After a series of “sell-out” trips last year, the Glenbrook Vintage Railway are once again bringing their 1915-built steam locomotive Ww 644 for train rides to the city for a day.
These heritage train rides will be part of the Frankton Thunder Festival being held in Hamilton on March 10 and will add more excitement to the event.
So, Hamiltonians get ready to watch the ‘little mighty’ steam locomotive puff huge billows of smoke and steam while taking passengers on train rides.
The restored and overhauled steam locomotive Ww 644 – built at Dunedin’s Hillside Workshops in 1915, will take people back in time on return train rides from Frankton (Hamilton) station to two separate destinations – Ruakura and Huntly.
Opportunity for Hamiltonians to take a ride on March 10 (Photo/H Macdonald)
“We have been operating heritage steam trains for 47 years. Our steam train has been newly restored and Hamilton was the first place we ran public excursion trains out of, so Hamilton is special to us,” Tim Kerwin, General Manager- Charter and Enquiries, Glenbrook Vintage Railway(GVR) told NewsViews.
Age is no barrier and people of all ages would be able to relive the adventures of the bygone era while enjoying the views, sound of steam gushing out, and whistles of the engine. Open-air viewing platforms throughout the train will also enable passengers to waive to passing motorists.
The Frankton Thunder Steam Express will make four return trips to Ruakura with the first train leaving Frankton at 08:55 am and the fourth scheduled to depart at 12:40 pm.
The steam locomotive will chug slowly between these two destinations, passing through the Hamilton Tunnel (the site of NZ’s first underground railway station), before exiting onto the Claudelands River bridge, over the Waikato River.
This ‘mighty little’ engine will then pull the train through Hamilton’s eastern suburbs and out towards the new developments around Ruakura. At the Ruakura station, the locomotive will switch sides – from one end of the train to the other, to return to Frankton. Read More...
If the morning fun ride is not enough, people can hop on board the River Steam Rover train heading to Huntly at 2.25 pm and return at 4.45 pm. Passengers can board this train at Rotokauri station also.
River Steam Rover will head north to Huntly in afternoon (Photo/J Still)
Train will head towards Huntly through the old railway suburb of Frankton, and past the big rail freight terminal at Te Rapa. Continuing north from here, steam train will chug its way through Burbush suburb onto Horotiu before crossing and travelling alongside the Waikato river at Ngaruawahia.
River Steam Rover will pass by the former military camp Hopuhopu before descending towards Taupiri Maunga – the sacred burial place for Waikato Tainui Iwi, and then reach its final destination, Huntly.
The steam engine will then turn around and pull the train back to Hamilton.
GVR promises the day to be fun for families and a day to remember. Ticket prices have been kept low, but have to be booked online in advance.
The Glenbrook Vintage Railway Charitable Trust Board – a registered charity founded in 1970, maintains and operates these heritage trains. The Trust has a large fleet of 87 rail vehicles, including seven steam locomotives, eight diesel locomotives and 32 carriages.
Tremendous amount of time, energy and money goes into getting the loco and carriages overhauled, restored to good order and maintaining these. Credit goes to the dedicated team of enthusiastic volunteers/staff of the GVR .
“We are a charitable trust that operates heritage steam and diesel trains, based in Waiuku on our own magical privately owned railway line (the old Waiuku branch line), but also on the KiwiRail tracks – we operate throughout most of the North Island,” says Kerwin.
Survival of the GVR for over 50 years has been possible only due to the support of the community for which General Manager Tim Kerwin is grateful.
“We receive no regular funding or grants, and all of our magical trains we bring to the public solely through the public’s support in visiting and riding our trains. We like coming to Hamilton because we always get such a big welcome, and lots of people love our trains. We are very grateful for all the support we get from our happy passengers.”
