The Northern Explorer nears the end of an 11-hour journey from the capital as it passes by near Middlemore Hospital. Assisting is 7023 and both locomotives were built by EMD in Canada in 1979 and since rebuilt with various upgrades.
Trains on 3' 6" (1.067m) track from Whangarei to Bluff with virtually heritage rebuilt EMD and GE locomotives still the mainstay power. The network was privatized in 1990's and operated by Toll until 2008 when state owned KiwiRail was established.