The Pointon Collection

Ganz Mavag Memories

This short 'film' is a tribute to the EM/ET class electric multiple units, otherwise known as the Ganz Mavags. The footage is from 2012, 2015 and 2016.

The class consisted of 44 units built by Ganz Mavag in the Hungarian city of Budapest, with construction running from 1979 to 1982. The two-car sets were formed of an EM class motor car and an ET trailer. The technical specifications are as follows:

Length (per unit) - 43.06 metres
Width - 2.72 metres
Height - 3.73 metres (with pantograph lowered)
Power Output - 540 horsepower
Seating Capacity - 148 (per two-car unit)
Top Speed - 95 kilometres per hour
Voltage - 1,500 volts Direct Current (later upgraded to 1,600 volts)
Weight - 37.6 tonnes (EM) and 34.5 tonnes (ET)

EM motor cars featured a luggage compartment behind the driver's cab, while the ET trailer cars didn't. The pantograph was mounted above the driver's cab on the motor car. The units were marshaled so that the EM was always facing Wellington, with the ET always facing north. The luggage compartments were used to store bikes or other things that were too large to fit in the passenger compartment without getting in people's way.

The first unit entered service in May 1982, and the introduction of the class coincided with a project to extend the electrification from Paekakariki to Paraparaumu. Their introduction marked the end of electric locomotive-hauled services in Wellington. Today there are still three diesel-hauled passenger services operated out of the city, running to Masterton, Palmerston North and Auckland.

Services run by the Ganz Mavags were primarily on the Kapiti Coast and Hutt Valley Lines. They never ran in passenger service on the Johnsonville Line. This was due to the units being out of gauge and lacking sufficient braking capability for the route. As such, many of the old DM/D class (English Electric) units remained in service past the 1980s.

Being 2-car units, the Ganz Mavags were somewhat flexible when it came to multiple working. They were able to operate in 2, 4, 6 and 8-car formations, with the longer trains being used at peak times and other busy periods. In addition to running under the wires on their own, they were sometimes hauled by diesel locomotives to the Toast Martinborough Wine Festival in the Wairarapa.

When the Ganz Mavags first entered service, they were painted in a horrible olive green and cream livery. This was replaced by the much more pleasant Tranz Metro blue during a refurbishment in around 1995. Ditch lights were added to the units in the mid-2000s. At the same time, the original double-arm pantographs were replaced by single-arm variants.

In 2010, the first of the new 'Matangi' units arrived in Wellington. These were built in South Korea, with the intention of replacing the Ganz Mavags. The first batch of Matangi units consisted of 48 two-car sets. Around this time, motor car EM 1373 and trailer ET 3373 were refurbished in an effort to gauge public opinion. This unit became the only member of its class to be repainted in Metlink colours.

Sadly for the Ganz Mavags, the Greater Wellington Regional Council announced that they had chosen to order 35 more Matangi sets in August 2012. From this point on, the old Hungarian-built units were gradually relegated to peak-hour service only.

The last revenue-earning service operated by the Ganz Mavag units ran on the 27th of May, 2016. On that day a pair of EM/ET units ran the 14:17 Wellington to Melling service (and the 14:39 return).

Seventeen Ganz Mavag sets were shipped to South Africa in February 2014. These units will be converted into unpowered coaches for use in Tanzania and Zimbabwe. One unit - EM 1373 and ET 3373 was intended to remain in New Zealand for preservation.

26 units remained in Wellington yard after withdrawal. The agreement to send these units to Africa fell through in late 2017. Starting in May 2018 the coaches were taken to Wellington's Southern Landfill. Once there they were crushed and buried due to the use of asbestos in the walls.

Two Ganz Mavag units have survived into preservation. EM 1373 and ET 3373 can be found at the Ferrymead Railway in Christchurch (along other ex-Wellington survivors). This unit arrived in the South Island sometime in late 2016. Meanwhile EM 1505 and ET 3505 were saved by the Wellington Heritage Multiple Unit Preservation Trust in June 2018.

EXPLORING WELLINGTON'S spectacular CABLE CAR RIDE (NEW ZEALAND) ????

