"When it's busy, with the bells and whistles and people coming and going, it's such a great environment." Photo / Alison Smith
"When it's busy, with the bells and whistles and people coming and going, it's such a great environment." Photo / Alison Smith
Ringing the bell and clipping the tickets, volunteers of Thames Small Gauge Railway have a train service operating in Thames that can't keep up with demand.
Decades since the heyday of rail in Thames, when the town was building and overhauling wagons as a significant part of the industry, Thames Small Gauge Railway has had to cut services - not because of a lack of passengers, but because of a shortage of volunteers.
"We've had an enormous day," says Station Master Russell Skeet on the most recent run day, a Sunday from 11am to 3pm. "We're down to one Sunday a month because we haven't got the manpower."
At the Grahamstown station on Brown St, The Eurostar, Frenchie, Dexter and the Pak n save Express had passengers all day paying $2 for the seven-minute ride along the Thames Coast and through a purpose-built tunnel back to the historic Grahamstown train station.
Queueing for a ride were parents and grandparents with children, overseas visitors and even a small dog.
Dennis Blake has always had model trains. Photo / Alison Smith
Dennis Blake took a break from selling tickets to explain how he's always had model trains and believed rail transport never got the political support it deserved as a transport solution.
"When I was a kid in Ngatea you could hear the trains on the main line on a frosty morning tooting away," he said.
"It's disappointing the old mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson wasn't listened to and the trains were taken out of Auckland - if they don't do something to reduce cars, the world is in for a hiding."
A series of six articles published in the New Zealand Herald in 1975 by Sir Dove-Myer Robinson record that discussion.
"Traffic congestion in Auckland has been getting worse since it was first noticeable in 1927," he wrote, and compared capital costs of $600 million for an all-bus/roading system against the capital costs of the full bus/rail scheme for Auckland of $300m.
In Thames, skilled railway volunteers are still being sought despite the railway line having closed in 1987. It closed to passengers from Thames from April 27, 1929.
The society is governed by the Model Engineering Association of New Zealand and perform duties like driving, ticket sales and maintaining the trains, plus administration and marketing.
The work is fun but it's not all work. Society members travel to other small gauge rail enthusiast groups, says Russell.
"We'd love to hear from anyone with the ability to drive a locomotive, or with awareness of how a mechanical device on a track carrying passengers should operate. It's not difficult, but there is a test."
Driver Dave Brockbank said the atmosphere was always entertaining: "It's a day of fun, especially when you've got Russell here."
Russell ensures all tickets are clipped, rings the bell and answers any questions with his upbeat style.
"One of the things we are really getting a buzz from is when we have three generations in a family, it's so neat having trains coming and going with these mixed age groups. When it's busy, with the bells and whistles and people coming and going, it's such a great environment."
Barry O'Donnell, executive officer of Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand, said small gauge railway activities had largely recovered from the lockdowns, and like Thames, "need bums on seats and volunteers like everybody else" to thrive.
