With the ring of a bell, the Tranz Alpine pulled out of Greymouth for the very first time on November 23, 1987. A substitute for the old railcar, some people baulked at the new train, with just two carriages and no toilets. Thirty years later the Tranz Alpine is a colossus of West Coast tourism. Laura Mills, of The Greymouth Star, finds out about the early days of the West Coast’s tourist train.
Trevor McGrath rang the bell, and they were off on the inaugural journey of the Tranz Alpine, carrying journalists and dignitaries. The Kokatah Band played and cameras flashed.
The carriages — all two of them — were dark blue with red and white stripes. The seats were lavish, compared to the old railcar, with lambskin covers.
On board was Greymouth mayor Dr Barry Dallas, tourism marketing officer Monica Hulme, information officer Shirley Thomas and Grey County Council chairman Bob Smithem.
"It was a Monday, the weather was excellent, the carriages were luxurious and that was the first truly upmarket passenger train from Christchurch to Greymouth and return," Mr Smithem recalled.
The Tranz Alpine runs on the Midland Line, which opened in 1923 with the completion of the Otira Tunnel.
Within days, journalists were talking about the freight which could now travel from west to east, and the view.
"And how beautiful is Otira!" The Press gushed after the opening.
"A little stream makes mellow music!"
Railcars plied the route for the next 60 years, but there was no hint of comfort or tourism.
Fast-forward to 1987, and in its first year the Tranz Alpine carried 25,000 passengers. Word spread and the train journey started to appear in newspapers, magazines and TV shows. It made the pages of travel guides and, more recently, the internet.
Merryn Corcoran moved to Greymouth in 1985 with her husband, who was involved in goldmining, and applied for the position of West Coast public relations officer.
Now an author, she says she was always looking at innovative ways to attract more visitors to the West Coast.
"I was surprised that the train ride wasn’t publicised.
"In Europe, where I had been living, train journeys were popular and an important way for people to move around. But in New Zealand, everybody seems to have a car."
People would look at her sideways because she preferred catching the train to Christchurch, but she was simply gobsmacked at the dramatic scenery along the way.
Together with Greymouth jade carver Ian Boustridge they decided to hold a "trial" train trip, a pottery tour that might attract Christchurch people to visit. That trip included accommodation for two nights in Greymouth, a visit to four potters and the big deal was, a fresh whitebait lunch in a box.
They advertised in the Christchurch Press and got about five couples.
Mr Boustridge was on the train as tour guide, and Ms Corcoran met the visitors at the Greymouth end.
"But the Greymouth station was a bit of a dump, and we whisked them out of there quite quickly," she says.
"We saw it as a success, but it took a long time to convince the ‘power’ in the railways to get involved."
John Bennett, originally from Reefton, was the Christchurch-based area manager of New Zealand Rail at the time.
The ball got rolling after the trial tours, which proved successful.
Wellington did the numbers and they were off. The carriages, built in the 1930s and 1940s, were modified and opened up with large windows.
They added in a commentary, and took the power supply from 32v to 230v.
Someone in their office in Christchurch suggested the name, Tranz Alpine.
"There were no marketing surveys," Mr Bennett laughs.
There was resistance initially because West Coast passenger services were being cut.
On the day of the launch, TVNZ hired a helicopter and filmed the newly-launched train coming through the Waimakariri Gorge. It made the news that night, and the Tranz Alpine has never looked back. It earned a West Coast tourism award, and the following year a New Zealand tourism award.
"Greymouth is the only town in New Zealand with a tourist train running into it," Mr Bennett says.
They had not expected people to travel to Greymouth and back in a single day, but realisedstraight away that it was happening. So they put on a bus tour of Greymouth to keep visitors occupied.
These days, the Tranz Alpine is listed in Lonely Planet guidebooks as one of the world’s top train rides.
Britain’s Telegraph newspaper ranks it as the third best in the world. Not bad for a train that, initially, some did not want.