SUBSCRIBE!! - Let's go for a ride on Wellington's cable car, a spectacular funicular railway between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising 120 m (394 ft) over a length of 612 m (2,008 ft). It is widely recognised as a symbol of Wellington.
Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, sits near the North Island’s southernmost point on the Cook Strait. A compact city, it encompasses a waterfront promenade, sandy beaches, a working harbour and colourful timber houses on surrounding hills. From Lambton Quay, the iconic red Wellington Cable Car heads to the Wellington Botanic Gardens. Strong winds through the Cook Strait give it the nickname Windy Wellington.

New Zealand is a country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean consisting of 2 main islands, both marked by volcanoes and glaciation. Capital Wellington, on the North Island, is home to Te Papa Tongarewa, the expansive national museum. Wellington’s dramatic Mt. Victoria, along with the South Island’s Fiordland and Southern Lakes, stood in for mythical Middle Earth in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films.
#VicStefanu
Vic Stefanu, vstefanu@yahoo.com

A flight to 13,000' AMSL

This was a flight from last Sunday where two of us went to the east coast of the North Island and climbed up to 13,000 for a look around. We then went to Masterton.

Logan Buried

Logan in a deep hole.

Te Horo Flooding

View of Te Horo Beach Road on the 17 September 2016. A heavy rain has flooded the Mangaone Stream which has broken it's banks and headed for a field trip.

I couldn't help making a point on the first corner, which is where an idiot from Bahrain took the corner on the right hand side and collided head on with a woman driving the other way. Accidents happen, but they tried to get off the insurance, and never apologized to her. Silly.

Antipodes

In geography, the antipodes (/ænˈtɪpədiːz/; from Greek: ἀντίποδες, from anti- opposed and pous foot) of any place on Earth is the point on the Earth's surface which is diametrically opposite to it. Two points that are antipodal /ænˈtɪpədəl/ to each other are connected by a straight line running through the centre of the Earth.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Antipodes is often used to refer to Australia and New Zealand, and Antipodeans to their inhabitants. Geographically the antipodes of Britain and Ireland are in the Pacific Ocean, south of New Zealand. This gave rise to the name of the Antipodes Islands of New Zealand, which are close to the antipodes of London at about 50° S 179° E. The antipodes of Australia are in the North Atlantic Ocean, while parts of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco are antipodal to New Zealand.


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MWH Helps Earthquake-Shaken New Zealand Residents Find Stability

Christchurch bounces back from multiple quakes with help from MWH Recovery team.

MWH Global employs approximately 7,000 experts including engineers, consultants and construction professionals globally. As specialists in water and natural resources, MWH employees use innovative ideas and technology to solve complex infrastructure and environmental challenges. MWH is Building a Better World. Meet us at mwhglobal.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

drift nirvana 7-4-07 my rb25det 240 vid 3 of 4 better

me at summit point on the shenandoah circuit beating the crap out of my car.

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight /ˈaɪl əv ˈwaɪt/, known to the ancient Romans as Vectis, is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 3 to 5 mi (5 to 8 km) off the coast of Hampshire, separated from mainland United Kingdom by a strait called the Solent. The island has several resorts which have been holiday destinations since Victorian times.
The history of the Isle of Wight includes a brief period of time as an independent kingdom in the 15th century. Until 1995, like Jersey and Guernsey, the island had a Governor.


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The Genesis of the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic

Michael Worobey, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona

The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 was the most intense outbreak of disease in human history. It killed upwards of 50 million people (most in a six-week period) casting a long shadow of fear and mystery: nearly a century later, scientists have been unable to explain why, unlike all other influenza outbreaks, it killed young adults in huge numbers. I will describe how analyses of large numbers of influenza virus genomes are revealing the pathway traveled by the genes of this virus before it exploded in 1918. What emerges is a surprising tale with many players and plot lines, in which echoes of prior pandemics, imprinted in the immune responses of those alive in 1918, set the stage for the catastrophe. I will also discuss how resolving the mysteries of 1918 could help to prevent future pandemics and to control seasonal influenza, which quietly kills millions more every decade.