I thought instead of more coach
stories we would post some scenes from an interesting museum we visited a few
days ago . Tokomaru Steam Museum is situated between Palmerston North and
Shannon on Highway 57, a very beautiful drive north from Otaki taking about 40
minutes.
The collection has been put together by Mr and Mrs Colin Stevenson ,
Colin a retired -but still very active engineer has slowly built up an amazing
assembly of working steam apparatus which is put into action several times a
year.
The high cost of diesel means steam days are limited and on the day we
managed to visit they were busy preparing for the next one. Each boiler that
feds the plant consumes 150 litres of diesel per hour and it takes four hours
until steam pressure and temp at up to operating the rest of the machines. Most
are British with a few American built . Its really fascinating to see old names
proudly displayed and I was really absorbed with not only the quality of how
each had been lovingly restored but the way the whole area had been set up from
basically a farm barn. The collection included;
A 70 tonne Filer and Stowell 1916
steam engine originally from Milwaukee in USA
1929 Marshall Tandem Roller -the
only one of its type in the Southern Hemisphere
New Zealand's Oldest steam
engine a 1869 Appleby engine from Patent Slip . in
Wellington.
Daniel Adamson 27 horsepower boiler
-which powers the rest of the plant when in steam.
Outside Railway steam engines and
cranes with a working track and original station of Tokomaru when a line
connected the township to the main trunk line.
There is also a range of engines
that were leased to Film Director Peter Jackson for the making of King
Kong.
The photos posted show the main
Highway and entrance at Tokomaru, and several scenes of the plant
including a 1905 Peter Pilkington-Accrington built Steam Hammer used at
the Gear Meat Works at Petone near Wellington.
Tokomaru is a quiet township, the
Museum is the only 'working' place in town , and is set in lovely countryside
with the Tararua Mountain range to the east as a backdrop. For anyone interested
in old engines its worth a visit and you can read more about it by going to www.tokomarusteam.com
One point we were a little surprised
at , although the museum is advertised on television and has the website , they
do not at present have eftpos facilities , so the corner store 40 metres up the
road seems to act as a kind of bank for anyone wanting cash -like we had to, for
admission.
Its another busy month ahead and
next week I will take you to another museum that employed me to produce an 86
foot long mural , the longest of its kind in New Zealand.
Hello Wallace, a very good blog again except one page i could not read, if there is no border at the end of a sentance click enter to start a new paragraph i have been doing that for a few weeks, then you will not loose your text. Regards Doris
Lancashire Re-United offers for sale and exclusive to this website prints of original artwork of Municipal Bus fleets , Railway Locos,Barrow Built ships & Company wagons by WALLACE TRICKETT who has VERY KINDLY given me the selling rights to these prints.Simply click on LANCASHIRE PRINTS to purchase these stunning memories of Lancashire'sroad transport heritage at the AMAZING price of JUST £9.99--each plus P&P -
PLEASE NOTE -due to production costs -These prints will not be sold without MOUNTS OR FRAMES
The LRU prints are COPYRIGHT of LANCASHIRE RE-UNITED & Wallace Trickett any infingement WILL result in LEGAL ACTION being taken
Lancashire Folk 