Doug and Rhonda Levien were instrumental and Roy Anderson did a lot of the early PR legwork.
"There was the collective idea that it would be good for tourism to put a steam train on the Greymouth-Christchurch line," Mr Boustridge says.
They were thinking of something like the Kingston Flyer, a steam train pulling across a panorama.
Merryn Corcoran had arrived in town brimming with enthusiasm, and it all went from there.
The first package on the old Vulcan railcar cost about $150 for the weekend. Accommodation was alternated between the Ashley Hotel and Kings Hotel.
On the Saturday, a bus would take them to Punakaiki, and they would have a whitebait lunch at a local hotel.
Then on the Sunday they would go to Shantytown, over the back way to Dunganville, enjoy panoramic views from Mt Fox, and come out at Kokiri. On the way, Mr Boustridge would talk about the glacial landscape, gold and pounamu.
Passengers would then climb back on the train at Moana, after a smorgasbord tea.
They did that for only one year, in 1986, but it proved the demand was there.
Mr Bennett declined the steam train, but came back with something akin to what we see today.
Mr Neame and Mr Boustridge were flown to Christchurch for the inaugural trip of the new Tranz Alpine. They were given a microphone at Otira and gave a running commentary all the way to Kaiata with tales of gold, giant eels and whitebait.
The next battle was to get the rundown Greymouth Railway Station, with its diabolical toilets, brought up to a better standard.
Then-Tourism Minister John Banks was at Mr Boustridge’s Jade Boulder Gallery one day, so they ambushed him and showed him the state of the toilets at the station. It did the trick.
As passenger numbers grew, tours were added. You could have lunch at the Stationhouse Cafe at Moana, go goldpanning with Paul Schramm, or head to the Jade Boulder Gallery (after watching dolphins at the Grey River tiphead).
It could all be booked through a travel agent in London.
Ian Fisher, from Wylde’s Motors in Runanga, initially met the train for no extra cost, as did Steve Radics, from Hokitika Tour and Charter.
Bob Smithem's involvement started when Mr Bennett brought the idea to a Grey County Council meeting. By then, the feasibility was under way.
Like many Coasters, Mr Smithem had been a regular traveller on the old railcar and he later noticed that during the refreshment stop at Springfield, tourists mostly spent the time taking photos of the mountains.
He began to point them to other attractions, such as the Pancake Rocks.About this time the old Fiat railcar engines were wearing out, so they were replaced with what were dubbed the "green goddess", which was hauled by a diesel locomotive. It was a stop-gap measure until replacement carriages could be obtained.
After that council meeting, the Grey County threw its support behind the Tranz Alpine concept. Some time later, Mr Bennett invited the county chairman to visit the Addington Railway Workshops in Christchurch, where the engineers were building the new rolling stock.
"We were quite impressed at the conversion and refurbishment work that was being carried out on a very limited budget," Mr Smithem says.
After the September 1988 flood, the railways were told to get out of Greymouth.
"A railway executive rang me at the time and we again discussed Moana as the termination point (for the Tranz Alpine), with the engine going on to Stillwater for turnaround on the triangle," he says.
However, that was tempered by concerns that businesses south of Greymouth would lose access to rail, and the fact there were insufficient trucks to cart the goods.The Tranz Alpine survived, and thrived.
In the cab
• Retired Greymouth railwayman Frank Lucas drove the first Tranz Alpine from Christchurch to Greymouth, with the late Ron Hartigan.
• Gary Martin then drove the first Tranz Alpine out of Greymouth, with Bill Gage as second driver.
• Mr Martin still has a folder from that first day, including the buffet menu: West Coast Lamburger and The Great Railways Pie were on offer, as was the Goldminer’s lunch.
• A 53-year railway veteran retired in Greymouth, he remembers that his train was 20 minutes late that day, and 20 minutes late getting into Christchurch.
