Mel Williams, Visitor Services
Kids line the platform, eager and excited, little tickets in their little hands as they wait to be welcomed aboard their next memory-making adventure. This is the scene at Kiwi North on the third Sunday of every month, faces lit up with excited smiles as they wait for the steam train to arrive. When it does, they eagerly find a seat, along the windowless carriage, ready to feel the breeze in their hair as they chugger into the depths of the Heritage Park. Their patience is rewarded when the whistle sounds, and their rhythmic ride along the rails begins.
Home to the biggest and the smallest trains at Kiwi North, the Whangārei Steam and Model Railway Club is always a popular attraction for visitors young and old. Their steam and diesel trains, trams and jigger rides have given passengers a unique way of exploring the Heritage Park for many years.
The club was initially formed in 1973 with the intent of promoting, organising and exhibiting the hobby of railway modeling, as well as ultimately operating a steam engine through the grounds of the Northland Regional Museum, which is now the Heritage Park. The first two pieces of track were laid in November 1975 and within three months 200 additional yards of track had been added. Every inch of what is now a 1.8km track was laid by club members, volunteers and enthusiasts.
On the third Sunday of each month the steam train takes to the tracks. The 1955 Peckett & Sons locomotive is the only one of its kind still running in the world. It was the last new steam locomotive to be imported into New Zealand where it was utilised at the Portland Cement Works before being donated to the Whangārei Steam and Model Railway Club in 1978.
On the same day each month the club offer rides on a tram, of which there are two. Both are one hundred years old this year and were originally from Lisbon, Portugal, where they operated on a narrow gauge track. They have since been restored and regauged to run on the track at Kiwi North.
The jigger is another favourite, an open air experience that follows the same track at the tram. It can only be run when the weather is fine and is absolutely worth waiting for the sun to come out!
The other trains to operate on the site are diesel locomotives, which take to the tracks on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during school holidays.
The buildings and stations maintained by the Whangārei Steam and Model Railway Club add a beautiful sense of history to the aesthetic of the Heritage Park. The main station consists of multiple buildings, including Kauri Station which was lifted and relocated to the site from Kauri in 1977. This building has now been converted into a small museum.
Also on the main platform is a portion of the original Hikurangi Station. In 1982 the club learnt the station at Hikurangi was being demolished so wrote to N.Z. Railways about purchasing and restoring it. 20 of the original 50 feet had already been removed when permission was granted but the remaining section of the building was relocated to Maunu where it remains today.
Millington Bush Station, where the trains and trams converge was once a supply shed, but has since been trains-formed and now sits picture-perfect in Millington Bush.
Up on the main platform visitors will find the other passion project of the Whangārei Steam and Model Railway Club, the model railway. The smallest trains on site, these tiny locomotives weave their way though city scenes, around mountains and over bridges, delighting on-lookers. The display has organically grown over the past 50 years and includes many donated elements from the community.
While the trains, big and small, are beautiful and impressively preserved pieces of history, it’s what they inspire that makes the Whangārei Steam and Model Railway Club so amazing. Club members are genuinely excited to see what club president Bill Fenton refers to as “steam-powered smiles”. When I asked him what he loves most about what they offer, he said “We have 100-year-old trams, 50-year-old trains and 80-year-old guys. It’s about heritage, keeping something alive and seeing the smiles.”
As with all of the Heritage Clubs at Kiwi North, new members are always welcome and invited to reach out and help keep history on track for generations to come.
The chugging of the trains, the clanging of the tram, the vibration of the jigger... these are memory-making experiences, and they’re all right here, in our own back yard!
