KEY POINTS:
Allan Fraser has often been told he has the best job in the world. For the past 27 years, he has travelled on the trains which ply the 60km between Dunedin and Pukerangi and Middlemarch via the magnificent Taieri Gorge, first as a volunteer and latterly as train manager.
He has been up and down the line more times than he can count but never gets sick of the journey. "Every day is different - different passengers, different light, different colours, different weather, different seasons. You can come up here as many times as you like, but there's always something new to see."
In a world dominated by stress, rush and pressure, the Taieri Gorge train offers passengers and staff a peaceful, unhurried escape. It rocks, sways and clackity-clacks along the tracks, getting to its destination and back again in its own time.
Fraser has no doubt the train's charm is the total travel experience. "You don't have to concentrate on driving or traffic. You don't have to do anything but sit and look at the view."
Trains also allow tourists a chance to rest their legs, which as any traveller knows is important when trying to cram as much sightseeing as possible into a short visit.
Its other advantage is that it's an all-weather attraction. What could be more tempting for tourists on a cold, wet day when fog shrouds Dunedin's hill suburbs or the harbour than a ride in a warm, comfortable train?
Besides, Fraser says, the weather is invariably better the further the train chugs inland across the green expanse of the Taieri Plain and uphill to the rocky Taieri Gorge wilderness.
The journey can be soporific though, especially for tourists wearied by the early starts and late nights of a coach tour, and Fraser and his staff are used to seeing passengers asleep. They don't wake them. Somehow, the human body knows when a train stops, and passengers awake refreshed at the next photo opportunity.
There are plenty of those - the unexpected views into back yards as the train trundles through Green Island and Abbotsford; the wide expanse of the green Taieri Plains and Saddle Hill beyond; Cedric the weather barometer goat who will only leave his Wingatui hut if the weather is kind; horses racing the train in their track-side paddock; rock cutting walls so close you could touch them; century-old viaducts which are nothing short of engineering marvels; sunlight glowing on golden-leafed willow trees; the immaculate house and garden all alone in the middle of the gorge at Parera; steep hillsides covered in a carpet of tufty grass; wild geese floating on the Taieri River far below; towering, frost-affected cliff faces; the boulder-strewn lunar landscape beyond the gorge.
It is the breathtaking scenery which brings the passengers, 75 per cent of them from overseas. At certain times of the year, staff affectionately dub their trains "the Orient Express". Other days it can be more like a mini United Nations, with up to 17 nationalities represented.
Today is typical. The train has already made the round trip in the morning, and the afternoon train contains 158 passengers, including a large tour group from Hong Kong and 26 senior citizens on tour from Australia.
The sights are "brilliant", senior citizens tour party members Margaret Brown, Patricia Greenhill and Isabel Cameron say. "You never see scenery like this in Australia," Brown declares.
The trio, who happily snap countless photos along the way, have taken the train option over a harbour cruise. They do not regret their decision. "I read about this trip years ago and I've always wanted to do it. I'll be telling all my friends to do it, too," Cameron says.
Treks up the Taieri Gorge began in 1978, when a group of enthusiasts, including Fraser, pooled some of their savings, restored some carriages and formed the Otago Excursion Train Trust. Using leased locomotives, they organised train trips around the country. The trip via the Taieri Gorge, in the days when the Otago Central line went from Dunedin to Cromwell, was popular even then.
Fraser credits the success of the train trust's early years to two men, George Emerson and Arthur Rockliffe, both now dead and their ashes scattered in the Taieri Gorge. "We always said George had the vision and Arthur made it all work."
In 1984, the trust picked up its first cruise ship passengers. Port Chalmers is unique in New Zealand as trains can drive on to the wharf and pick passengers up from the bottom of the gangplank, a service which is a hugely popular novelty.
In 1985, the trust "thought it was made" when it met two ships, Fraser recalls. This season, trains have met 33 ships; next summer the figure will be more than 40.
Now, cruise ship trains are the longest passenger trains in New Zealand, carrying up to 500 people a time. Three locomotives pulling 20 carriages make a train 362m long and weighing 500 tonnes - as much as eight fully laden 737 aeroplanes.
Business trundled along for the train trust through the 1980s. But by 1990, the trust had reached the end of the line. Its rolling stock was run down, its finances were in crisis and the Minister of Railways announced the Wingatui to Cromwell line would be closed on April 30, thus ending Taieri Gorge excursions.
A solution was mooted. Dunedin Mayor Richard Walls pledged the council would buy the Wingatui-Middlemarch line if the community contributed $1 million, enough to fund the purchase and put the train trust on a firm financial footing.
The idea had its detractors, especially from those who did not believe the Dunedin City Council should become involved.
Dunedin lawyer John Farry was approached to lead the "Save the Train" fund-raising appeal.
He knew little about trains - his train buff friends thought it hilarious when he accepted an invitation to drive the train one day and went looking for a steering wheel - but he was impressed with the dedication and determination of Emerson and Rockliffe.
"The trust had reached a critical point. It was run very much by a hobbyist group and it needed to evolve. But I could see it had huge potential."
The appeal was successful, raising $1.2 million by the middle of 1991. "The good news was we had reached our target. The bad news was that it wasn't enough to upgrade the service and operate it successfully without incurring losses."
Farry has a vivid memory of himself and Emerson approaching the Dunedin City Council for another grant. "I remember we appeared before the full council and were treated very much like naughty schoolboys. At least, that's how it felt to me. They gave us the money we needed but virtually told us never to come back for more. And we haven't."
In 1995, Taieri Gorge Railway Ltd was formed, with the council taking 72 per cent ownership and the Otago Excursion Train Trust the rest. Farry was appointed the first chairman of the board and has retained the position since.
He could have resigned after the appeal, or after the new company structure was settled, but there was always one more project to oversee or one more milestone to achieve.
"I consider this my contribution to the community. And they've become like family.
"We have our daily Taieri Gorge trains - two each day over the summer, now. We have our cruise ship trains, our Christmas barndance trains, our Santa trains and our charter trains. We are also putting more trains on the Palmerston excursion run.
"We have 29 staff and 250 volunteers. We own 18 carriages, five locomotives and three buffet cars. For a number of years now, our growth has been 10 per cent a year, and after all these years, we are finally profitable.
"Fifteen years ago, I wouldn't have foreseen how successful we would be in 2006. To turn over $4 million and transport 70,000 passengers in one season would have been a total fantasy. But it is a fantasy that has come true."
* Further information
Visit the railway website at www.taieri.co.nz or ring (03) 477 444
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
