Traction engine hunt begins

Some dig for gold, others for coal, but in Carterton they're digging for a traction engine.
More than 60 years ago, a Burrell traction engine was driven to its grave in an old gravel pit-cum-rubbish dump in Carterton's Belvedere Road after its boiler broke down.
It's 2m-high funnel was unceremoniously broken off and thrown into the pit with the engine, which was then progressively buried over the next few months with other rubbish, including massive pine tree stumps cleared from the area, which eventually became Howard Booth Park.
Gravel pits were then common throughout Wairarapa because of the building of railway embankments.
Carterton District Council's recreation manager, Brian McWilliams, has been eying the slumping ground in the camp for months, noting its unevenness and was about the re-level and grass it over.
Enter vintage machinery fanatic Mike Tatham, from Dalefield, who after years of hearing about the old traction engine's existence has gained permission from the council to dig up a subsiding area in the northeastern corner of the camping ground in search of the engine.
Mr Tatham already has a collection of around seven vintage tractors and an assortment of other farm machinery, which he has restored over the years.
The traction engine buried at the camping ground was built about 1910-15 and was one of a handful used on farms in South Wairarapa.
It will be the only one of its type remaining in Wairarapa if its discovery and restoration is possible.
When the traction engine's boiler gave out, it was driven from the workshop, Bredan and Leith, which is now Smith, Hare and Christison on High Street, to the Belvedere Road site.
Kieran Shaw, the Council's chief executive, felt it was an exciting project, especially as Mr Tatham had promised that the engine would remain in Carterton and possibly be vested to the council in the future.
Mr Tatham has offered to backfill and re-grass the site once the engine has been unearthed before next summer's camping season.
The man who will help Mr Tatham dig for the engine is Alfred Bird, a long serving contractor in the Carterton district.
He was around when the traction engine was dumped and he remembers seeing it disappear into the rubble.
Mr Bird is also excited about the project saying the engines were highly respected for their workability and were especially useful in unloading railway wagons.