumped in the Oreti river if the is anyone down there it would be a good find 4largescale.com/fletch/d13.htm Rob2180 attached the following image(s):
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Lammerlaw		Posted : Friday, 9 September 2011 9:35:10 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		I think that more than one found its way into the Oreti River...or was that the Mataura River - (Rushes off to look at Railway books but could find what was dumped where) - in an y case I dont think that particular train will b e in much of a state for preservation as it will be right at the mouth of the river as is indicated by the waves coming in and it will also be under the bank on the Bluff side - now having said all that I would love to find it as I had always dreamt of my own choo choo train and the closest I have at the moment is a couple of wind up Hornby ones! I am sure that a metal detector would readily find them with no problems whatsoever. A friend of mine, as I think I mentioned in another thread, borrowed my metal detector to locate a 64 lbr Muzzle loading Armstrong rifles cannon barrel and a rifles seven ton barrel from Queens Gardens in Dunedin and having got permission to dig them up is now restoring them. These things are great to find, very desirable and should be located, retreived, restored and placed in museums for all to enjoy.

simon		Posted : Friday, 9 September 2011 10:10:58 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		lammerlaw: that queens gardens must be full of large treasure. i'm guessing anything large and too heavy to haul as far as the tip. that was where i remember reading in the papers years ago that at least a loco was buried. rob 2180: the oreti loco in the photo. i used to live at otatara which is by the oreti river where it enters the estuary. the photo does not look like the oreti shoreline. this shoreline is tidal all the way to wallacetown nearly. the banks are soil and the river edges gravelly by the mouth with a lot of soft sandy bogs in the tidal bits. anyhow, from the photo i have a couple of ideas. they often used large locos to stabilise the banks under of next to roads and bridges. this could lead to say the oreti bridge at otatara. only trouble is the train line never went that far and i doubt they hauled it that far by other means. its not that bridge anyway i think as its up pretty high. BUT, there is a causeway that runs from invercargill town town out to otatara (a suburb). this causeway was built to drain some land for the airport and then protect it from the estuary waters. eventually when cars got more popular the road was built alongside the causeway. Originally the causeway had a train that ran to invercargill. not sure of the track gauge but i know it ran out to otatara and up oreti road (i used to live on oreti road). i think the engine in this photo may be being used to prop up some of this causeway. if only my grandad was still around. he remembered all that sort of stuff (was also crazy about gold and was the one responsible for my initial interest in gold). there's books in the invercargill library full of stuff on this sort on thing. if you find any otatara history books it should be in one of them.
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Lammerlaw		Posted : Friday, 9 September 2011 11:57:31 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Originally Posted by: simon lammerlaw: that queens gardens must be full of large treasure. i'm guessing anything large and too heavy to haul as far as the tip. that was where i remember reading in the papers years ago that at least a loco was buried. rob 2180: the oreti loco in the photo. i used to live at otatara which is by the oreti river where it enters the estuary. the photo does not look like the oreti shoreline. this shoreline is tidal all the way to wallacetown nearly. the banks are soil and the river edges gravelly by the mouth with a lot of soft sandy bogs in the tidal bits. anyhow, from the photo i have a couple of ideas. they often used large locos to stabilise the banks under of next to roads and bridges. this could lead to say the oreti bridge at otatara. only trouble is the train line never went that far and i doubt they hauled it that far by other means. its not that bridge anyway i think as its up pretty high. BUT, there is a causeway that runs from invercargill town town out to otatara (a suburb). this causeway was built to drain some land for the airport and then protect it from the estuary waters. eventually when cars got more popular the road was built alongside the causeway. Originally the causeway had a train that ran to invercargill. not sure of the track gauge but i know it ran out to otatara and up oreti road (i used to live on oreti road). i think the engine in this photo may be being used to prop up some of this causeway. if only my grandad was still around. he remembered all that sort of stuff (was also crazy about gold and was the one responsible for my initial interest in gold). there's books in the invercargill library full of stuff on this sort on thing. if you find any otatara history books it should be in one of them. It is definitely within the reach of the waves as a small one is rolling toward the locomotive - now if you think about it you could locate that train to within a hundred metres or so by going there and observing the angle the swell is coming in - I have been there recently at the mouth and wonder if it is at Bushy Point or Clifton? Does the swell of the waves come in there - I suppose it would??? There was a railway went along the bank at Clifton once upon a twice.

simon		Posted : Friday, 9 September 2011 12:43:22 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		the more i think about it i'm sure it can't be the causeway to otatara. too much swell and the banks too big. its probably more likely the trainline on the edge of bluff harbour. thats really a decent swell and that's quite a large bank really in context to the size of the locos. definitely a big project for the time and i doubt they would have taken a heavy loco too far from tracks back then if they were dumping it. the estuary itself that the oreti empties into can get rough but that looks nearly more like the sea so yeah, prob somewhere between clifton and bluff. still. it must have been a rough day. spring tides or something might be why it was chucked there. i guess if you wanted to find and remove said locos you would have to fork out a hell of a bundle to reinforce this bank wherever it is. not much happened in invercargill that didn't make headlines. such an event has got to be recorded. i'm thinking nz railways books!!! the invercargill library is quite good. i'm sure they probably have an online catalog too.
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under the bedrock		Posted : Friday, 9 September 2011 7:00:29 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 6/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 116 Location: invercargill Was thanked: 14 time(s) in 13 post(s)		waves could be from a boat going past or a wind driven river swell. No where near the mouth looks like that,could be up wallestown way maybe. Was out at sandy point today very nice.

