Train brings Te Kūiti 300 visitors

Glenbrook Vintage Railway brought its sold-out “Te Kūiti Trekker” excursion train with 300 passengers aboard to town on Saturday afternoon.

For one hour, passengers strolled up and down Rora St, cramming Stoked Eatery and other cafes, though some commented that it was a pity more shops were not open.

The train, which ran from Hamilton’s Frankton Station to Te Kūiti and back, boasted heritage carriages and a classic diesel locomotive, the latter being turned around manually for the return trip, using the Te Kūiti Railway Station’s turntable.

Glenbrook Vintage Railway events coordinator Sean Heenan said the organisation usually came to Te Kūiti several times a year.

Last year it had run several three-day Ruapehu trips and a “Steam Train October,” which had carried more than 6500 people on trips within the Waikato, including trips to Tokoroa.

More Waikato excursions were planned for later this year.

“We pride ourselves on the service we provide to passengers on the various day and multi-day trips,” Sean said.

“Our carriages have a certain elegance to them, given that they are classic carriages and we ensure all our passengers are well fed and watered. On this run we were licensed, so people enjoyed a glass of sauvignon blanc or bubbles.

“Being volunteers, we work for the love of the vintage train experience. But we also want our passengers to have such a great experience they will come back and ride our train again.

“Another aspect is that since we [Glenbrook Vintage Railway] are based in a small town, we also ensure the small towns we visit are well supported.”

However, Te Kūiti Trekker passengers Brian and Leeann Morgan said they were surprised that more shops were not open in Rora St when the train arrived.

“Maybe it was hard to find staff willing to work at the weekend,” Brian said.

“This has been an amazing and relaxing trip though. It’s a fantastic way to see the countryside, much better than driving,” he added.

Maggie MacPherson and her daughter Sherrell Prout were also on a Mothers Day run. They said one of the best parts of visiting Te Kūiti was having soup for lunch at Stoked Eatery.

Colin Robertson had tickets for his wife Judy because the run was on Mothers Day weekend.

The couple said they enjoyed walking up and down Rora St. Though they lived in Hamilton, they knew very little about Te Kūiti, previously having passed through on car trips without stopping.

Joy Foley said the Te Ara Tika overbridge provided a superb view of the train’s locomotive being turned round on the railway turntable.

Joy has volunteered for the Glenbrook Vintage Railway for 30 years, and as well as riding the Te Kūiti Trekker on Saturday, she rode the Mothers Day Run from Glenbrook to Waiuku the following day.

She said there could be a lot of work involved in being a vintage railway volunteer.

“Following Cyclone Gabrielle, it was all hands to the pump after our sheds were flooded. This created a big job for about 200 volunteers who replaced ballast and disposed of flood damaged material over 12 days, but fortunately the water didn’t reach any of our trains’ main bearings.”

Joy said it was great to see so many younger people among the volunteers.

She knows former University of Waikato engineering students who had been recruited to volunteer for the vintage railway about 10 years ago, and were now well established in their careers.

“They have stuck with us all that time; two of those men were pushing the train around on the turntable today.”