Hillside
International
Albert Bossward: "We don't have high speed technology but we're utilizing our system to the absolute limit and we push our equipment harder than most other people do – so it's a living railway where we maximise our assets probably better than most. It's a 24/7 live operation; they're moving all the time so there's no dull period".
Hillside is uniquely placed to work with overseas manufacturers because they have more knowledge of control systems than most railways. This is because of New Zealand's steep hills, curved tracks and the fact that we load our trains to the locomotive's limits. It is very rare for locomotive manufacturers to get such intense information about their own systems.
International locomotive manufacturers give their software to Hillside for fine tuning. According to Albert "This is like letting us inside their company secrets, that's how much they trust us".
A lot of unique work is done on locomotive control systems although not all the time; every couple of years another big fine tuning project will come up.
As well as specifying systems the company has previously specified a unique portable remote control system that is patented and now being copied. So rather than just buying remote controls Hillside is helping to develop them.