Rob2180		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 12:46:22 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		I found out there was 8 more locomotives stacked on top of the one in the picture I was thinking next time I go on holiday I might go to invercargill if someone found the locomotives or a rough location I would form a group of mates and start fundraising money to recover all 8 of the dumped locomotives the one im after is a single fairlie 0-6-4t there is only one in the world in preserved condition
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gavin		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 12:56:28 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Administrators, Registered Joined: 20/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,326 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 736 times Was thanked: 535 time(s) in 287 post(s)		Interesting bit of background discussed here: http://www.nz120.org/forumtopic/whats-story-all-those-dumped-steam-engines-along-riverbeds
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nzpoohbear40		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 1:13:53 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,482 Location: Matura Thanks: 26 times Was thanked: 384 time(s) in 329 post(s)		they just uncovered a couple in Oamaru last summer to i think that they had used in the banks as breaks..i heard they were thinking of trying to restore them.. they might still be sitting there.
		Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/

Rob2180		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 1:19:14 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		Here is a picture of one the recovered in Oamaru it also an R class there where only 18 R classes in new zealand the one in Oamaru its number is R271 File Attachment(s): DSC02652 [1024x768].JPG DSC02650 [1024x768].JPG
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madsonicboating		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 1:38:26 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 21/03/2011(UTC) Posts: 674 Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 157 time(s) in 127 post(s)		great topic!! this topic is way cool! Man that one at Oamaru sure took a beating from the waves and salt!! more more :)
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Rob2180		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 2:12:41 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		The locomotive in the picture is 11 foot and 6 inch at the top of the smokestack and its around 7 foot wide for a size to help find the location
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Rob2180		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 1:13:29 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		he is a drawing of an R class Rob2180 attached the following image(s):
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Lammerlaw		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 2:30:04 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		I have just taken a break from a task my son who is also on this forum and I am doing today and I am sure the equipment we are using is far more advanced than any metal detector and is possibly the best equipment in New Zealand to actually locate these locomotives and anything similar...indeed I just asked my son before coming onto Paydirt if it would be good for recovering some lost artillery pieces I know of and he said yes. We are using it to locate dead bodies buried in a cemetery and I am most impressed with this machine - its power is such that each beep is apparently picked up by satellites - it is a Ground Penetrating Radar unit. When we finish a line my son says tells me how many bodies are buried along each line - its amazing standing there realizing that you have just passed over people without ever knowing so. Now I really am wondering as I have a fetish for steam engines to as well as artillery pieces! Going off on another track an old friend of mine whose dead at the moment - thats got nothing to do with the cemetery above - had an old train of his own to play on as his father bought a Double Fairlie for scrap metal - before they could scrap it they had a boiler failure in their foundry and the old engine was employed as a source of power and consequently never got scrapped. The name of the old engine was 'Josephine' and she is still in existence at the Otago early Settlers Hall. My old cobber came from the Smellie Family of Green Island who owned the Green Island foundry which had at the time of the Second World War the largest Bessemer Furnace in NZ I believe though am not entirely certain. Edited by user Friday, 10 February 2012 9:00:37 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

Rob2180		Posted : Saturday, 10 September 2011 7:17:39 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		@Lammerlaw Thats real cool knowing the old owner of Josephine next time i go on holiday in the south island seeing the Otago early Settlers Hall is a must iv been thinking about putting a $10 wager on anyone who can find the locomotive dump site
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Strider		Posted : Friday, 10 February 2012 8:29:09 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Dust Groups: Registered Joined: 10/02/2012(UTC) Posts: 5 Thanks: 3 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 2 post(s)		Hi, FYI There are a couple of old locomotives/steam engines dumped on the western side of the Oreti river about 50-100m north of the bridge that crosses the river on the Lumsden - Te Anau Highway. Hope these directions help J.T

Rob2180		Posted : Saturday, 11 February 2012 10:16:00 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		Hi Strider thats very interesting you wouldn't happen to have a pic or two would you
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Strider		Posted : Saturday, 11 February 2012 11:21:46 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Dust Groups: Registered Joined: 10/02/2012(UTC) Posts: 5 Thanks: 3 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 2 post(s)		Dont at this stage but may be going past that way this week so will see what i can do...

Rob2180		Posted : Wednesday, 15 February 2012 4:54:21 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 7/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 12 time(s) in 11 post(s)		Oh cool it would be good to see some pics
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