Wheels turn to keep rail stations alive

KEEPING HISTORY: A Pahiatua Railway Society railcar pulls into Eketahuna Station. PHOTO/FILE

A collection of little halts and stations along the mostly disused railway line north of Masterton has been saved thanks to the Pahiatua Railway Society.

By either taking over the lease, or using the little stations as points along the way when their excursion trains and those owned by steam railway organisations are in use, the society has ensured their survival.

The society's president, Tom Selby, leases and maintains the station at Mangatainoka and the society has finally been able to secure a proper lease for the Pahiatua Station after trying to do so for 20 years.

At Eketahuna, the society rescued what Mr Selby has described as a "complete wilderness" and made the station into a valuable tourist asset.

The excursion trains have started to use the platform at Hukanui, and the Mangamahoe Station recently had a tidy-up and was repainted.

The platform at Mauriceville is used from time to time, with the society planning to do so more often and there are also plans to restore a platform at Kopuaranga, with the small settlement there considered a potential tourist attraction.

In a letter, Mr Selby updated the Tararua District Council on the use the Eketahuna Station was now getting.

He said the society was pleased to report the station had become a regular stopping place for excursion trains, with Steam Incorporated and Feilding Steam Rail using it.

Steam Incorporated is planning to do so again on May 10 and in October.

Mr Selby said the society also frequently used the Woodville Station and was steadily developing a market for group charters for Pahiatua-Ashurst and other nearby destinations.

The success of the Pahiatua Railway Society has been such that three restored railcars will eventually be in service and possibly a fourth.

The council contributes to the society by grant, helping it with its operating budget which usually falls somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 a year.