Helpers clamber aboard Kawakawa's vintage railway

An SOS from Kawakawa's vintage railway has led to a surge of new volunteers, but more are still needed to ensure the historic line stays on track.

Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust chairman Johnson Davis said he was "very heartened" by the response to a series of stories this month in the Northern Advocate and Northland Age about a critical shortage of volunteers.

The lack of firemen, whose job it is to feed the steam locomotive's boiler with coal, was especially acute. Already-overworked engine drivers were forced to fill in as firemen on their days off, and the railway was at risk of closing.

A leaflet drop around Kawakawa late last year sparked little interest, despite the town having more than 140 able-bodied adults on the unemployment benefit. At the time Mr Davis said it made him ashamed to be a Kawakawa-ite.

Far North Mayor Wayne Brown has added his voice to the appeals for volunteers, saying the town has re-invented itself on the back of the railway and Hundertwasser toilets and had done very well for itself as a result. "The community there needs to recognise that, and get behind the railway," he said.

The response this time, however, had been positive, with about a dozen new volunteers in training, including a few from Kawakawa. The new recruits included an ex-Navy captain from Mangawhai, alerted by a newspaper poster about the volunteer shortage. He qualified last week as a diesel driver and his wife was volunteering in the shop car while training to be a railway guard.

The railway had two new firemen, from Kaikohe and Whangarei, with others showing interest. Crucially, some of the new crop of volunteers keen to work towards being steam drivers were aged in their 30s. Most of the railway's current volunteers were the "young retired", Mr Davis said.

The railway was still keen for more helpers. "If we can get enough volunteers, instead of being a burden, they may be rostered on just once a month."

Mr Johnson said he was grateful to everyone who had helped put out the railway's call for help, and to Mr Brown for backing his call for the people of Kawakawa to get behind the railway.

- If you're keen to lend a hand phone Mike Bradshaw on 021 171 2697 or (09) 404 0450, or email mikethesteam@hotmail.com