Saturday, 3 May 2008, Following a phone call to Opus International to see if the road was clear of snow, we we off. While taking a comfort stop at Arthur's Pass there was ominous signs with some snow flurries, this wasn't good as the Porter's Pass is higher than the Arthur's Pass by approx 200 metres. Porter's Pass was surmounted without incident and so the worst was over. Arrival at Tinwald was a little after 12:30pm, it was bitterly cold and at times a tad windy, the wind making the high of 11°C seem a lot colder. Later in the afternoon the sun shone and some nice photos were obtained.

Ja 1260 looked a real treat hauling carriages A 184, A 1429 & F 322. Most of the runs were made alone but two were double headed with K 88, the significance of this being that K 88 hauled the first through express from Christchurch to Dunedin and Ja 1260 hauled one of the last in November 1971.

The highlight for some was the night runs, of which two were offered, the first departed at 7:50pm, and the second was a little later about 8:20pm, prior to this a number of people attempted to capture the mood at the Tinwald station, it could almost have been the 1950's with a relief express for the West Coast.

Sunday, 4 May 2008, A beautiful day dawned in Tinwald, first up was a trip to Ashburton to see parade celebrating the beginning of Wheels Week, an annual event held in the Ashburton area which includes all manner of wheeled vehicles and machinery.

After the parade we made our way to Tinwald and again took more photos of Ja 1260 and her train, this time use was made of the UCT wagon, a damn great grandstand, more railway groups should enlist the help of these wagons for this purpose!

It was a great weekend and appeared to be enjoyed by one and all, it was great to catch up with friends and make some new ones.

Thanks to the Plains Railway for running this fine weekend.