Two locomotives have found new homes in Lumsden and Tuatapere, both helping to attract eyes to those smaller rural communities.

Lumsden Heritage Trust chairman and co-founder John Titter said he heard whispers of the locomotives sitting somewhere in Wyndham since 2002.

“Drove down there and looked around, worked out they were in Scobies Transport yard, got a hold of them and asked if they were willing to part ways with those locos,” he said.

Then, in a collaborative effort with Scobies and Smith Cranes, they transported one locomotive to Lumsden and the other to Tuatapere.

“We had to co-ordinate all that to happen in one day. The crane was down there to do the lift, and then the transporters went to various locations, then the crane went up to offload.”

He said the logistics of the operation took a lot of thought and preparation, but on the day it went smoothly.

Mr Titter formed the Lumsden Heritage Trust back in 2013 with co-founder and current Southland Mayor Rob Scott, and Venture Southland.

“We recognised the need for some form of displays or attraction in town that might draw a few of the people that drove through town,” Mr Titter said.

He wanted people to stop and learn a bit of history about the railway station and the items they had on display, but “also to use some of the shops and cafes in town as well”. 

“We started with some displays that were assets from Southland District Council that were stored down in the old Wairoa railway station.”

Since then, the Lumsden static rail display has expanded significantly, bringing international attention via social media.

“I get sent stuff on Facebook from all over the world, people visit and take photos and repost them in rail magazines and tourist magazines.”

He described it as a “reasonably unique static heritage display”, with locomotives and carriages dating back to the 1870s.

“If we didn’t have those things there, we’d just get bypassed.”

Tuatapere Railway and Heritage Trust trustee Jason Christini-Crawford came from a similar perspective to Mr Titter, seeing the old Tuatapere train station as a way to attract attention.

Originally from out of Tuatapere, he remembered driving through the town and seeing the old station for the first time.

“When myself and my wife moved down here about four and a half years ago … we looked at the station and thought it’d be a real asset for the community.

“The building has been there for a long time and many years ago there was some discussion as to what to do with the station … a few of the locals got together and did enough to keep it standing,” he said.

He said for a while it just “sort of stayed there, slowly decaying away”, until the government provided community funding which the Southland District Council had access to.

For a while the station sat dormant, locals coming “every now and again to keep it watertight”.

That was until the council put out a nationwide statement asking what people would like to be seen done with the building.

“A small group of us put a proposal and as part of that proposal, we said we would start a small trust and that would be the vehicle to allow the funding to be accessed.”

After their proposal was approved, the trust was officially formed consisting of the six founding members, including Mr Christini-Crawford.

The Tuatapere station is receiving a full refurbishment and had a small opening in June, with the project set to be complete in December.

This refurbishment included the establishment of their own static rail display, the home of the second locomotive recovered by Mr Titter and his team.

“We built and rebuilt some tracks, trucked down the locomotive and craned it on there … we’ve got three ballast cars that sit behind it as well”, Mr Christini-Crawford said.

He said even though the station is not currently open, he had already seen people stopping to look.

“Even when we were up and down ladders painting or sanding, cars would stop on their way past.”

He had people from out of town talking to him about how they grew up in Tuatapere and remember the station.

“Of course when we were open for three weeks after the grand opening, lots of people stopping by … it’s real positive for the community. That was a big part of why we did it.”

tayler.mutton@alliedmedia.co.nz